In spring the compost pile was a machine. You could sink a hand into it and feel the warmth, that faint sweet-earth smell coming off the top, everything breaking down on schedule. Then July shows up and the whole thing quits on you. Banana peels you tossed in two weeks back still look like banana peels. It sits there doing nothing, and it's easy to figure you did something wrong.

You almost certainly didn't. A pile that quits in midsummer is a familiar composting headache, and it nearly always comes down to one of two things going sideways in the heat. Maybe it dried out and the microbes doing the work died off with it. Or it packed down so tight nothing can breathe. Both are easy to spot once you know the feel of them, and quicker to fix than you'd first expect.

Culprit One: The Pile Dried Out

Strip it back and a compost pile is really a colony of microbes, and those microbes need water to stay alive – roughly the moisture of a wrung-out sponge. July heat wicks that out faster than the pile can hold it, worst around the edges and up top, and past a certain point the bacteria go dormant. Or die off. Decomposition doesn't taper so much as switch off.

Checking takes maybe three seconds. Grab a handful from the middle and give it a squeeze. It ought to feel damp and let go of a drop or two. If it comes out dusty, or barely cool to the touch, then that's a thirsty pile. A dry pile also tends to feel loose and look grayish, the material bleached rather than rich brown, none of the heat you'd expect when you dig in.

How to Rehydrate a Dry Pile

Reviving a compost pile when it's bone dry isn't just pointing the hose at it and walking off. Water hits that dried-out surface and mostly runs down the sides without sinking in, so the core stays as parched as it started. Layer the water in instead. Pull the pile apart, wet each section as you go, then rebuild – so the moisture works through the middle instead of pooling on top.

While it's open, mix in something wet and nitrogen-rich to help it hold water next time – fresh grass clippings, kitchen scraps, or a few shovels of manure. Then check it every few days through the hot stretch. A compost thermometer from Amazon takes the guesswork out, since a pile climbing back toward 120 to 140F (49 to 60C) is telling you the microbes are awake and fed.

Culprit Two: The Pile Can't Breathe

The second culprit runs the opposite direction, and it's sneakier – a pile can be soaking wet and still be a problem. Microbes need oxygen about as much as they need water. Leave a heap un-turned for weeks and it settles, compacting under its own weight until the air pockets give out. Pile a thick mat of grass clippings on top, packing down like wet paper, and the whole thing has gone anaerobic.

This one you smell before you see. A pile starved for air turns sour – ammonia, or that rotten-egg funk, nothing like the clean earthy smell you're after – and the middle often goes slimy where a different crowd of microbes, the kind that get by without air, moves in. They work a lot slower. What you're left with is a wet, matted mess instead of crumbly finished compost.

How to Get Air Back In

For a compacted pile, the fix is oxygen, and that means turning it. Digging the outside into the middle and breaking up any matted clumps opens the structure back up and gets air to the microbes that have been starving for it. A dense pile can take some muscle. A compost aerator from Amazon augers down into the center and pulls a channel open without you having to fork the entire heap over by hand.

How often to turn compost is where people overthink it. Through the summer, once a week keeps a pile aerobic and moving without much fuss, and if you've just fixed a stalled one, turning it every three or four days for the first couple of weeks gets it caught up faster. A pile that gets buried under grass clippings all season stays stalled, so a rotating bin like this Miracle-Gro dual-chamber tumbler from Walmart makes the turning far less of a chore.

Getting the Green-to-Brown Balance Right

The last piece is what goes in. Hot weather runs a pile through greens fast, so a mid-summer heap heavy on browns – dry leaves, straw, shredded cardboard – breaks down sluggishly for lack of nitrogen, while one buried in greens goes wet and sour. A rough two-to-one, browns to greens by volume, keeps it cooking through the heat. Get the water and air right first, though. Those are what stalled it, and they're what will start it again.

Compost tea is finished compost that’s steeped in water until the nutrients, bacteria, fungi, and beneficial organisms pull out into the liquid. It is a fast-acting alternative to dry soil amendments that require a long time to make a noticeable difference in your garden. You can use compost tea around plant roots or mist it onto leaves after just a day or two so plants can start getting the nutrients they need fast.

