New Home Owner

How to Start a Compost Pile

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Posted in Yard Care 101

Handful of compostAnyone with a backyard can start a compost pile rather easily. A compost pile makes use of yard and kitchen waste while ultimately creating an excellent mulch for your flowers and vegetable garden. Here are some composting basics:

  • You may want to create a simple, three-sided compost box to contain your compost or just create a compost pile. For your compost pile to heat up properly so organic matter can decompose, it should be at least three feet square and three feet tall.
  • Rule of thumb: The more you manage your compost pile, the quicker you will get rich, black compost. Management ranges from simply leaving the pile (everything decays in time, but this method may take a year or more) to turning the compost once or twice a week with a garden spade so the exterior of the pile is turned under.
  • The pile should be kept damp. You can check for moisture by turning over the compost with a spade to check the center of the pile. Depending upon the weather, you may have to sprinkle your compost pile to keep it damp, or cover it with a tarp to prevent it from being soaked regularly.
  • The interior of the pile should be warm. This indicates decomposition of the organic materials is taking place.
  • There should be both "green" (nitrogen-rich) and "brown" (carbon-rich components in your compost pile. Common green items include grass clippings, yard refuse (old vegetable stalks, last fall's flower stalks), coffee grounds, barnyard animal manure and fruit and vegetable kitchen waste. Brown components might include dried leaves, pine needles, spoiled hay and straw.
  • Do no compost chemically-treeted grass clippings, cat litter or dog feces, and meat, fat or bones. Also do not add any diseased plant materials.
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