There are two ways to compost. Cold composting and hot. Both are way easier than a lot of people make them out to be. Don't be scared or intimidated. I believe you have all the skills needed to allow a bunch of stuff to rot and turn to soil.
So you're looking to make some of your own compost are you? It's totally understandable that you think rotting a bunch of leaves and kitchen scraps is too hard for you. I mean letting stuff sit in a pile until it rots??!! That's must take some Olympic level of training to acquire that level of skill.
No it doesn't.
You are letting a bunch of stuff fall apart. That's it.
But it IS understandable that you think it's out of your realm of skills because according to most blogs and books composting is HARD. It's not hard. Please refer to the earlier sentence about how you just have to let stuff rot.
I've been seriously composting since I got chickens because they poop and they poop a lot. Plus they go through a lot of straw which is basically their cat litter but for chickens.
With all this straw and poop I quickly learned to compost and also quickly learned you do not need to have a huge brain to achieve this skill.
You need, like, part of a frontal lobe and basically no back lobe. That's it. If you have just a corner of a brain you can compost.
For this little step-by-step on how to make compost I'm going to talk about hot composting because it's the fastest way to get compost.
Table of Contents
The Difference Between Hot and Cold Composting
- Hot composting (The Berkley method) is a method where a large pile of organic matter is created and brought to high temperature over and over again. Compost can be achieved in a month or so.
- Cold composting has you adding bits and pieces over time. This type of compost is good and it requires nothing more than dumping your scraps into the bin. But it can take a year or two to completely break down and it doesn't have the level of beneficial microorganisms in it that hot compost does.
I have a full step by step guide later on in this post, but these are always the most popular questions I get about composting so let's address them now shall we?
Best Compost Bins
Which one should you get? Well, you have quite a few options including not having one at all.
City provided
A lot of people think they're going to try composting, fail, and then stick their composting bin on the road for someone else to take. That's how I got the square bin that's in my chicken coop.
Most cities provide this same model for their community members either for free or at a much cheaper price than you would pay to buy the same one from Amazon or a home improvement store.
Tumbling compost bins.
Tumbling compost bins are the easiest way to guarantee success. Turning compost is a lot of work so most people just don't do it. This means their compost takes a longggggg time to decompose and turn into soil. Using a tumbling bin means your'e much more likely to turn your compost since all you have to do is tumble the bin.
Tumblers with handles for turning them are the easiest to use and require less strength but larger tumblers that you spin by hand (like the one you see above) hold more compost and will generally produce compost more quickly. I don't have this tumbler, I've never used this tumbler, but I would very much like this tumbler. (or figure out a way to make one myself)
DIY out of pallets
Yet another thing that wood pallets can be used for. Prop them against each other and tie or screw them together to create a big compost bin. Just leave the front of it open for easy turning of the compost or prop the final pallet against it so you can easily pull it away for turning.
My community garden used these compost bins made out of screwed together wood pallets for years to produce perfect, crumbly compost out of all our garden waste and vegetation. Rotted tomatoes, twigs, bolted lettuce and whatever else we had to pull out of our gardens went into them.
We've now moved to a system where each garden has their own compost bins within their plots.
A pile with a tarp draped over it
The truth is you don't need to buy or build anything to have a productive compost pile. It's ugly, but you can just cover your compost with a dark tarp. (dark attracts the sun and makes your compost heat up more easily)
All of the nice clean straw you see here, will become the dark looking compost you see under the tarp within a couple of weeks. IF you hot compost properly.
What you've learned so far.
- Composting is easy, hot composting is using a BIG pile of stuff and you can use a bin or just a big pile.
That doesn't seem like enough information for you to compost. You also need to know how to do it.
How to Compost
You need to follow a few rules in terms of what you put into your compost pile and how big it is. Your compost pile needs to be big. The bigger it is the easier time you'll have getting it to heat up and become actual compost.
Composting is all based on the reactions between Nitrogen (greens), Carbon (browns), heat and moisture.
To make compost you just need 2 parts GREEN material and 1 part BROWN.
Add all your ingredients together in your pile or bin and stick a thermometer in it. Once it reaches 130F turn the pile to cool it down and start the process over again. You'll need to do this 2-4 times before it stops heating up.
Once your pile stops heating up it should be genuine compost and you can let it rest for a few weeks to gather up more nutrients before using it.
There's such a thing as a compost thermometer, but I just use a regular meat thermometer for testing the temperature of my soil. A genuine compost thermometer has a really long probe (20") that can fit down into the middle of your compost pile and has reminders of the temperatures you want to be at written on it.
Nitrogen Materials for Composting (Greens)
vegetable scraps
chicken poop
weeds
food waste
fruit peels
grass clippings
garden trimmings
seaweed
coffee grounds
soil
old plant material
Carbon Materials for Composting (Browns)
dry leaves
straw
sawdust
shredded paper
wood chips
wood ashes
dryer lint
pine needles
If you have the right ratio of greens to browns within a couple of days of making your large compost pile (at least 1 cubic meter) you'll notice it will get hot. You're looking for a temperature of around 130°F.