The quality of your brew lives or dies with the compost you use for your compost tea. It has to be fully broken down, dark and crumbly, with nothing recognizable left in it. Anyone still working out how to compost should nail that first, since unfinished compost could bring pathogens into your garden rather than the beneficial organisms you want.

But a single 5-gallon bucket batch of compost tea, made right, covers tons of ground and gives plants a huge boost. Here’s how to make your own compost tea at home.

What Is Compost Tea?

Compost tea the liquid mixture made when you add compost or manure to water and let it steep. This DIY liquid fertilizer has many of the same beneficial microorganisms and nutrients found in compost. The thought is that by watering plants with this solution, plants have quick access to the best that compost has to offer.

In addition, some claim that regular use of compost tea can have the additional benefits of increasing the water retention of the soil, improving its fertility, reducing the need for chemicals in the garden, and reducing plant pathogens in some edible crops. But there are downsides of using compost tea that you should not ignore.

First, there are scant scientific studies backing up organic gardeners’ claims as to the positive effects of watering plants with compost tea. Since the composition of compost varies so widely, compost tea also varies, which makes careful and precise measurement of its true benefits difficult to ascertain.

In addition, compost is teeming with microbes. But some types of compost, like kinds that include manure, can create a tea with harmful, pathogenic microbes that do more harm than good. Bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria that cause foodborne illnesses can show up in improperly made compost and compost tea. That’s why it’s important to use only finished compost when making compost tea.

Benefits of Compost Tea

Regular compost does plenty of good when worked into soil, but a liquid compost tea gets into areas where dry soil amendments struggle to reach. They can add nutrients via leaf surfaces, deep into the root zones of plants, and cover wide areas without having to work in huge volumes of material all over the garden.

Nutrients that are already dissolved in water are available to roots immediately. That speed is important for plants with short growing seasons or for transplants that are still getting settled.

Microbes are really where compost tea earns its keep though. Beneficial bacteria and fungi from the brew settle into leaf surfaces and soil, outcompeting disease-causing organisms. Crowd these out before they establish and your plants have a lot less to deal with.

Regular application of compost tea builds up that beneficial microbe community over time, which improves moisture retention in the soil, more good biological activity, and reduced fertilizer dependency. It won’t rescue an absolutely wrecked soil on its own, but as part of a broader organic fertilizing routine it earns its place.

Best Types of Compost to Use

Not all compost brews equally. Fully mature compost is what works best – dark, crumbly, sweet-smelling, no woody bits or food scraps still in there.

Hot-composted material is the safest pick since high decomposition temperatures kill most harmful pathogens. Cold-pile compost doesn’t have that going for it. Bagged compost works fine, too, as long as it’s really finished. Worm castings make a particularly good base for compost tea and tend to produce a noticeably microbe-rich result.

Skip manure-based compost that hasn’t fully broken down. The pathogen risk on edible plants is real enough to not chance it. Plant-based compost teas can go on fairly often if needed. Manure-derived mixes are another matter entirely. Only use them heavily diluted and once a month at most.

Either way, aim for roughly one part compost to five parts water. A coffee-like color and an earthy rather than sharp smell means your compost tea is ready.

How to Make Compost Tea

Since compost tea has become more popular, some companies have begun manufacturing it and selling pre-made compost tea, like this one from Amazon. There are also compost tea bags, like these ones from Amazon, that you simply add to water to make your own natural fertilizer if you don’t have any compost on hand.

Many home gardeners, however, prefer to make their own compost tea. There are two main ways to do this. You can use either the non-aerated or aerated method. I’ll walk you through both methods.

Non-Aerated Method

The simplest compost tea recipe doesn’t require much in the way of equipment. A 5-gallon bucket and some finished compost is all you need. Rainwater or well water is best. But if tap water is all that’s available then let it sit out a few hours first to off-gas any chlorine, which can knock back the beneficial microbes your compost tea is trying to cultivate.

Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of compost per gallon (3.8 L) of water. You can throw it in loose or tie it up in a mesh bag. These reusable brew bags from Amazon work well and hold up across multiple batches. Steep your compost tea for 5 to 7 days, stirring daily. It will get funky-smelling and that’s fine. But if your compost tea smells sour that can be a sign something went wrong.

When the water goes dark and the smell settles into something earthy rather than sharp, strain it and use it. It’s good for soil drenching, though the aerated methods are often used to encourage microbial activity out of the same material if that’s the goal.

