How to Make Compost

Composting is a great project, as you can use leftovers and scraps to create nutrient-rich fertilizer for the soil. To make compost, you only need a suitable location and compostable waste, preferably in the kitchen or in the yard. With simple materials and a little care, you will have a high quality fertilizer to use in the garden. If you compost properly, you will have essential nutrients to your plants and make the soil more fertile with what would otherwise be in the trash.

Table of Contents

Arrange a place to make compost in the yard

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Choose a location for composting. You should arrange the compost pile in a place not too close so that the smell of the compost does not bother you, and the rodents that frequent it are also not convenient to enter your home. The compost bin can be placed in the sun or in the shade; However, you should note that compost in the sun will decompose faster but also requires more water. In addition, you also need to make sure there is space to invert the mix. ^{[1] X Research Source}

It is best to arrange a place for composting on the ground 1-2 meters away from trees, not in the hallway or in the yard to make it easier to turn and move the compost.

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Buy a compost bin. If you want to get started with composting quickly and easily, you can purchase a compost bin at home stores. Compost bins are usually black plastic, with a top lid and no bottom. These bins are usually inexpensive, easy to install, and ready to use.

Hard-walled black plastic compost bins also help keep rodents out, unlike open top or side-walled bins.

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Close the compost bin. You can easily build your own compost bin if you want a compost bin of a specific shape and size. Most home compost bins have a wooden frame and wooden or mesh walls. Depending on your needs, you should pack your compost bin with a minimum volume of 1 cubic meter, because with this size, the compost bin can hold just the right amount of compost without taking up too much room in the yard.

A 1 cubic meter compost bin will have a height of about 0.9 meters and a width of about 1.2 meters.

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Consider composting right in the ground. While a compost bin can keep your compost sealed and keep out rodents and other animals, you can absolutely do compost on the ground. You just need to choose a place where you can throw away the kitchen waste in a pile. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Compost that is composted in a bin is neater and keeps out animals if there are scraps of food in the compost, but turning and handling the compost is quicker and easier if you do compost. right on the ground.

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Join a municipal composting program if you can’t make your own at home. Making compost at home is more convenient and usable, but you can also avoid wasting your kitchen waste by putting it in a locally collected and used compost bin. Many municipalities now have programs in place to collect kitchen waste and incorporate it into the composting process. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

In addition to saving on kitchen scraps, you’ll also save space in your garage by putting your trash in the compost bin instead of in the trash.
Contact your locality to see if they collect garden waste for compost.
Cities have different ways of collecting garbage. Some places allow you to put your trash in the garden, while others have separate bins for kitchen waste.

Kitchen garbage collection

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Determine what type of kitchen waste will be used. Before you start collecting kitchen waste, you need to decide whether you will use it as home compost or include it in a municipal composting program. This distinction is important, as a municipal composting program can deal with more food waste than home composting. ^{[4] X Trusted Source United States Environmental Protection Agency Go to source}

With the municipality’s composting program, you can regularly collect all types of compostable kitchen waste, including meat and dairy.

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Find a small trash can to store your compost ingredients in the house. You can place a small trash can in your home near the food preparation area. This bin should be easy to put in, easy to move to the daily compost bin, and easy to clean. You can buy a small plastic bin (many little trash cans have funny lids) or use a simple container like a porcelain bowl and cover with a plate. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Place the trash can in an easily accessible place for you and your family to use.

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Collect all fruit and vegetable scraps. The best kitchen waste for composting is vegetable scraps, as they break down quickly and don’t attract rodents or insects like animal products do. Collect all crumbs from vegetables, including cooked ones. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

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Only use certain animal products to make compost at home. The municipal compost bin can accept all types of animal-based kitchen waste, but you should only put a few of them in your home compost bin. Eggshell is one of these products because it adds calcium, which helps plants grow. ^{[7] X Trusted Source United States Environmental Protection Agency Go to source}

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Identify the ingredients for the compost. There are many biodegradable materials but it is not possible to make compost at home for health, hygiene and non-biodegradable reasons. These include:

Meat and meat scraps
Bone
Fish and fish bones
Oil or grease
Human and animal waste (except for the excrement of herbivores such as rabbits and horses)

Composting

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Line the bottom of the barrel with browning material if possible. Before you start composting, remove any dried leaves or dried garden scraps you already have. Ideally, this layer of brown material should be several centimeters thick to create a solid base.

If you don’t have browning material to use, you can still start composting. You can also sprinkle a thin layer of garden soil or a layer of well-rotted compost to start composting. This will help get the right bacteria into the compost bin.

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Collect green ingredients. Green ingredients with nitrogen content are used to generate heat in the compost. Some very good heat-generating materials include: young weeds (before seed), juniper leaves, yarrow and grass clippings. Other green materials that are suitable for compost include: fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea leaves (including discarded tea bags), and chicken, turkey, or cow manure or manure. horse.

Avoid compacting green materials in large quantities, as they can quickly become anaerobic. This means that there won’t be enough oxygen for most beneficial bacteria to grow and help break down the compost materials. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Use lots of brown ingredients. Brown material has a high carbon content, which acts as “fiber” for the compost. Brown materials include fallen leaves (fall), dead plants, sawdust, straw, dead flowers (including dried flowers, excluding plastic/foam materials attached to flowers), and hay.

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Add other ingredients to the bucket. Other things that can make compost include: tissues, paper bags, cotton clothing (torn), eggshells, and hair (from humans, dogs, cats, etc.) However, you should only use the ingredients you need. This is in the right amount.

