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composting 101

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heapHERE, IN THE COMPOST HEAP, is life and death and life again—proof positive of “from dust to dust.” But too many gardeners waste the raw material of future soil amendments by getting hung up on silly details, like what shape of pile or kind of bin to use, what can and can’t go in the pile, or how much work they fear composting will be. It doesn’t have to be much work at all; even without turning and other human intervention, the leaves on the forest floor break themselves down in time, don’t they? So will your pile, if it’s made sensibly.

What method of composting you use should be determined by the volume of material created in the yard (and to a lesser degree, in the kitchen, where vegetable scraps, egg shells and coffee and tea grounds can be collected for the heap, too). I create far too much raw material for a mere bin-type system, the commercially available kind made of metal or heavy plastic or mesh that are about as big as a washing machine. I have one of those, a metal one that shuts tight and thereby keeps animals out, to hold my vegetable food wastes, alternating them with layers of garden debris and a little soil or finished compost to get things activated and reduce any chance of unpleasant odors.

The latest rage is all about lobster-trap-wire bins, meaning really durable even under the ocean day in and out. But my main heap is about 40 feet long and 5 or 6 feet wide, a long, open pile that in composting jargon is called a windrow. In the peak of fall cleanup and leaf raking, it gets to be about 5 feet tall, too, but as the material begins to settle, and eventually to break down, it’s usually more like 3 to 4 feet high.

Whatever style of composting you choose, from a simple, small pile to a long windrow to an enclosed store-bought bin, the key is to vary the kinds of materials that go into the mix. There is no precise recipe; there is just common sense at work here, too. Green plus brown equals black gold. Layer the two basic categories of ingredients: green ones (nitrogen-rich materials such as grass clippings and leafy green plants) and brown ones (carbon-rich materials like dry, brown leaves or twiggy bits and pieces). Too much of either one will impede decomposition.

I liken successful composting to the combustion that goes on when my car is running smoothly: to ignite, the car needs fuel, air, and a spark. So does the compost heap. The spark is the nitrogen-rich green stuff; the fuel is the brown stuff; the air is supplied by occasional turning of the pile, and water must be available from rain or the hose, so the pile is slightly moist but not sodden.

Too much green stuff (particularly wet things like grass clippings) will produce a smelly heap; spread them around, and toss in a thin layer of soil or old compost to help things get going. I don’t bother with store-bought compost starters; there are plenty of beneficial micro-organisms in good garden soil and some well-rotted leaves. Too much brown stuff will just sit there (and that includes things that are “brown” chemically if not in color, like piles of orange rinds from weeks of juicing). Chopping up difficult brown elements will speed decomposition; so will aerating the pile, and adding more greens. And don’t site the heap in the dark; a position in at least part-day sun is essential to good decomposition.

It’s easier to list what doesn’t go in the heap than what does. Leave out weeds with seeds on them (pull them before they go to flower and seed, when they can be composted); weeds that spread even without seeds (like bulbous onion grass); diseased plants; fats and oils, such as dairy products and meats and fish; bones. Manures from farm animals (not domestic pets) are great additions to the heap, if you can get them from a nearby farm or stable, but remember that unless they are well-composted in a fast-decomposing (or “hot”) pile, between 120 and 160 degrees F, they will be full of the seeds of what the animals were fed, so plan to let them rot thoroughly in a heap that’s really cooking along. A compost thermometer will help eliminate the guesswork here.

That said, I will admit I put most weeds in my heap (not bagging them up for the trash) and that I never take my heap’s temperature. Nobody is perfect.

A PLACE JUST FOR LEAVES

If you want to use compost as mulch later on, I recommend composting leaves separately, in their own pile. They can be shredded to speed up the process; this can be done if they are raked into small piles where the heap is to be made and run over with the mower, which works better when they are dry. Then moisten the pile and perhaps sprinkle in some soil or old compost. The leaves can also be left whole, in bags or in a pile, all winter and shredded come spring. Leaf mold, as the rotted stuff is called, is a great mulch or soil amendment.

sifting compost How often you turn your pile will affect the speed at which finished material is ready to be returned to the garden; if you’ve got time, you can escape turning and just let nature take its course (again, nobody’s perfect—and would you like to turn a 40-foot-long windrow every few weeks?). I turn twice a year, in spring and late summer or fall, and extract the lowest layer, where the finished stuff is hiding.

After 20 years of doing this by hand, I recently treated myself to a small tractor with a front-end loader, and the work will be easier from now on. Before using the compost in the garden, I toss it through a homemade sifter, into a wheelbarrow, to cull the stones and sticks and unfinished bits like tenacious corncobs or thick roots. I top-dress my flower beds with an inch or two of the sifted material each spring, along with some all-natural organic fertilizer, and use the rest to top up my raised vegetable-garden beds. Yummy.

compost-screen

Favorite Resources: I am as proud of my compost heap as I am of any part of my garden. It is the archaeological record of my garden past; it is the stuff from which future gardens will arise. I read a lot about, from sources like these: Garden Organic, a 50-year-old British charity; Journey to Forever (don’t worry, not some into-the-bunker survivalist cult); and the vast Cornell Composting archive. Dig in.

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5 comments
March 24, 2008

comments

  1. Heather says

    March 24, 2009 at 10:53 am

    Thanks for the great info.! I have big gardening dreams for this year but I am starting from scratch in a yard with a sand volleyball court in it currently covered in leaves. Hmm… we need a massive amount of compost quickly. Well, I feel slightly more confident to take on the task. (I think we’ll have to buy some for this year.) I did just make a bin out of pallets last weekend, it is no berm of compost though.

    Reply
    • margaret says

      March 24, 2009 at 11:51 am

      Welcome, Heather. Dream (the bigger the better) are the force behind every gardener, so you are on the right track. Channel them into energy to focus on a portion of the eventual dream, a project at a time, and you will get there. I started with one bed and some daffodils, and uh-oh, look where I am now! See you soon again.

      Reply
  2. John Lynch says

    November 8, 2009 at 9:56 am

    I have been composting for many years and just recently took composting to a higher level. I adapted my
    6.5 HP shredder with 4 pieces of aluminum angle iron, attached around the perimeter of the material exit chute, where I attach recycled mesh cabbage bags to collect the finished compost. The shredder eliminates any grubs, weed or tree roots or anything else and bags a high quality compost at the same time. John Lynch

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      November 8, 2009 at 11:03 am

      Welcome, John, and thank you for the tip. I am also thinking of fabricating a wire mesh “cover” for the exit chute of my tractor deck, to turn that into a mulcher, too. My beighbor created one for his, and I am jealous (fortunately, he does the last pass of mowing for me to mulch up the leaves, being the great neighbor that he is). See you soon again, I hope.

      Reply
  3. marty warburton says

    March 4, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    I am concerned about citrus peel in the compost . I know they take a long time to decompose, but I heard that they are harmful to worms. what can you tell me about that? I love your website! thanks. Marty

    Reply

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I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

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Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

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