Aerated Method

Actively aerated compost tea, also known as AACT, requires an aquarium pump and air stones running through the water the whole time during steeping, which is what aerobic bacteria need to really take off. That gets the brew ready in 24 to 48 hours rather than close to a week.

You use the same setup with a bucket and the same compost ratio, but you add a continuously running pump, like this aquarium air pump kit from Amazon. Throw in a tablespoon of molasses to feed the microbes and speed things up. Kelp meal or fish hydrolysate work, too, for a richer result. You can get kelp meal and fish hydrolysate from Amazon.

Once the pump stops, use it within a few hours. Oxygen drops fast, aerobic organisms die back, anaerobic ones move in – which is the wrong direction entirely. Brew it, use it the same day, and clean the bucket well between batches.

How to Use Compost Tea on Plants

Apply compost tea as a soil drench around the root zone or as a foliar spray you mist onto the leaves. In either case, you should consider a few steps to keep your garden safe.

First, limit your use of compost tea to garden plants that are ornamental rather than those you intend to eat. This is the best preventative measure for avoiding pathogen exposure, since there is less chance of pathogen transfer into the food chain.

If you do want to apply compost tea to edible crops, don’t use it as a foliar spray. Instead add it to the soil. If you do this, you should:

• Wait 120 days from application to harvest.
• Time the harvest of those plants so that it falls 90 days away from other edible crops not fertilized with compost tea.
• Keep spray off edible plant parts that are eaten raw. Apply only to the soil.

Drenching large areas takes roughly 5 to 10 gallons per quarter-acre (19-38 L per 0.10 hectare). You can use a full-strength or diluted compost tea or dilute it up to a 10:1 ratio of water to compost tea, depending on how far the batch needs to go.

Wet the soil first because dry ground often sheds the liquid rather than letting it soak in. This garden pump sprayer from Amazon handles both the drench and foliar work cleanly and makes the job faster in larger gardens.

How Often to Apply Compost Tea

The best time to apply fertilizer is in the morning. This lets leaves dry before midday heat and microbes settle in. Ornamentals do well with a spray in late winter to early spring and then again when leaf buds break. For annual beds, a pre-planting application of compost tea gives soil microbes a head start.

Fungal or pest trouble? Apply as soon as you notice the problem and reapply with each regular watering. For all other regular scenarios, apply compost tea every two to four weeks throughout the growing season.

Seedlings can only handle a diluted solution of compost tea – around three parts tea to one part water. Established plants can take a full-strength dose without issue. Houseplants also require a diluted compost tea mixture, too. Dilute it by at least half and work it into your normal watering schedule rather than adding excess moisture.

Back off any synthetic fertilizers and pesticides where possible. Those knock back the microbial populations the tea is working to build. An organic liquid fertilizer from Amazon pairs well as a complement without undoing that microbial work. Regular compost additions and mulching on top of all that is also beneficial.

How to Store Compost Tea

You can store compost tea, but not for very long. If you opt to do so, select an airtight container that doesn’t allow light to penetrate. This can work for storage up to five days. For longer storage, you’ll need to refrigerate it and/or aerate it regularly with an aquarium pump or bubbler stone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Raised bed gardening can be combined with composting to give you the benefit of healthy plants and sustainable waste disposal with the help of something called a ‘keyhole garden’. A round, raised garden bed with a notch in the center allows gardeners to deposit organic matter into the center pit in the bed to break down and create wonderful compost.

Keyhole gardening incorporates in-ground composting into your garden so the nutrients go directly into the soil you’re growing in. I’ve thought about building my own keyhole garden, but have always been a little intimidated by the project. Then I saw that Costco has 4’x4’ pre-made keyhole garden beds for sale. Sign me up!

I love that you can throw leaves, kitchen scraps, plant prunings, and other yard waste right into the composting section and let the garden go to work for you. It is so simple and it is perfect for my backyard raised vegetable garden.

Why Use a Keyhole Garden?

Keyhole gardening is a technique that was developed in Africa to help address low soil fertility. It is a compact and efficient way to garden that increases soil fertility and health and it has become popular in the U.S., too. Keyhole gardens are essentially raised beds and in-ground composters in one.

