Step-by-Step Guide to Making Compost That Will Enrich Your Garden

You can turn your food scraps and yard waste into “black gold” that will feed your plants and improve your soil. Composting the right way is quite simple: Just layer organic materials and a dash of soil to create a concoction that turns into humus (the best soil booster around!). You can then improve your flower garden with compost, top dress your lawn, feed your growing veggies, and more. Once you get your compost pile started, you’ll find that it’s an easy way to repurpose kitchen scraps and other organic materials into something that can help keep your plants thriving.

What to compost

Composting is a great way to use the things in your refrigerator that are a little past their prime, therefore eliminating waste. Keeping a container in your kitchen is an easy way to accumulate your composting materials. If you don’t want to buy one, you can make your own indoor or outdoor compost bin. Collect these materials to start off your compost pile right:

• Fruit scraps
• Vegetable scraps
• Coffee grounds
• Eggshells (though they can take a while to break down)
• Grass and plant clippings
• Dry leaves
• Finely chopped wood and bark chips
• Shredded newspaper
• Straw
• Sawdust from untreated wood

Test Garden Tip: Think twice before adding citrus peels, onions, and garlic to your homemade compost pile. It is believed that these materials repel earthworms, which are a vital part of your garden.

What not to compost

• Anything containing meat, oil, fat, or grease
• Diseased plant materials
• Sawdust or chips from pressure-treated wood
• Dog or cat feces
• Weeds that go to seed
• Dairy products

Cold composting

Is as simple as collecting yard waste or taking out the organic materials in your trash (such as fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds and filters, and eggshells) and then corralling them in a pile or bin. Over the course of a year or so, the material will decompose.

Here’s a video on making to compost.

And here’s how to build your own compost bin. Use small container if living in apartment or condo