How to Start Composting

I feel like composting has gotten a bad rap in the past few years because people have been trying to make it way more complicated than it is. Some folks will tell you that you need a tumbler to do it (not true) or that your neighbors will complain from the smell if you do it (also not true, has literally never happened.)

But at its core, composting is pretty much just putting your discarded lawn clippings, leaves, and leftover veggies in a pile somewhere in your yard. And nature takes care of the rest.

In general, your compost should contain a mixture of roughly 50% “green” material and 50% “brown” material. Green material includes kitchen scraps like veggies, fruits, egg shells and other stuff that will decompose quickly. Brown material includes roughage like leaves, small sticks, grass clippings, and ink-free paper scraps. You’ll also want to make sure that your compost remains moist, which will aid in things breaking down quickly. You can do that by watering your compost regularly and turning it over so that things mix together. It will take months but you’ll know your compost is ready when it’s dark-colored, soft and smells earthy.

To start your own compost, identify where in your yard to place your compost bin or pile. I recommend putting yours near the back, simply so that it is out of the way. I personally have never found a compost pile to be smelly (even in summer, it just smells like moist dirt to me) but if you’re worried about that, place it behind a fence or away from outdoor living areas.

Second, build a barrier to contain your pile or place a bin or tumbler. Tumblers can be a great way to get compost going quickly because they allow an enclosed environment where compost material can heat up and decompose faster. The tumbling or rotating allows for the material to get aerated and also aids in decomposition. However, a straight up pile on the ground works too. Our compost pile rests between fencing and old wooden beams that I notched with a hatchet to hold it together, and it works just fine. I keep an enclosed compost container for kitchen scraps under our sink and take it out for emptying a few times a week.

You can try small-scale composting by keeping an enclosed composting container for kitchen scraps under your sink. Every week, dump the contents from the container into your garden pots or raised beds and gently mix it into the soil using a trowel or your hands. You can go even smaller by saving egg shells, breaking them into bits and working that into plant soil.