The Vita keyhole composting bed from Costco is a great entry point for curious gardeners looking to improve their soil and boost their plants. You can use a keyhole garden for vegetable beds, ornamental beds, cut-and-come-again flower beds or anything you choose. This innovative method of gardening makes it so you don't need to fertilize to get the garden of your dreams. You also won’t ever have to lift a pitchfork to turn compost again.

Composting in your keyhole garden can reduce household waste by up to 30% and all the energy from food scraps and yard waste gets transferred directly into your garden. I especially love that this keyhole garden from Costco uses a BPA and phthalate-free polymer so you don’t have to worry about chemicals leaching into your produce. Compost-fed soil also requires less water since the water from the scraps is being added directly into the bed.

How to Use the Vita Keyhole Garden

The Vita keyhole bed has a generous basket in the center of the bed which is where you will do your composting. Like with all composting, you need a healthy mix of “greens” and “browns.” Greens refer to items that are high in nitrogen like grass clippings, tea bags, kitchen waste like fruit and vegetable peels (no meat, fat, or dairy), and freshly pruned plant matter. Browns are high in carbon content and can be things like paper, dried leaves, small twigs, saw dust, wine corks (not the rubber kind), and coffee grounds.

When you set up your new keyhole garden, just slide the boards into the posts and set the basket in the center. It requires no tools and comes together super quickly! You can begin to fill in the bed with organic matter like logs, sticks, leaves, grass clippings and even cardboard to help fill it up. Water the layers as you add them to help them begin to break down – it’s just like filling a hügelkultur bed! Then add 6-8 inches (15.2-20.3 cm) of top soil to finish it off.

You can plant your garden and begin adding compostables to the central basket as soon as it is assembled. Easy peasy!

The Vita keyhole composting garden bed is so quick and simple to get started using and it is virtually maintenance free. I also love that it comes with a 20-year warranty for material defects, and Costco is also known for standing by their products and superb customer service.

I can’t wait to get started on my own keyhole garden!

More Keyhole Gardening Setups

Composting is an efficient and effective way to turn food scraps, yard waste, and old paper products into a nutrient-dense additive for your garden. It also adds better structure to soil so it lightens clay soils and enhances sandy soils. Compost is my secret weapon to healthy vegetable and ornamental gardens.

Unfortunately, composting at home takes time and patience that many gardeners might not have. And sometimes, your compost pile goes dead and is in need of a fresh start. If you want to give your existing compost pile a boost, a compost starter, or accelerator, will do just that.

Compost starters add beneficial microbes to your compost pile to activate it and get it breaking down more quickly. A little sprinkle of compost accelerator, like this one from Amazon, will get your compost pile working for you in no time! Keep reading to learn more.

What is a Compost Starter?

Compost starters, also called compost accelerators or boosters, are a mix of organic materials, beneficial microbes, and nutrients like calcium and magnesium that fortify your compost. They create an ideal composting environment to break down anything you add to it.

If your compost pile is always left with chunks of food and yard waste that never seem to degrade, you might want a compost starter to accelerate the decomposition process. There’s nothing worse than a smelly and ineffective compost pile!

How to Use Compost Starter

Compost starters and boosters usually come in powder or pellet form which are sprinkled on top of your existing compost pile. Generally, these products need to be watered lightly and mixed into the pile with a garden fork or shovel. Of course, follow the instructions on the packaging of whichever type of booster you purchase.

Reapplication timing varies with some brands stating to add more booster every time new material is added to the compost bin, and others stating reapplication is necessary every 4 to 6 weeks.

Best Compost Starters to Buy

Shop Composting Essentials

When I first decided I wanted to start composting, I honestly had no idea what system would be best for me. My initial thought was to just start a simple compost pile in the corner of the garden, but there was one major problem: you can practically see my entire yard from the street. As much as I wanted to create my own nutrient-rich soil, I definitely didn't want a messy, sprawling pile of food scraps and yard debris sitting around and ruining my home's curb appeal.

I didn't want a messy compost pile, so I started hunting for better options. What I found completely changed my approach to backyard composting: you can actually DIY a surprisingly tidy system for next to nothing, or you can pick up several incredibly sleek, budget-friendly composters that require absolutely zero effort. Whether you want a simple cinder block setup or a clever tumbler, here is how to start composting on a budget.

