Posted on: July 16, 2007
Making the Most Out of Compost
Pile it on for the finest fertilizer, straight from your very own backyard
By Jeff Schnaufer
CTW Features
Most compost piles are composed of yard waste and kitchen scraps, both of which decompose into organic matter that can inoculate the garden soil with millions of beneficial microorganisms.
When John Duke drops by his local Starbucks in Cincinnati, he doesn�t leave with just a mocha frappuccino. He�s probably the only customer in town who hauls out a 20-pound bag of leftovers.
In fact, he�s collected so many bags of leftover coffee grounds from Starbucks that he�s amassed a 300-pound pile in his garage.
Why, you ask?
�Coffee grounds are a good source of nitrogen,� says Duke, founder of the American Compost Society based in Cincinnati. �That�s one of the nice things about composting. It brings the nitrogen back into the ground instead of to a landfill, where it is lost forever.�
For many gardeners, organic composting at home is one of the only ways to get good garden soil.
�When used properly, compost keeps the soil healthy,� says Cindy Salter, a board member for the Compost Tea Industry Association and Oregon Tilth. �In turn, healthy soil feeds and supports healthy plants. In turn, healthy plants feed and support healthy people.�
Coffee grounds are only one possible ingredient for a compost pile. Most piles are composed of yard waste and kitchen scraps, both of which decompose into organic matter that can inoculate the garden soil with millions of beneficial microorganisms.
There are several ways to go about acquiring a bin in which to hold your pile of compost. You can purchase a commercial plastic bin or one made out of hardware cloth and wood. Or you can try making your own. The ideal size, Duke says, is three feet high by three feet in diameter.
To make his bins, Duke uses 14 gauge galvanized wire fencing about 50 feet long by 3 feet high. He cuts the wire into 12.5-foot strips, curls a strip into a circle and holds it together with clips from the end of a dog leash. This way he can make four bins from 50 feet of fencing.
Both Duke and Salter suggest placing the bin directly on the soil in a convenient location. Placing a bin under a shade tree can keep you cool in the summertime, Duke says, but if the tree�s roots climb up into the bin, you may have to turn it more often.
When it comes to placing organic material in the compost bin, it�s surprising how many things you can find around, and in, your house-particularly when it comes to paper.
�I shred my junk mail sometimes,� Duke says. �Of course, you�ve got to take those little plastic windows out.� He also adds newspapers and colored magazine pages to the list, �which all have organic inks and vegetable dyes. Even the glossy paper. What they add on the paper to make it glossy is basically clay.�
When it comes to kitchen scraps, Salter prefers fruit and vegetable trimmings, coffee grounds and eggshells. Both Duke and Salter warn against using meats, cheeses and oils, which tend to cause odor problems and can attract rats.
Pet waste should also be avoided in compost bins, though opinions differ on using manure. �You don�t need to put in manure,� Duke says. �The bacteria will come anyway. But if you want to hurry up the decaying process, put manure in.�
Most of the ingredients in a compost bin will come from your yard. Dead leaves, flowers, grass clippings and pruning detritus from trees and shrubs, when shredded into small particles, are key organic matter. Note that some things decompose more slowly than others, including oak leaves, pine needles, cedar, waxy leafed plants and corncobs.
And while there are many different �how to� manuals on layering a compost pile, neither Duke nor Salter recommend any one system. Instead, they emphasize tending to your composting bin. Not only should you keep adding organic material, you must also keep it moist and turn it regularly.
When it comes to watering your compost pile, Salter says the biggest problem is it�s �either too much or not enough.�
Duke says, �You want it to be about the consistency of a wrung-out sponge.�
Since most compost piles decompose quickest in the middle, turning the pile, or mixing up the contents, helps distribute the bacteria and quickens the decomposition process.
How often should you turn the pile?
�Depends upon how big of a hurry you�re in,� says Duke. �If you don�t turn it at all, it will take six months to a year to make compost. If you want your compost ready in six or eight weeks, you�ve got to have all the right combination of stuff and turn it every week or so.�
�If you're getting bad odors,� he says, �you need to turn the bin and get more oxygen. It should not smell bad. It slows down the composting operation.�
Duke, who uses his compost as mulch, says it is ready �whenever it�s basically black and crumbly and got that earthy smell and you can't recognize most of those things you put in.�
When you�re finished, the best part is that you can reward yourself with a trip to Starbucks, and start all over again.
