Composting 101

Gardening can be much more fruitful if the right nutrients in your soil.  One popular way to do that is to add compost to the soil you are gardening in.  Home composting bins have gained use in the last several years making it much easier to harvest compost in your own backyard.  For the first time composter the task can have a few concerns. Composting should not smell much.  Vermicomposting or worm- composting is more likely to smell.  If it does smell badly you probably have too much water or food scraps. Never put meats, animal waste, milk products or fats/oils into your compost bin. Increase your dry brown products - papers, sticks, dry grass, etc.. Increase air flow and turn the compost. This should help with any strong smells. Composting is a process and takes time.  As you add to your pile the layering ingredients help it balance decomposing.  Along with balanced green and brown materials, the pile needs plenty of air and heat to keep the process moving along.  In the winter the cooler weather will slow down the process.  Depending on the variables we just talked about it can take several months to a year for the process to complete itself. Composting doesn't have to be a lot of work.  Many bins now turn and have built in air vents to make it easier to mix the decomposing materials and give them the oxygen and heat they need.