How to DIY Your Compost Bin

If you want a traditional open compost pile but want it to look contained and intentional, you don't need to spend your weekend measuring and cutting wood. The ultimate "lazy gardener" DIY is simply using cinder blocks. You can pick these up for dirt cheap at Home Depot.

To create your compost area, clear a flat spot in your yard and stack the cinder blocks to create either a three-sided "U" shape or a fully enclosed "well" shape. It requires absolutely no power tools, drills, or screws, and it gives you a perfectly functional, heavy-duty compost bay in under ten minutes. The gaps in the blocks even provide excellent airflow, which helps your scraps break down faster!

Maintaining Your DIY System

If you opt for an open compost system, you're going to have to maintain it. To get that gorgeous, nutrient-rich soil, your compost needs to be aerated (mixed up) every week or two to keep the oxygen flowing. Be sure to invest in a sturdy, long-handled pitchfork or a heavy-duty compost aerator tool, both available on Amazon, so you can mix your pile while standing completely upright.

If you're impatient (like I am) and want to turn your scraps into nutrient-rich soil as fast as possible, this compost starter from Amazon is a brilliant budget add-on. You just sprinkle a little bit of this organic mix over your pile to introduce beneficial microbes that dramatically speed up the decomposition process.

Budget-Friendly Composters

Don't want to DIY a bin? Check out these budget-friendly compost bins.

Eggshells have become a go-to amendment for gardeners looking to boost calcium levels naturally. Crushed eggshells in garden soil or compost can release the mineral shot that plants need for strong cell walls and steady growth. In my yard, the ritual of drying shells on the windowsill is as much a part of spring as ordering seeds, born from a desire to waste nothing and feed the soil naturally.

However, there is a catch. While eggshells are packed with calcium, that mineral is locked away in a rigid crystalline structure. When using eggshells in the garden, a coarse eggshell fragment can sit underground for years without breaking down in a way that a plant can really benefit from it. It’s a slow-burn strategy that works for long-term soil health, but can fail to help a plant when a growth spurt hits.

This is where the zing factor comes in. By pairing your shells with lemon juice, you can chemically unlock that calcium so it acts faster. This simple citric trick transforms calcium carbonate so plants can drink it up almost instantly. So if you want to use eggshells for garden benefits, lemon juice is your fast-track to healthier plants. Here’s how to unlock the hidden power of eggshells with the ultimate lemon aid.

Why Gardeners Turn to Eggshells

Calcium isn't just something that’s nice to have for plants; it’s the literal glue that holds cell walls together. When calcium levels dip, the results are heartbreaking for any gardener who has put in the work. Perhaps you can identify with the misery of seeing that dreaded black, sunken spot on the bottom of a beautiful ripening tomato (known as blossom end rot). Or perhaps you have experience of pepper plants looking stunted, or leafy greens getting tip burn where the edges turn brown and crispy? These aren't usually signs of a pest, but a cry for calcium.

Using eggshells provides a direct source of calcium carbonate. The beauty of the eggshell is the price point (zero dollars) and ecological footprint. In my experience, there’s a deep satisfaction in repurposing scraps for calcium. As a side benefit, a thick ring of jagged shells can even discourage softer-bodied pests like slugs. Over time, the shells break down, feeding all organisms in the soil. It’s so simple – rinse them off, crush, and toss in. But the problem is how quickly it takes to work.

The Calcium Availability Exchange

The hard truth (and I mean hard) is that eggshells are designed by nature to be incredibly durable. They are composed of nearly 95% calcium carbonate, but it’s a stable mineral that doesn't just melt away in rainwater. If your soil has a neutral or high (alkaline) soil pH, the natural acids required to break down that shell are largely absent. I’ve dug up garden beds a year after amending them and found eggshell shards looking exactly as they did the day I planted them.

Plants need their nutrients to be water-soluble. Think of it like this: your plants don't have teeth, they have straws. If the calcium isn't dissolved in the soil's moisture, the roots can't pull it up. Without due preparation, simply tossing eggshells is a mistake. It becomes a big issue during periods of rapid growth or fluctuating moisture. Tomatoes, peppers, squash and even apple trees demand a steady stream of calcium to build fruit tissue, hence why deficiencies show fast. If shells are taking too long to decompose, the plant suffers – even if the soil is technically full of shells.

