Beginning Backyard Composting
This year we finally jumped on the backyard composting bandwagon. We’ve been wanting to make more eco-friendly choices around our home and decided a big step we could make would be trying to eliminate as much food waste going into our household trash as possible. | This post contains affiliate links |
Composting has a lot of benefits. Some of which include reducing the amount of decomposing matter filling our landfills as well as producing nutrient-rich garden soil to benefit your own yard and garden.
Getting Set Up
When it comes to composting, you could just make a pile in the corner of your yard or make your own bin with some scrap wood or fence. However, we decided to opt for a tumbler-style bin since we were looking for something compact, self-contained, and efficient.
Once you decide on your compost set-up it's important to add some good microbes to "get the party started" and create a good environment for breaking down your food and yard waste. To do this you can add a shovel-full of garden dirt from your own garden to introduce some microbes, or you can buy some specialty compost starter to add to your composter (just follow the package directions).
Composting
Once you have it set up, just keep on adding food/yard waste and periodically turn your compost over (by hand if yours is a pile or by spinning the drum if it’s a tumbler-style). The trickiest part for me is keeping the ratios right - ideally your compost pile should be about 1 part “greens” (these would be fruit/veggie scraps, coffee grounds, etc… I like to think of them as wet items) and 2 parts “browns” (leaves, newspaper, brown paper bags, etc… I like to think of them as dry items). We personally tend to teeter from too dry to too wet in our compost bin but it seems to average out eventually.
I typically toss our kitchen scraps in a bowl on the counter as I'm cooking and promptly empty it into the compost bin outside. This has worked well for us so far since the weather has been mild. Once it turns winter here I will probably invest in a kitchen countertop compost container so I don't need to walk outside across the icy/snowy yard several times a day, and instead can just empty the kitchen container into the outside compost bin periodically as it fills up.
What to Compost
Slimy spinach in your fridge? Toss it in the composter and then recycle the container!
Here’s a short list of things you can potentially compost:
fruit
vegetables
inedible portions of fruit/veggies (i.e. - rinds/cores)
coffee grounds
egg shells
disease-free, non-invasive plants
shredded newspaper
shredded brown paper bags
shredded paper (non-glossy)
untreated sawdust (I make a lot of ornaments for my Etsy shop and compost the sawdust)
toilet paper rolls
leaves, grass clippings
small sticks
The smaller you make the items in your compost bin (cut them up or shred them), the quicker they should decompose and compost.
What NOT to Compost
Do NOT Compost:
x plastic or household trash
x meat
x dairy
x cooked food
x glass or metal
x animal waste or used animal bedding/shavings
x invasive or diseased plant materials
- compost very strong smelling fruit/veggies with caution (i.e. citrus/bananas) if you live in an area with bears or raccoons that are an issue
Good luck in your composting adventure! I hope you enjoy the process and be proud in your efforts to be a little more eco-friendly in your home.
Disclaimer: I am sharing my experiences with what we’ve learned in the composting process so far. If you’d like expert or more detailed and specific information, I’d recommend contacting your local garden center or university cooperative for more information. Your local town or city may have composting programs to join or guidelines to follow too.