{"id":60,"date":"2019-04-18T12:26:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T12:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justhomegardening.com\/?p=60"},"modified":"2020-03-03T04:34:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T04:34:23","slug":"tips-to-starting-your-own-home-compost-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justhomegardening.com\/tips-to-starting-your-own-home-compost-project","title":{"rendered":"Tips To Starting Your Own Home Compost Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It is every gardener\u2019s mantra that nothing in nature should ever be wasted. From dead plants to rotting fruits and even vegetable peels, these natural elements are haven for excellent compost to grow a thriving garden. Learning how to make compost at home is a worthwhile project to take. Home composts allow homeowners to zero in on leftovers and wastes to produce fertile soil for their hearty gardens and landscapes.<\/p>\n

But why is it better to learn this on your own and what specific guidelines can be done to make the project a success?<\/p>\n

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Source: backyardchickencoops.com.au<\/p><\/div>\n

Why Compost At Home<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the wonders in growing a fertile garden is to use compost, or decomposed organic items produced by break down of garbage and\/or biodegradable trash by natural bacteria in soil. Many expert gardeners, in fact, lauded the use of compost not just in their gardens but also in landscape amendment. Aside from composting is for free with only kitchen or backyard waste and clippings being used, it also save money from buying fertile soil to mix into your land. Soil mixed with compost from natural produce waste allow more productive growth in vegetables, herbs, and other garden plants. It does not only improve your garden\u2019s soil structure, it also improves its overall texture and aeration capabilities.<\/p>\n

Of course, adding compost is so much cleverer than buying and adding fertilizer. Growing an organic herb, vegetable or rose garden the natural way will ultimately give that distinct feeling of goodness and serenity knowing that nothing touches your haven but all things that nature can offer without the risks.<\/p>\n

Before going into the details of how to prepare compost at home let\u2019s take a look at different types of compost.<\/p>\n

Different Types of Composting<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are two types of composting: cold and hot. Cold composting is the process of simply collecting yard waste or organic waste materials from your kitchen like fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds and filters, and eggshells, etc and then gathering them in a pile or bin. Over some time these would decompose to form compost.<\/p>\n

Hot composting, on the other hand, is a much faster process for making compost at home. With this process, you’ll get compost in one to three months if the weather is warm. There are four main ingredients that are required for the fast formation of hot compost: nitrogen, carbon, air, and water. Together, these items form the feeding materials of the microorganisms, which speed up the process of decay. During spring season or fall when garden waste becomes aplenty, you can mix one big batch of compost and then start a second one while the first starts decomposing.<\/p>\n

There is another type of composting process that you should be aware of Vermicompost. Vermicompost is the process of making compost where worms eat the food scraps and release their castings, which are rich in nitrogen. However, you can\u2019t just use any old worms. For vermicompost, redworms also called “red wigglers” are used which can be purchased online or from a garden supplier.<\/p>\n

What Can You Use To Make Compost At Home?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can start with items from your refrigerator that you have not used or unlikely to use. Keeping a container in your kitchen, like this white ceramic compost bucket below which can be purchased from Amazon<\/strong><\/a>, is one of the easiest ways to start collecting composting materials.<\/p>\n

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Chefn-401-420-120-EcoCrock-Counter-Compost<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This 3.3 liter i.e .75-gallon ceramic countertop composter comes with a vented lid that has a charcoal filter that absorbs odors, thus keeping your kitchen smelling fresh. You can collect up to 3 quarts of food scraps right in your kitchen with this countertop composter. To clean, simply rinse it with warm water. This comes with 2 additional charcoal filter.<\/p>\n

If you don’t want to buy one, make your own indoor or outdoor homemade compost bin. Start by collecting these materials to start off your compost pile right: Fruit scraps and peels, Vegetable scraps and peels like cucumber peels, coffee grounds, dry leaves, finely chopped wood and bark chips, shredded newspaper.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong><\/em> It is better to not add onions and garlic scraps or peels to your homemade compost pile as they are known to repel earthworms, which are a vital part of your garden. Also for beginners, it is better to avoid eggshells as they do not break down as much. It\u2019s likely that you will have those little eggshell pieces in your compost when you pull it out.<\/p>\n

What Materials To Avoid in Home Composting<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are certain items, if used in compost is likely to generate bad smell and attract pests and other animals. So it is best to avoid these items for a compost pile: Anything that contains meat, oil, fat, or grease, dog or cat poops, dairy products<\/p>\n

Getting Started<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, how do you get started with your home compost project? While each and everyone has a different level of commitment, the following guidelines will suffice in kickstarting a productive and worthwhile home-composting project.<\/p>\n