How Lemon Juice Changes Things

This is where our lemon juice trick can save the day. Knowing how to use eggshells in the garden is largely about speed. When you mix crushed eggshells with lemon juice, a chemical reaction occurs. The citric acid in the juice reacts with calcium carbonate in the shells to produce calcium citrate. And calcium citrate is significantly more soluble in water than calcium carbonate – much easier for water to carry and for roots to grab.

The acidity of the lemon juice also provides a localized soil pH drop. In gardens where soil can be alkaline, minerals like calcium and phosphorus can get locked in the soil. The slight acidity of lemon-treated shells creates a nutrient-friendly zone around the root ball, making it easier for the plant to uptake what it needs. It’s a gentle way to nudge the chemistry in your favor without drastically altering your yard's pH balance.

Yes, plain eggshells work long-term – but lemon juice gives plants a massive head start where active growth is pressing and speed is important. Heavy feeders show stronger growth and fewer rot spots when you use shells this way. So grab a couple of lemons, and let’s go. Use a hand juicer like the Zulay Stainless Steel Lemon Squeezer from Amazon to take the sting out of squeezing. You can also use bottled lemon juice for this trick.

Shop These Citric Superstars

Make sure you have all the right kit for this vital garden hack. This lemony trio helps you prep and apply your eggshell waste in the right way.

Preparing and Using Eggshells

Rinse your eggshells to remove the inner membrane and any protein residue. I like to dry mine in a low oven (200°F) for 10-15 minutes. Not only does this sterilize them, but it makes them easier to grind into a fine dust. Use your food processor to grind fragments into a fine powder. If you don’t have a processor, use a solid pestle and mortar, like the Berard France Wooden Pestle and Mortar Set from Wayfair.

Once you have your powder, place it in a glass jar and cover it with lemon juice. Aim for roughly two tablespoons of juice per dozen shells. You'll hopefully see fizzing. That’s the carbon dioxide being released as the calcium transforms. Let it sit for 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Once the fizzing stops, you have a concentrated calcium slurry.

For application, dilute this mixture with water (about a gallon of water for every dozen shells' worth of mix) and use it as a soil drench. Alternatively, you can side-dress your plants by scratching the lemon-soaked mash directly into the top two inches (5cm) of soil. For heavy feeders like tomatoes or broccoli, I recommend doing this once at planting time and again when the first flowers appear. Water well afterward so the calcium starts moving down to roots.

When This Trick Helps Most

While every plant needs calcium, this lemon-juice boost is a special forces tactic for specific situations. It is most effective for container gardens and raised beds where calcium reserves are low. Because pots have a limited volume of soil, they run out of nutrients quickly, and the peat-based mixes often used in containers can struggle to break down raw amendments. If you are growing those rapid-growers like tomatoes or peppers in pots on your deck, this soluble calcium drink is a genuine lifesaver.

It’s also great for heavy feeders. Brassicas (like cauliflower and cabbage) and cucurbits (squash and melons) use massive amounts of calcium to maintain their structural integrity. However, calcium alone won't fix everything. If you aren't watering consistently, the plant still won't be able to transport that calcium from the soil to the fruit. So keep watering your plants in tandem with this nifty trick.

Beyond the Lemon: Other Solutions

If you run out of lemons, don't panic. White vinegar such as Iberia Distilled White Vinegar from Amazon works on the exact same principle, creating calcium acetate. The reaction is even more vigorous, though it doesn't smell quite as nice in the potting shed.Citric acid powder also mixes cleanly for big batches. All turn the calcium into something plants grab easier without much extra work.

The best strategy is a multi-layered approach, paired with steady watering and mulching for even moisture in the ground. It's OK to toss coarsely crushed shells into your compost pile for long-term soil health. But try this lemon-juice eggshell soak for hungry crops and plants prone to rapid growth spurts. By combining the slow-release nature of raw shells with the fast-acting power of the lemon soak, you’re ensuring your soil stays rich for years, while this year’s plants can enjoy the goodness fast.

Early Spring Soil Superchargers

Boosting your flowers and veggies starts from the ground up. This trio of pro-level amendments work well in tandem with your eggshell routine.

Need more ideas for getting the most from your plants, indoors and out, and looking for the best seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

Very few pastimes are completely free, and anyone who has gardened for a few seasons knows how expensive a veggie patch, home orchard, or lovely landscape can be. Not that it deters us! But it does make us eager to find free sources for the items we need, like compost.