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Put the ingredients in the bucket in layers. The ideal compost bin will have 3 parts brown and 1 part green or half each, depending on the type of ingredients you have on hand. These materials must be in contact with each other and spread in thin layers of only a few centimeters. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Compost pile maintenance

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Keep the compost moist. For rapid decomposition, the materials need to be exposed to moisture. The easiest way to do this is to sprinkle water in thin layers during the composting process. You can sprinkle water or wet green ingredients into the bin if the compost in the bin looks dry. Conversely, add dry brown ingredients if the container seems too wet. ^{[10] X Research Source}

When the weather is dry, add water to the compost bin every time you put ingredients in the bin to increase the humidity.
The compost pile should be as moist as a sponge soaked in water and wrung dry.

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Crush the compost ingredients to speed up the composting process. To help ingredients break down faster, shred leaves and other garden waste and crush eggshells. Larger pieces of litter will decompose more slowly, so this will speed up the composting time.

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Allow the compost pile to heat up. The compost pile needs to be warm for the bacteria to multiply and break down the organic matter you’ve collected. You can cover the compost bin with black garden mulch or other black material in cold weather to help raise the temperature.

The temperature of the compost pile is very important and is an indication of microbial activity in the composting process. The easiest way to monitor the temperature inside the compost pile is to feel it with your hand. If it feels hot or warm, it means that decomposition is going on normally. If the temperature in the compost pile is equal to the ambient temperature, then the bacterial activity has slowed down and you need to add high-nitrogen ingredients (green ingredients).
You should cover the box to look neater.

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Mix compost. Turn ingredients inside out, top to bottom, grinding things that are lumpy or sticky. If you are still adding ingredients to the bucket, use that opportunity to stir to mix with the ingredients previously added.

You can invert the compost with a fork and move the entire compost pile somewhere else, then mix it well and put it back in the bin. This mixing will help circulate air inside the compost pile, speeding up the decomposition process.
You can also purchase a tool specifically designed for turning the compost. This instrument is a stick with a handle at one end, teeth on the other end. Simply press the toothed end into the compost pile and turn the handle to mix.

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Turn the compost weekly or every two weeks. It’s best to mix regularly, especially if you’re adding kitchen waste that can smell if not mixed in the compost pile. Turning the compost will help the right bacteria grow and create a compost that smells good and breaks down faster.

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Determine if compost has been used. At some point, you may need to stop adding ingredients to your compost pile and let the compost “rot.” You will know if the mixer is ready to use when it is no longer warm and dark brown. ^{[11] X Research Source}

Composting takes about 2-3 months, depending on weather conditions and materials in the compost pile.
New compost can be used to grow plants, but it can remove nitrogen from the soil as the decomposition process continues. If you find that the compost hasn’t broken down well, you can leave it in the bin for a while or spread it out in the garden and let it sit for a few weeks before planting anything in it.

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Use compost. If all goes well, you should eventually see a layer of rotting compost on the bottom of the bin. You can take out the compost and spread it in the ground or bury it in the garden.

You may need to sift through a fine mesh, or use your hands or a fork to remove large, undissolved lumps.
The composting process is so fast it’s almost magical. If you start out with a 1-cubic-foot compost bin with the right ingredients, keep it moist and turn it weekly, you’ll have several large batches of compost to use each year.

Avoid common mistakes

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Know that compost will give off heat. Some composters worry when they turn the compost and feel hot inside. While that’s not always the case, the compost pile will break down fastest when it gives off heat. A good quality compost pile will be very warm inside, even evaporating on a cold morning. This is a good sign.

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Decide whether to add slow-biodegrading materials. Some types of garden waste can be composted but take a long time to decompose, such as twigs, twigs, and hedge clippings. You may need to compost these ingredients separately as they will take longer to decompose, especially in cold climates with shorter composting seasons.

Chop heavy ingredients if possible to help them break down faster.

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Be careful when using weeds as compost. You can put the weeds in the compost bin, but there is a risk that the weeds will be spread throughout the garden. If you are sure that the grass does not have seeds, it can be completely composted. However, if the grass is already seeded, it’s best to put it in the garden trash can instead of in the compost bin. ^{[12] X Research Source}

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Do not put animal manure in the compost bin. While dog poop can technically be composted, only under special conditions in a city-approved compost bin, usually located in local parks. Do not use this type of compost in the garden or near a vegetable or fruit garden. Ask your local authority for more information. Ask your locality to provide these crates in parks and on dog tracks.

Never put the droppings of any predator in the compost bin. While herbivores’ manure is well suited for composting, pig, dog, cat, or carnivorous/omnivore droppings can expose compost bins and plants to foodborne illnesses.

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Do not put compostable containers in the compost bin. There are many types of everyday takeaway containers that are labeled as compostable. However, they can usually only be used in an industrial process and do not break down well in the home compost bin due to the temperature not being high enough.

Advice

You can also use compost to make tea, a fertilizer made by pouring a little water over the compost, letting it soak for 1-2 weeks, filtering the water, and watering the plants. ^{[13] X Research Source}
To speed up the composting process, you can put the worms in the bin. This is a special type of worm that is available online. However, if you do compost with a bottomless bin, the worms will probably get into the compost pile by themselves.
Consider sharing a compost bin if you live in an apartment.

Things you need

A location for composting
Compost bins
Kitchen waste, garden waste and other composting materials
Fork or other tool for turning the compost

Steps