Backyard Compost Pile

A balanced and thriving compost system is much more than a pile of rotting produce.
Backyard compost pile. Choose an outdoor space for your compost you need at least 3 square feet of space and a bin. Finished compost is a free soil amendment and fertilizer for the garden. Instead it s a living micro system filled with teeny living organisms busily breaking down all that garbage into easily accessible minerals and nutrients for your plants to take back up and prepare for your food use.
Repeat the layering process and turn. Building a compost pile is one of the easiest gardening projects you will ever undertake and one of the most important. Sprinkle water over the pile regularly so it has the consistency of a damp sponge.
By adding compost you ll improve the overall texture of your. Backyard composting select a dry shady spot near a water source for your compost pile or bin. The basic backyard compost bin.
The basics what is it. Fill your backyard compost bin with a 6 inch layer of brown matter and a 2 to 3 inch layer of green matter. It is mild and won t burn plants like chemical fertilizers.
Wood wire trashcans milk crates cinder blocks barrels here are a few creative ideas. Water until moist but not soggy similar to the feel of a damp sponge. You can find designs for backyard compost bins from as simple as a box made out of wood to complicated and stylish systems utilizing all sorts of materials.
Moisten dry materials as they are added. Plenty lead a dual life starting as untended scrap heaps through the spring and summer which get spruced up layered and entirely rebuilt in the autumn when composting material is especially plentiful. Truth to tell most compost piles accumulate gradually.
Add brown and green materials as they are collected making sure larger pieces are chopped or shredded. Given time and exposure to elements organic material will break down on its own. If this happens your pile will rot instead of compost.
But you can also speed the process up. The more frequently you turn the faster the organic material will break down. Kidding if you don t have a backyard and still want a traditional composting experience you can take your food scraps to a compost pile that you share with neighbors or at a community garden.