Where should you start composting?

Answer 1

Pick a spot in the yard that is out of the way.

Start piling up grass clippings, leaves, old hay, manure, pulled weeds.

Turn the pile over with a garden fork every 3 weeks.

You will have nice compost in no time. you can also add any organic waste from home such as onion peel, potatoes, fruit and vegtable skin and pips but make sure you cover them up in dry stuff like sawdust or grass clippings to avoid the smell, i recomend turning the pile over once a week if you can. it helps reduce the build up of bad smells. make sure the pile is always moist but not dripping wet, an easy way is to connect it to your gardens irrigation.zaf.

Answer 2

A compost pile is made by alternating layers of "green" and "brown" materials. "Green" materials, like kitchen scraps, chopped-up plant stalks, and succulent, leafy material, are higher in nitrogen. Animal manure, which is also high in nitrogen, is considered a "green" material for purposes of composting, even though it's brown in color. "Brown" materials, like fallen tree leaves, straw, and shredded paper or carboard, are high in carbon. The art of making compost is learning to balance the two.

If you chop materials into 3-4" pieces, they'll break down much more quickly, the pile will be easier to turn, and you'll get a more even-textured compost. Moisten the materials as you build the layers. Ideal moisture content is 50%--about as wet as a wrung-out sponge. If you squeeze a handful of compost hard in your fist, only a drop or two of water should come out. Compost that's too wet compacts down and "goes anaerobic"--all of the oxygen gets used up. That's when you have problems with odors, and start losing nutrients. Compost that's too dry won't break down.

Keep the pile covered with a tarp or piece of plastic, to keep excessive rainfall out, and hold moisture in when it's hot and dry.

Turning the pile speeds up composting. The middle of the pile heats up, and breaks down more quickly than the outside of the pile. Turning the pile, and mixing the inside portions with the outside portions, results in a faster, more even breakdown.

Answer 3

[1] Start the compost pile in fall. The nitrogen in green things is cooler, the carbon in brown things easier to find. [2] Choose an area 3'x3'x3'-5'x5'x5'. Smaller than the former heats the pile too low for materials to break down. Larger than the latter lets in too little air, and too much water. Left to its own devices, air pushes 18-24 inches outside-inside, from all directions. [3] Locate the compost pile on level, well-drained ground. Make sure the location is out of direct sunlight, and away from strong winds. Light and winds cool and dry the pile, instead of heating and breaking down. [4] Get a compost thermometer. Within two weeks, the pile needs to be at 110-160 degrees F. Or put a metal pole in the ground at what will be the center of the pile. A pole warm or hot to touch verifies that breakdown is taking place. [5] Kitchen scraps may be used, except dairy products and meat. [6] Alternate and moisten 6-8 inch layers of brown and 2-3 inch layers of green, for sources of carbon and nitrogen respectively. Examples of the former are fallen leaves. Examples of the latter are grass clippings. The ratio of one part green to two parts brown break down fastest. Green amounts in excess of this ratio smell. [7] Check regularly for good air circulation. Too little air gives compost a revoltingly ammonia-type smell. Also check the layers weekly for adequate moisture. The compost needs to be moist, not sopping wet, to break down. [8] Turn the pile weekly, if possible, from the older parts to the newer or from the outside to the center. The more the pile is turned, the faster the breakdown to compost. Daily turning may yield finished compost in just 21 days. Weekly turning may yield finished compost in 3 months. No turning at all may yield finished compost in 6-12 months. Finished compost has no look or smell other than that of fresh coffee-brown earth.

Answer 4

Find a spot in your yard that is on level ground and gets sun about half of the day. You also want to be sure that it is not in an area "well traveled" because you don't want the kids and pets having access to it. Clear the spot of all grass, roots, etc and turn up the soil with a shovel. Depending on how large of a compost bin you are building, you can add bagged top soil from any gardening store. Also, lots of dead or decaying leaves are great to use!!!! Once you have prepared the area it is time ti start saving your scraps from the kitchen. You can put pretty much anything in your bin EXCEPT FOR MEAT PRODUCTS OR BONES. If you do use meat you will end up with maggots, then flys in not time. Use vegetable, teabags, coffee filters and grounds, oh yeah, and no diairy products or you'll really have a smell....\ Keep in mind, in a few weeks you should start seeing earth worms, don't worry, the more worms the better!!! earth worms only thrive in nutrient rich dirt, and that's the whole purpose of your compost bin. keep the area very moist and turned over atleast every 3 days. I have even had to put a tarp over mine before due to too much rain. I also added a a link that hopefully will be helpful. HAPPY GARDENING

Answer 5

Any kind of vegetation; leaves, grass, vegetables (cooked or raw), fruit rinds, peelings, husks, bread, and whatever. Egg shells are OK, if crushed first. (They break down very slowly if left intact.)

Do not add any fats, bones, meat or anything animal-related to your compost pile. (Egg shells are the only exception.)

Large branches should be shredded, or otherwise disposed of; actual wood doesn't compost well.

Answer 6

Save vegetable waste, fruit peelings and leftover/rotten fruit and vegetables. Don't include meat. Put your plants in a plastic bin and let it decompose, shaking and churning occaisonally. After a couple weeks, you might have compost.

Answer 7

Compost in an area where you can get water to add to the compost. Put the compost in an area where the smell will not bother anyone.