By: Mirela Golec |
How to make compost |
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Compost: Do you separate kitchen waste?
Did you know that 30% of household waste is organic waste?
Composting of biodegradable household waste can turn into something useful.
Make use of waste usually throw it in the trash to produce compost that is worth like gold for your plants.
What is compost
Composting is an old natural method which will convert organic residues into fertile humus. Compost is created from the remains of fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, etc.
When the leaves have fallen, the plant dies or a branch collapses, the nutrients are returned to the soil.
Putting the remains of fruits and vegetables on a pile made of fallen leaves and branches will accelerate the composting process, and nutritious compost will be used in your garden.
This will not only dispose of organic waste in the most acceptable way, but will also recycle nutrients.
Remnants of food will enhance the quality of the soil in your garden. The soil will become more resistant to pests and diseases.
Compost feeds your plants, but it is also a method for solving the problem of waste management.
How to choose a site for composting
Before you begin composting, it is important to choose a place to keep the compost.
Compost does not necessarily require a large space. You might not believe this, but you can make compost on the balcony!
Compost can be stacked in a pile, which can optionally be enclosed by wood, brick, wire.
You can buy special composter from specialized shops.
You can use a plastic bucket or a metal box for making compost. However, note that the bottom of the box has to have holes.
If you wish to stack your compost into a pile, it is enough to a place in your garden where you want to keep the compost. It is recommended to cover compost pile.
Pile should be about 1 meter high and just as wide. Length depends on the amount of space at your disposal.
If you do not want your compost to look like a pile of waste, you can enclose it with wood, brick or wire.
Composting in piles allows easier access to the composting material, compost is easily turned, moisture and breathability are under your control.
"Green" and "brown" compost
Materials for composting are classified in the "green" and "brown." Green materials are rich in nitrogen or protein. They enhance the growth of beneficial microorganisms.
The green compost includes:
- grass
- coffee residue
- tea filter bags
- fruit and vegetable residues
- feces of cows, horses or sheep
Brown materials are rich in carbon or carbohydrates. Brown compost serves as a food source for microorganisms.
The brown compost includes:
- fallen leaves from the garden
- pine needles
- tree bark
- twigs
- straw, hay, sawdust
- paper
- cotton cloth
Take into account that some organic wastes decompose difficult. Therefore it is not recommended to put large amounts of such waste in your compost. Examples of such waste are corks, walnut shells, cones etc.
You should never compost inseminated weeds, walnut leaves, nuts, sick plants, the remains of cooked food and animal products.
Remains of food and dairy products will attract rodents. In addition, your compost could begin to spoil and cause various diseases because of harmful bacteria.
Due to the content of heavy metals and toxins, you should not put materials that contain chemicals at the composting site - old drugs, PVC packaging, Styrofoam, colored magazines, feline or canine feces, the remains of tobacco, the contents of the vacuum cleaner bags, etc.
The only recommended feces for making compost are feces of animals that feed exclusively on plant foods such as cows, horses or sheep.
The exact ratio of "green" and "brown" material does not exist, but it is recommended that you use two thirds "brown" and one-third "green" materials. Compost will be created because of natural processes, not because of an exact ratio of materials.
How to make compost
Composting begins in the kitchen by separating biodegradable waste and by mincing it.
Every time you cook a meal or coffee, you create a certain amount of waste. Do not throw the waste generated from the remains of vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds and tea bags in the trash with all the other rubbish, but mince and separate it.
First you need to select a place for stacking compost. The site you have chosen for composting should not collect water. It would be good to choose a place with a slight slope.
Compost pile should be protected from strong winds and direct sun.
The basis of any compost is as much important as the foundations are for a house. The base of a compost pile should consist of coarse woody material such as pieces of wood, branches, twigs, etc.
If you use plastic barrel, crate or box for composting, you have to drill holes in the bottom that will be open to the air since your compost pile has to breathe.
When making compost, be careful about the ratio of nitrogen and carbon.
Dried leaves and plants are rich in carbon, while the remains of biodegradable kitchen waste is rich in nitrogen. Carbon is a bacteria fuel, and nitrogen is a building material.
How to make good compost? Mince "green" materials for compost (kitchen waste) and mix them with "brown" materials (leaves, twigs, straw).
Soak everything in water, but not too much. Stack the compost into a pile; cover it with soil or a layer of straw, hay or leaves.
Compost should not be too humid. If the compost is too wet you need to ensure drainage of excess water or add dry compost, such as newspapers or sawdust.
If the compost is too dry it is necessary to pour water in it or add plant residue into it to compensate for the lack of water.
Stir compost from time to time to avoid unpleasant scent and to get enough oxygen into it and to transform it into needed humus. Stirring compost regularly brings air to bacteria.
Turn the pile about every 3 months or when you see that a pile has settled.
Be careful when turning the compost so that materials from the bottom come to the top and vice versa. This will ventilate the compost, and if necessary, you can also moisture compost while doing so.
If you are disposing you waste as soon as it is created, you will have to turn compost more often - at least once a month.
However, the compost should not be turned too often because we have to allow it to heat up.
Heating of compost is very important because weed seeds, pathogens and parasites are destroyed in the process. The ideal temperature in the middle of the compost pile is 50 - 70 degrees C.
You have to cover compost pile in order to protect it against light, but also from excessive moisture during winter and excessive dryness during summer.
Ideal material for making cover is the one that lets air in and traps moisture, for example a thin layer of soil, dry grass, leaves, hay or cardboard.
After 6 months to a year, organic waste will turn to natural nutrient-rich fertilizer - compost.
Good compost has no smell of decay, but is more reminiscent of the smell of wet earth in the woods.
Mature compost has a uniform look; it is lumpy, dark brown to black in color. We can not recognize the initial material.
Immature compost does not have dark color, it has a sour odor or smells like mushrooms. In it one can find remnants of substances such as leaves, vegetable debris, etc. It is best to turn such compost and let it mature.
Other ways to use compost
If you are planning to plant a new tree in the near future, dig a hole of adequate size. Put biodegradable organic waste from your kitchen into the whole before planting a tree in it. That way you will enrich the soil into which you plan to plant a tree with nutrients.
If you have a part of the garden that you do not use at the time, but want to keep the fertile soil that will be used for planting in the future, dispose your organic waste in that part of the garden. This will prevent drying out of the soil and the growth of weeds.
If you need nutrients for watering the garden, you can put your organic waste into a large bucket or barrel and just wait for it to rot, and then use it for watering your garden.
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