Compost!

Composting is an easy way that you can help the Earth from home!  Compost is a dark, crumbly, loamy material produced by the decomposition of leaves, grass clippings, and other organic materials.  Finished compost contains nutrients necessary for plant growth and improves soil structure.  The decomposition process happens without human intervention, but composting allows you to expedite the natural process.

Composting reduces the amount of material going to landfills.  Approximately 51% of municipal waste is made up of yard waste, food waste, and paper, most of which can be composted.  Compost can replace soil amendments used by gardeners, such as peat moss, fertilizer, or vermiculite.  Compost even suppresses some soil-borne diseases!

What to add to your backyard compost pile:
Nitrogen-rich Materials ("Greens")

• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Grass clippings
• Coffee grounds and paper filters
• Paper tea bags (no staples)
• Eggshells (crushed)

Carbon-rich Materials ("Browns")

• Dry leaves
• Plant stalks and twigs
• Shredded paper (non-glossy, uncolored) and shredded brown bags
• Shredded cardboard (no wax coating, tape, or glue)
• Untreated wood chips

What do avoid adding to your backyard compost pile:

• Meat, fish, and bones*
• Cheese and dairy products*
• Fats, oils, and grease*
• Cooked food (small amounts are fine)*
• Compostable foodservice ware and compostable bags*
• Herbicide-treated plants and grass
• Aggressive weeds/weeds with seeds
• Diseased and pest-infested plants
• Treated or painted wood
• Pet waste and cat litter
• Dryer lint
• Glossy paper
• Produce stickers

*Backyard compost piles generally do not reach high enough temperatures to fully decompose these materials.  These can often be composted at commercial composting facilities.

Steps for backyard composting:
1. Collect and store your fruit and vegetable scraps in a closed container in your kitchen.  For browns, set aside an area outside to store leaves and twigs.
2. Choose a space in your yard for your compost pile that is easily accessible year-round and has good drainage.  Avoid placing it right up against a fence and ensure that there is a water source nearby.  It does not matter if it is in sun or shade.  Choose a bin for your pile.  They can be constructed from materials like wire, wood or cinder blocks.  They can also be includes in barrels or tumblers.
3. Build your compost pile.  Start your pile with a four to six inch layer of browns such as twigs or wood chips.  This layer absorbs extra liquids and allows air to circulate at the base of the pile.  Then layer your greens and browns like a lasagna.  When adding browns and greens, add at least two to three times the volume of browns to the volume of greens, and ensure that your food scraps are covered by four to eight inches of dry leaves or other browns.
4. To ensure air circulation, add enough browns, and turn the compost occasionally.  To maintain moisture, the pile should have the consistency of a wrung-out sponge.
5. As the materials in your compost pile begin to decompose, the temperature of the pile will rise.  A well-maintained backyard pile can reach temperatures of 130 to 160 degrees F.  Be sure to turn and mix your pile from time to time to help speed up the decomposition process and aerate the pile.  Use a garden fork to turn the outside of the pile inward.
6.  Monitor your pile for moisture, odor, and temperature.

• If the pile is too dry, moisten the pile and turn it.
• If the pile has a bad odor, it may be too wet or need more air circulation.  Add more browns and turn the pile.
  
• If the pile is not heating up, mix in greens and turn the pile.

7. When your compost pile is no longer heating up after mixing and when there are no visible food scraps, allow the pile to cure for at least four weeks.  After curing, your pile will shrink to about one-third of its original size.  Compost in a well-maintained pile will be finished and ready to use in about three to five months.  Unattended, it may take a year to decompose.
8. Screen or sift your finished compost to filter out materials that didn't break down.  Pits, eggshells, etc. that you sifted out can be added back to the active pile or to a new pile.

​Happy composting!

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