WARNING: The first time your pile heats up it will smell like a decrepit old rock star who has incontinence issues.
If you have the right amount of heat your pile will be steaming hot, but keep an old thermometer around to check the temperature so you know exactly how hot it is. 130 F - 140 F is ideal for creating a perfect environment for microorganisms which will do all the work of breaking down your organic material.
How to Know If Your Compost is Done.
- The pile will be around 50% of the size it was when you started.
- You won't be able to distinguish any exact materials.
- It will be a uniformly dark brown colour.
- The pile smells earthy, like soil.
- It feels like soil in your hand.
- A radish will germinate in it and the leaves will be nice and green (not yellow.)
General Composting Tips
- Smaller items will compost faster than larger so pruning and clipping larger items will speed everything up.
- Compost needs moisture! Don't forget to add it when the pile looks dry. It should be damp. This helps soften the materials and provides a good environment for the microorganisms.
- Do NOT let your compost pile heat up beyond 130-140. Any hotter and you risk killing the beneficial microbes that are created in hot composting.
- Your pile should be 1 cu meter or 35 cu ft. To calculate cubic ft.:
- width x height x length
- The more diverse the ingredients in your pile, the more diverse the nutrients and microbes it will produce.
Problems
Pile stinks - If the smell lasts longer than a couple of days and smells putrid there is too much nitrogen or too much water, add some brown material.
Pile won't heat up - Needs more nitrogen. Add green material, make sure it has enough moisture and turn it to aerate it.
Pile gets too hot - Turn it before it gets over 130 F (55 C)
This pile is made up entirely of straw and chicken poop and a tiny bit of shredded newspaper. There's actually far more "brown material" (the straw) than "green material" (the chicken poop) But, even without the ratios you're supposed to have for composting, this material heats up within a day or two.
After achieving its initial heating up, your pile will quit. It will stop getting as hot as it did the first time. You will get angry and consider throwing it at people.
Do NOT succumb to this temptation. Your pile NOW needs to have more oxygen and possibly water added to it. These two things are needed to get the compost moving and shaking again.
Like a decrepit old rock star after a stadium show, if you give him oxygen and water ... he'll bounce back and be ready for action in no time.
In my research on the Internet I've found that not nearly enough emphasis is given to keeping your pile damp.
Not sopping wet, but definitely damp. So once your pile has cooled down, turn it and mix it. This will move the compost from the outside of the pile to the inside (where it gets hotter). It will also add much needed oxygen to the mixture. Then, if the pile seems dry, water it.
If you happen to have chickens and a loose pile of compost you can let them do the work of turning the pile. Just let them loose on it for a day and it'll be all mixed up and turned ready to start heating up again.
Otherwise, that tumbling compost bin I mentioned earlier makes turning your pile WAY easier. You just turn the handle and the bin tumbles away.
If you maintain this schedule of monitoring the temperature, aerating and keeping the pile damp you can have compost in as little as a month.
How to Hot Compost.
How to turn food scraps and garden waste into compost in 1 month using hot composting, also known as "The Berkley Method".
Materials
- Green materials
- Brown materials
- Water
Tools
- Pitchfork
- or
- Compost turner
Instructions
- Fill your compost bin or pile all of the green and brown material you have. (some people layer but you don't have to)
- 2 parts green material to 1 part brown (But if you don't have that exact ratio don't worry about it! It'll still turn to compost, just not as quickly)
- Water the compost material if it's dry. You want the pile to be damp and it might need quite a lot of water.
- Put the compost bin lid on to help retain heat or cover your pile with a tarp.
- In 2 days check the temperature of your pile by pulling away some material from the centre and inserting a thermometer. Note the temperature.
- Continue to do this until the pile reaches 130 - 140 F (55-60 C) Once that heat level is achieved turn the pile. This will cool it down and get it ready to heat up once again.
- Continue doing this until the pile no longer heats up after turning it. Your pile will get less hot with each time you turn it. If it isn't achieving the 130 degree mark and only gets to 110 F for example, then turn the pile once starts to cool down on its own. Then let it rest for 2-6 weeks before using it.
Notes
How to Know If Your Compost is Done.
- The pile will be around 50% of the size it was when you started.
- You won't be able to distinguish any exact materials.
- It will be a uniformly dark brown colour.
- The pile smells earthy, like soil.
- It feels like soil in your hand.
- A radish will germinate in it and the leaves will be nice and green (not yellow.)
General Composting Tips
- Smaller items will compost faster than larger so pruning and clipping larger items will speed everything up.
- Compost needs moisture! Don't forget to add it when the pile looks dry. It should be damp. This helps soften the materials and provides a good environment for the microorganisms.
- Do NOT let your compost pile heat up beyond 130-140. Any hotter and you risk killing the beneficial microbes that are created in hot composting.
