Get Started with a Home Compost Bin

STEP ONE

If the ready made composter is the way you think you want to go I can help you out. Get your compost bin tips here. Mine is up and composting fine.

Composting always seemed like a good thing to do, but I kept putting it off. There was work occupying so much time. It was just another project I would do later. Also, my husband thought the barrel arrangement was the best way to go. We have had an old barrel in our yard for 18 years just for that purpose.

Well, I put the brakes on that idea. A big 55 gallon drum on a stand so it could be turned was not something I thought would fit into the backyard. We have a suburban fenced backyard. It would be seen from many locations or from the bedrooms.

In 2008 I found something on eBay that works just fine and does not mar the backyard landscape. Before I could purchase it I received one for my birthday. Hey, I like useful things as presents.

This composter is the black plastic module unit type. I think it is about the cheapest ready made unit you can buy. It came in a box and sides slipped into corner units and was an easy assembly. I started throwing things in it right away following the instructions that came with the unit.

At first I had it setting in the side yard. Out of sight, but it was in no time the bedroom occupants, two young adults, started raising objections. Now it is in the far back corner.

STEP TWO

Start mixing four things in the bin.
1. Green
2. Brown
3. Water
4. Oxygen

The LA Times had a write up about one author's experience. She mentioned the fact that she could not get any activation by adding southland soil and pretty much did not get the pile going.

I started mine last April 2008 and all summer I had a dry container of garden leaves, branches and not much that looked like compost. The kitchen scraps of fruit and vegetable matter was disappearing, but I didn't get heat which I had read is a good indication of matter composting.

I started getting what I needed when I moved the location to a west facing wall that had hot afternoon sun and not a lot of circulation on two sides. I am a very happy gardener now. I've had compost to amend the soil and more to come. I am amazed at the way the organic matter compacts and in no time there is room in the bin for more material.

Grass clippings really get a heat going and turn black within a week. We can not put all our grass clippings in because the ideal is 70-30 on the wet to dry ratio of your material.

Green and Brown

This 70-30 ingredients is nitrogen and carbon.

Nitrogen=green: Grass clippings, yard trimmings, kitchen vegetable and fruit scraps, fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds and filters. The Starbuck's coffee ground giveaways work very good for keeping the heat working.

Carbon=brown: Dried leaves and other dried plant material, shredded newspaper, cardboard rolls, vacuum lint, fireplace ashes, nutshells, egg shells, sawdust.


Water
The ideal moisture content should be like a wet sponge and oxygen should be provided on a regular basis. Oxygen is provided when the material is turned.

One thing kept mine from being a producer. Water.

The original spot sat in shade after 3pm and received afternoon prevailing winds that kept it dry in the summer months. A move was the best solution. It sits in the corner of a block wall with a foot of spacing between the blocks and the tower. I turn it everyday and if it seems dryer than a wet sponge I add a gallon of water while I am turning it.

STEP THREE

Turn that pile to let in oxygen.

Using a plastic tower or the rotating tumblers is called aerobic composting. Besides all the materials and water the pile needs oxygen to work. I found a short handled fork with four tines at the local hardware store to use as a compost turner. Look around when buying your fork. The internet offered ones that were quite expensive.

Seeing the transformation of the materials is interesting enough that I find it no problem to turn the contents a little almost everyday just to see what is going on with the organic decomposition.

Three stages of microbes do the job. The first stage generates the most heat. When that is done another microbe takes over, is less hot and so on. As the microbes work they use the nitrogen to change the carbon into CO2 hence the heat. You will notice steam when the pile is turned. Turning the pile allows oxygen into the material so the next stage can develop.

Occasionally, I would notice an ammonia odor. Why is that? Too much grass. I found out during my research for this lens is that the carbon to nitrogen ratio was to low. To avoid the ammonia more brown material is needed. Once I found the right balance I had constant composting going on in the middle layer of the tower where it would get the hottest.

I am very curious about the workings of stuff but I have not actually measured the temperature of the generated heat. I do know if you have a 104 to 170 degree heat the pile will kill weed seeds and microscopic one celled animals. A grayish white layer is fungi developing on the cooler outer layer. This signals that the pile is in good composting stage and you will be seeing shrinkage due to break down of material. This is where bits of paper will decompose. Paper will be harder to compost because it is a cellulose. I found newspaper is faster to break down compared to paper from the house shredder.

This is how my compost looks. Store bought you may notice has more small sticks. I do not have a chipper so I have hardly any sticks in mine. Takes too long to break up or cut by hand.

I have a screen I use to aid in getting a good batch to add to the soil. I throw big chunks back in the composter.

I find that one bin is okay. I wait three of four weeks for each extraction. If you have heat most of the time you should have the bottom half of the bin looking dark. Use the screen to filter the bottom half each time. The half above your opening will stay put. Later it will start falling as it breaks down into black material.

It is true that your small compost pile is releasing CO2 carbons into the air. That is a big issue with the advent of global concerns for greenhouse gases. I thought of that and was leery of contributing more to global warming. The first thing everyone should look at is themselves. If you support plant growth and generate organic wastes think about how you can be personally responsible for that. I have lots of food scraps from our four adult house and lots of plant growth from our third acre lot. I feel better that I am cutting on landfill waste and leaving it right in my own backyard. I also use less water running the garbage disposal. That is big in dry southern California. Less affluent to be processed at a treatment plant or running off to our bays and ocean sites.


If a household has a compost system it helps to extend landfill life. Landfills are a producer of methane gas and acidic leachate, having by far more control problems than backyard compost piles.

Eventually, the hard packed clay dirt that makes up our lot will be amended with good rich compost. The soil will retain the rainfall better, as well as, the water we use for irrigation, saving money and water resources for the household bottom line. More water will percolate into the ground. Another plus for southern California because we do rely on some ground water in the LA basin.

Soil amendments give the ground more air pockets for critters of the dirt. More space for roots to grow and hence better plants for your gardening efforts.

Give home composting a try. There is much to gain doing this simple outdoor occupation.

A few years back a coworker's story made me laugh. He became discouraged with his project because his compost was killing his plants and the spot where he had his pile was still devoid of any growing plants. Weeds or anything.

I am retired and I have glorious time. Do not think that you have to spend this much time on your pile. To Compost or Not To Compost is a Squidoo Group that will give you the information you need to answer that question. There you will find various lenses on the different methods of composting. All the info you need to start composting.

I also have a page on a collection of Squidoo lenses about worm composting, pile composting and aerobic composting. Read what others have to say about easy composting. DIY Compost *7 Very Good Lenses on Composting.

To write your own page or lens on Squidoo about backyard compost start here and discover how much fun Squidoo is.

Remember, once you start composting you may have to work on it to get it right. Climate, the green and brown available, the water and oxygen all are variables to be sorted out on the how to of composting.

For those who live in LA County there is a program that conducts workshops and gives discounts for compost bins and worm bins (cash only).

The schedule for dates are here.

Living in Southern California gives you the advantage of producing compost year round.