How to Make Compost and Transform Your Kitchen Waste – and Your Garden
Composting is the biological process of bacteria and microbes decomposing organic matter. It happens whether you manage the process or not, so you might as well take advantage of Mother Nature doing her thing. Spring is a great time to start, as you’re already removing last year’s leaves from your garden beds. Get started now and you’ll have some rich “black gold” to spread come fall.
Composting helps you reduce food waste (by decomposing your scraps), put nutrients back into the soil and save cash by not having to buy commercial compost.
Follow these seven steps to get started:
Step 1: Contain it.
You can make a simple chicken-wire cylinder to keep compost piled or purchase a commercial bin. Pre-made bins have lids to keep out critters and retain moisture and heat. Many Tennessee municipalities even sell bins at reduced prices. Plan for a size of at least 3-by-3-by-3 feet for optimum oxygen and moisture.
See more: Composting 101
Step 2: Pick a place.
Place your bin somewhere accessible. You’ll be bringing food scraps (vegetable peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, etc.) out from your kitchen, so you’ll want the path from the door to be easy when your hands are full. Make it easy to occasionally turn the compost with a pitchfork and add water. Of course, you’ll want to scoop out the finished compost when it’s time.
Step 3. Add selectively.
Any organic material can decompose, but in a backyard composter, you want to focus on yard waste and food scraps. Go for a mixture of brown carbon materials (leaves, cardboard, sawdust, paper and brush) and green nitrogen materials (cut flowers, grass clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps). Shoot for a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of 30-to-1.
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Step 4. Take your temp.
Organic matter will decompose best at a temperature between 90 and 140 degrees. A thermometer with a long probe to reach into the pile will help determine if your pile is active.
Step 5. Water.
Your compost pile should be kept wet at about 40% to 60% moisture, which is approximately the same as a wrung-out sponge. You can add water when you add scraps or even leave the lid off the top of the pile during a rainstorm.
Step 6. Be patient.
Mother Nature takes her own sweet time. Plan for at least three months in ideal conditions to get the good stuff.
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Step 7. Start spreading.
Enjoy the crumbly soil amendment in your vegetables and flower beds and even in container gardens.
Skip the DIY
If it is too much time, effort or physical space for you to compost on your own, let someone else do it for you. Many city waste departments across Tennessee allow you to drop off your food waste in exchange for finished compost that you can use in a container garden or vegetable bed at home. These programs reduce the amount of waste that goes to the landfill (reducing methane emissions) and help add nutrients to the soil.
If your municipality doesn’t offer composting, look for a private entity, such as Atlas Organics in Memphis and Compost Nashville, which will pick up your food waste and return compost to you for a fee. Online networks like ShareWaste can help you find neighbors who compost and will take your scraps. Litterless offers a list of Tennessee composting resources, as does the Tennessee Composting Council.
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