- Your pile should be 1 cu meter or 35 cu ft. To calculate cubic ft.:
- width x height x length
- The more diverse the ingredients in your pile, the more diverse the nutrients and microbes it will produce.
Problems
Pile stinks - If the smell lasts longer than a couple of days and smells putrid there is too much nitrogen or too much water, add some brown material.
Pile won't heat up - Needs more nitrogen. Add green material, make sure it has enough moisture and turn it to aerate it.
Pile gets too hot - Turn it before it gets over 130 F (55 C)
** Don't forget to add your weeds to your hot compost pile. It gets hot enough to destroy weed seeds, plus weeds have LOTS of diverse nutrients in them that will add a lot to your compost - dandelion leaves, comfrey and chickweed are great examples of this**
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Elle Bee
Just out of curiosity, are you using fresh seaweed? Or just leftover nori?
Karen
LOL. I'm not using any seaweed. That info is just for the benefit of people in other parts of the world. ~ karen!
Nancy Blue Moon
I have a composter similar to yours..except I paid $100.00 for mine..I really really want one that tumbles..How easy would that be..sigh..
Julia
Have just read this with my 9 year old daughter...
"Oh mummy, she is funny isn't she?"
Karen
LOL. I didn't think this was a particularly funny one, I'll have to go back and reread it! Tell your daughter she obviously has a very keen sense of humour. ~ karen!
Jeannie B.
We have one of those composters and used it for a while. But, it seemed to attract the night creatures, namely mice, rats and racoons. So we started getting compost from the Waste Management Centre , each Spring. Beautiful, black mountains of steaming rich compost that you could dig into and take as much of, as you could put into containers in your vehicle,all for a donation to the local food banks. No wonder you have such a wonderful garden Karen. Composting is the way to go. Especially when you raise chickens.
Catwoman
Hilarious! I've read your stuff before and found you informed, even enlightening. This was chicken poop delightful. What are you drinking? I need that.
But you are wrong about Keith. He smells like fresh baked ginger snaps.
Karen
LOL! ~ karen!
Audrey
Hi Karen ~ Your compost looks amazing!We compost everything here and always have enough. We're chickenless though! Back to your vinyl tile floor for a sec. This might be worth trying, say, in the bathroom.
1 C. water
1 C. vinegar
1 C. rubbing alcohol
2-3 drops of dish washing soap
I'd heard the soap part before from a vinyl tile salesperson. Just a thought!
Cindy
Do you have any excess compost, if so, what do you do with it? We are trying to recycle as much as possible. We have coffee grounds and fruit and veggie peels daily and yard clippings weekly. How many composters do you recommend or can I add to the comppster during the process?
Thanks!
Ruth
Is it odd that my first thought went along the line of: Hmmm... I wonder if there's a way to harness all that heat for baking...
Don't give me that look. It's 'green' energy, isn't it? ^_^
Feral Turtle
Haha....you are hilarious! I like your first option of throwing it! But it sure does make great soil! Way to go Karen.
Jasper
You are one hot mess !! The bum ? I'm still laughing. lol
Caitlin
Ever tried worm composting?
Diane
NOTE: do not leave your pile near your house! I learned that many moons ago when I had a grass clipping pile next to a wood house. I was able to meet some really nice looking firemen and several insurance adjusters. Just a word of warning, that the pile really does get quite hot. Flaming hot. Fire hot. Bettern than Mexican food hot.
Susan Preston
You hear of barn fires all the time in the summer. Well that's cause farmers put fresh hay in the barn too soon! Poof! Compost can get really hot especially under a plastic tarp that doesn't breath. The firemen in our town are cute and capable but I just like to chat with them on the street. I like compost but away from fences, houses, chicken coops or neighbors!
Melissa
Geesh, even your compost looks neat and organized! *~*
mayr
Geeze. What don't you do? I love your good brain.
Thanks as always for sharing.
mimiindublin
Interesting info re brown and green, I'm off now to break up some egg cartons (which of course you don't have!) and add them. I think my compost bin has had too much green.
I draw the line at a compost heap though...too much like farming!
Cherier
Lifting my lighter in your honor.
You write like a rock star, woman.
Diane
Hmm. Would have thought the chicken poop would have been included under the "Browns" category.. ;)
Pam'a
Seriously, there are lots of crazy city people who pay good money for chicken manure, so why not?
Marti
Why have your neighbors not had you arrested... yet?
Karen, you had such a well done back yard... but it appears to need relatively little compost. The front yard is a veg garden, as we all know, but that's going only going to need so much.
At some point, is this going to become your side industry? "KFC Compost"? (KFC=Karen, Fella, Chickens) You could give it as prizes instead of the tea towels...
Who knows who might love your crap-in-a-bag!
Karen
LOL! KFC! ~ k!
Ruth
KFC..... Genius, I say! ;)
Kim from Milwaukee
Well done Karen! We all need to return nutrients back to the earth, they don't belong in the landfills. Your garden will be a jungle!
Jenn
Rock on!