Home Composting

Composting is nature's way of recycling your yard and kitchen waste and it' EASY!

Even if your municipality hasn't started refusing these items, you can help reduce the pressure on our quickly filling landfills and help the environment by composting.

HOW COMPOSTING WORKS-
Backyard composting works the same way that the forest floor works in nature. Leaves, plants, animal droppings, and even whole trees fall to the ground and are slowly decomposed or digested by billions of tiny organisms. The same tiny organisms will chew up your yard waste if you give them the right food mixture and enough water and air. The end product is a black, crumbly, earthy-smeling material called humus or compost. Compost is an excellent soil conditioner and fertilizer, it gets rid of waste materials, and it's free for the making.

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SIMPLE FENCING WIRE RING
Here is a very simple compost bin you can make.

Materials:

• 1- 8' x 3' piece of 1/2" x 1/2 galvanized wire hardware cloth
• 4 heavy duty wire twist ties 2- 3'x 3' pieces of 1/2" x 1/2" galvanized wire (optional)
• hardware cloth or sturdy plywood (for rodent-resistant bin bottom)

1. Form the wire into a cylinder by overlapping about 4" of the ends and securing them with the twist ties.
2. Place the cylinder directly on the soil. (If you live in an urban area, place the cylinder on a paved surface or on a square of hardware cloth or plywood. Then cover the bin with another square of hardware cloth or plywood to keep out nesting or foraging rodents.)
3. Add your compostable materials.
4. When you are ready to turn or use your compost, lift off the cylinder or undo the twist ties and peel off the bin. Then set the cylinder up in a new spot and turn the compost into it or fill it with new materials.

WHAT TO PUT IN COMPOST-

Dry, brown stuff to add:

• Fallen leaves
• Old, dry weeds
• Old, dry plant steins
• Chopped twigs and prunings
• Sawdust
• Shredded newspapers and cardboard
• Used paper napkins, paper towels, and shredded plain paper plates
• Hay and straw
• Wood ashes (cold)
• Wood chips

Moist, green stuff to add:

• Fresh weeds
• Fresh plants and green prunings
• Vegetable and fruit peels and trimmings, coffee grounds, eggshells, and tea bags
• Grass clippings-though these are usually best left on the lawn
• Alfalfa hay, pellets, or meal
• Manure or animal cage cleanings (except cat or dog droppings) and urine
• Hair
• Seaweed

Do Not Add:

• Problem weeds that spread by roots
• Weeds that have gone to seed
• Meat, fish, or any food scraps that
  contain large amounts of fat or oil
• Large branches
• Pressure-treated wood scraps
• Dog, cat, or human feces (they may
  contain disease-causing organisms)
• Barbecue or coal ashes
• Glossy paper
• Things that were never alive: plastic,
  glass, metal, stone, etc.
• Compost activators-the experts say
  they just aren't necessary