How to Make Your Own Compost

Compost has long been used by gardeners to enrich the soil. It's even been nicknamed "gardeners gold" for a good reason. Finished compost looks and smells like the darkest and richest soil imaginable. It's loaded with organic matter and is the best all natural way to fertilize plants while improving the soil quality at the same time. Compost is all of this and then some! It's recycling, too.

It's easy to flip the pages of gardening catalogs or magazines and find the most elaborate bins for sale to make compost. I must admit I've had my eye on one or two of those tumbler-style compost bins. These are cylindrical drums on stands with cranks to easily keep the compost turned while it's cooking. I just haven't wanted to fork over some of the phenomenal prices for them yet. Those can sometimes reach upwards of several hundred dollars. There is plenty of much more affordable compost bins on the market as well or you can make one. For now, I'd rather stay with the free way to make compost.

Making compost isn't a difficult scientific matter. It can be as simple as piling the materials in an unobtrusive corner of the backyard and letting nature take its course. It really can be as simple as that if you choose. It will take longer that way for the material to become useable compost for the garden. A faster alternative is helping nature speed up the process of decomposition by adding the right ingredients.

Ingredients to add to compost

This includes the combination of nitrogen and carbon-rich ingredients. Carbon-rich material is wood chips, straw and dead leaves. Newspaper or cardboard can even be added. Each time you deadhead your flowers, you can throw those on the pile. For nitrogen, add fresh grass clippings, green leaves and food scraps. Food scraps can include vegetables, fruits and their peelings. Coffee grounds and tea bags are also perfect for the compost pile. Soil can also be added to the pile, including old potting soil from containers.

Ingredients to NOT add to compost

What you don't want to put in the compost pile is animal products and dairy. Meats, fish, bones, grease, oils and dairy products will cause a foul odor and attract critters to the compost pile. Don't put your doggy's waste on the compost either. Don't add any plant material that's been treated with pesticides or herbicides to the pile. You'll really be defeating the purpose of having a safe and natural fertilizer for plants.

How to begin the compost process

To start the compost pile on the ground, just lay 3 to 4 inches of sticks and twigs as a base in a sunny spot. The branches and twigs will take longer to decompose. This helps allow airflow to bottom of the compost pile while allowing water to drain away. A moist compost pile is good, but a soggy wet one is not.

The next layer can include about 8 to 12 inches of the dry carbon- rich ingredients. Then add 3 or 4 inches of grass clippings and other nitrogen-rich ingredients. Mix all of these together thoroughly and the process will begin. Leave the pile alone for at least 2 weeks, then turn the ingredients over. Keep the ingredients stirred occasionally to allow oxygen to speed up the decomposition of the compost layers. Water will have to be added to the pile if there is no rainfall for a long time. The compost pile should remain slightly moist.

How long until its ready

How long the process will take totally depends on the individual compost pile and the attention given it. A compost pile left on its own to decompose is called a cold compost pile and will take much longer to decompose, sometimes more than a year.

A compost pile that's turned frequently will allow oxygen to get to all of the layers which speed up the process tremendously. It will also allow the layers to dry more quickly. Add water to the pile if it dries out from frequent turning. If the pile has any foul ordor, then it needs to be turned as well. A well tended compost pile with the right balance of ingredients, warmth and moisture can be ready in as little as 2 or 3 months. You'll know the compost is ready to use when it looks like dark rich soil with a distinctive earthy fragrance.