What Is Composting?
Composting is the process of recycling food and other organic waste into a material called compost, a mixture of decomposed organic matter that looks like dark, rich soil. Mix this nutrient-packed material into your garden beds and you can grow stronger, more disease-resistant plants. Soil enriched with compost does a better job of holding moisture, so you won’t have to water your zinnias, begonias, and bell peppers as much.
Turning your waste into fertilizer isn’t just good for your plants, it’s good for the planet. Composting keeps food waste out of landfills – where it produces harmful methane gas – and puts it to beneficial use growing new food. Composting is an easy way to shrink your carbon footprint and combat climate disruption.
How Do I Compost?
There are three basic types of composting. The one you choose depends on how fast you want your compost, how much space you have for a compost bin and how much effort you want to put into your composting efforts.
Cold Composting
Put your scraps outside in a compost bin or a pile on the ground and let Mother Nature make compost with little to no help from you. The elements, aided by microorganisms, break down the leaves, coffee grounds and veggie peelings on their own timeline. This is the easiest way to go, but it can take one to two years to get finished compost.
Hot Composting
This is a speedy process that needs high temperatures and a lot of work from you. Hot composting is physics in action. To do it successfully, keep waste materials in the correct ratios, expose them to the right amount of air and moisture and you’ll have finished compost in as soon as four weeks. That’s not as simple as it sounds. The compost needs aeration every three to four weeks using a special tool. Check the temperature (using a compost thermometer) and the moisture levels and wet your compost if it’s too dry. If all those elements are in harmony, your food and yard scraps will heat up to around 130 degrees and turn into finished compost, fast. That heat accelerates the decomposition process — a byproduct of microbes dissolving the food and yard waste in your compost bin. Hot composting is for Type A gardeners, a veritable science project.
If this sounds like way too much hassle, buy bagged compost. It keeps food out of landfills and you’re feeding your plants with organic material. You’re just paying someone else to make the compost.
Worm Composting
If you want finished compost in less than two years, but don’t want to be a servant to your compost bin, bring in the worms. Compost worms, that is. Worm composting, also known as vermicomposting, is a speedy and easy way to turn food scraps into organic fertilizer because the worms do the work. Two pounds of worm, about 2,000 of the little wigglers, can eat a pound of food waste a day and turn it into finished vermicompost in less than a week. The casings, worm poop, they produce will feed your plants. Worm composting is so clean and odorless you don’t even need a yard for your bin. You can put a worm composter on your deck or balcony, or indoors in a garage or laundry room. Also, kids love worm composting.
Ready to compost? Here are the types of compost bins available to turn your food scraps into food for plants.
1.Compost Bin
Compost bins are the standard way to turn garbage into garden gold. Normally used outdoors, there are small models created for indoor use. Compost bins can be made of plastic or wood, enclosed or open. Plastic compost bins tend to be closed, so they retain heat and moisture and keep out rodents and other pests. They can make compost faster than an open bin. Use an aerator tool to move the scraps around in the bin so they get enough oxygen to decompose into compost.
Wooden compost bins are usually open on one side or on top, and they sit directly on the ground. Turn the scraps with a pitchfork so they get enough oxygen to break down quickly. They attract rodents and other pests, so put an open bin far from your home.
Put two parts brown materials (dead leaves, branches and paper) in your compost bin to one part green materials (grass clippings, food scraps and coffee grounds). Getting the green vs. brown ratio right is crucial to hot composting.
2. Tumbling Composter
Tumbling composters are plastic bins that rotate. They turn food and lawn scraps into compost much faster than a stationary compost bin. Their secret? Rotating the bin once or twice a week mixes up the scraps more efficiently than an aerator tool or pitchfork. Turning compost gives it oxygen, keeping those compost-making microbes happy, healthy and chowing down on your scraps. Get the water and waste material ratios right and you’ll have compost in as soon as five weeks. Compost tumblers are sealed and elevated on legs, so they keep moisture and heat in and rodents out. They come in a range of sizes, too, so you can make a little bit of compost or a whole lot of compost.
If you’re having trouble getting your compost to heat up, add a compost accelerator that contains enzymes to feed the helpful bacteria already in the bin or pile.
3. Worm Composter
Worm composting gives you organic plant fertilizer without the work. Put live worms into a worm compost bin along with coco fiber bedding. Feed them food scraps each day and they’ll make vermicompost (worm compost) for you, fast. You need around 1,000 worms for a 10-gallon bin. Worms also make liquid fertilizer you can drain from the bottom of the bin through a spigot. You can buy small worm compost bins that will fit on your balcony, deck or under your kitchen sink, or large outdoor worm compost bins you bury in the ground. Use shelves to stack your worm compost bins so you can squeeze more vermicomposting power into a smaller space.
If caring for thousands of live worms feels like too much work – or having a bin of worms in your laundry room seems too nerdy – you can buy bagged worm casings. Worm casings is another name for worm compost. You get all the organic nutrients for your plants and none of the squirmy worms.
Don’t put worms in just any compost bin. They need one designed for them. If you put worms in compost tumbler or bin that heats up to 130 degrees, they’ll die. They need you to feed them and provide them with cool temperatures.
4. Kitchen Compost Bin
Countertop compost containers, also called kitchen compost bins, give you an easy way to store scraps until you can take them to your outdoor compost bin. You don’t compost in these bins; you store your scraps in them temporarily. They tend to be small, holding a gallon or less of food scraps, and made of ceramic, glass, plastic or metal. You can use them with biodegradable liner bags that dissolve in days when you toss them in your compost bin. Some kitchen compost bins have removable charcoal filters in the lids to block odors.
5. Compost Bin and Rain Barrel Combo
Combine a tumbling composter with a rain barrel and you get both tools you need for A+ organic gardening. It’s a smaller footprint than if they were separate, so this is a good pick for a small yard. We’ve told you how awesome compost is for plants. Rainwater is just as magical. It’s better for your tomatoes and fiddle leaf figs than tap water because it doesn’t have salts, minerals and chlorine, and it’s packed with macro-nutrients that feed plants. Compost plus rainwater will make your plants lush and your carbon footprint smaller.