Clearly, nutrient-rich soil is a garden necessity, and the garden store offers big and small bags of it…for a price. Compost can turn regular garden soil into super soil. It’s easy to find commercially. However, compost can cost a pretty penny. You can make your own compost at home, too. But if this is your first year gardening and you haven’t delved into the world of compost yet or you simply don’t have room for a compost pile, then you might be looking for places to find free compost.

Lucky for you, there are a few different sources for free compost that will help turn your garden from okay to amazing. However, there are a couple issues to be aware of when sourcing compost for free that will protect both you and your garden. Read on for the scoop.

Benefits of Compost

Compost sometimes seems like magic. You add it to the soil and it pushes your plants to grow bigger and better than you’ve ever seen. It’s pretty amazing because it is made of unwanted scraps, but the compost enriches your soil with this recycled organic matter.

Compost is a mixture of food scraps and yard waste that, when decomposed, becomes an exceptional fertilizer. It improves the nutrient content of the soil and also builds up the soil texture so that it drains better, but still holds moisture.

Free Compost From Your Backyard

Many of us get free compost from our own backyards. It is easy to create a compost pile in a distant corner of the property that gets some sun. You simply clear the area, build “walls” around it, if you wish, then layer brown material (like dry leaves or straw) and green material (fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, eggshells).

Keep adding brown and green compost material to the pile throughout the year. Setting up a small kitchen compost container makes it easier to carry out scraps. Water your pile every week or so and turn your compost occasionally. Over time, the material will decompose into a rich, dark brown compost that’s ready for your garden.

Composting Essentials

Where to Get Free Compost

If you don’t have space for a compost bin or don’t have the time or ability to tend to one, there are a number of other places where you can get free compost.

1. Your City

Many cities collect organic matter at the same time they collect garbage. Here in San Francisco, each residential household has one blue bin for garbage that can be recycled, one brown bin for garbage, and one green bin for things you can compost. In exchange, they offer free compost to residents.

That is, as a San Francisco resident, you can get high-quality, organic compost made from the materials you put in your green bins. The compost is free at giveaway events throughout the year. These happen every month and compost and free mulch are always available.

Check with your city to see whether it has a similar program. You might call the city government, mayor’s office, or simply do a quick Internet search for "Does [your city name] offer its residents free compost?"

2. Community Gardens & Urban Farms

In some cities, community gardens or urban farms provide gardeners with a good example of using sustainable gardening practices. This often includes composting on the site, generating compost from kitchen scraps and yard waste just like you can compost at home.

They may give away extra compost to residents or you may have to put in some time volunteering at your local community garden to qualify, but it costs nothing to ask.

3. Local Universities & Colleges

Another great place to try for free compost is your local college or university. Many schools have horticulture or agriculture programs that produce free compost by collecting food waste and yard trimmings from campus.

Sometimes they offer free compost to the community. Contact your local university, college, or extension service (usually connected to a university) to ask about their program and how you can access it.

4. Online

What’s your favorite website to get free stuff? Everybody has one. Here in San Francisco, there are several popular neighborhood giveaway sites that don’t allow any sales. Mine is called “Buy Nothing Outer Richmond,” but one exists for just about every neighborhood in the country.

Lots of people love the “free” sections of Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, the Nextdoor app, Freecycle, or OfferUp as well. Just join the site, then search for free compost. This is a great way to use technology to grow a better garden.

Be Careful With Free Compost

Everyone knows the old adage, "You get what you pay for." That doesn’t mean you should reject free items, but it means you should be cautious. This is also true of free compost. Free compost sources may not all provide the best quality compost.

What could possibly be wrong with compost? Well, actually a lot. The compost might include contaminants, which can impede plant growth or soil health. It’s easy to accidentally include weed seeds in compost. And compost piles can attract unwanted pests, including flies, termites, and beetles.

Finally, compost piles can be breeding grounds for dangerous pathogens, including fungal infections like aspergillosis, farmer’s lung, histoplasmosis, Legionnaire’s disease, and tetanus.

It’s a good idea to wear gloves, appropriate footwear, and even a mask when using compost from an unknown source. Or better yet, make your own compost at home. This is a fantastic way to turn kitchen scraps and yard waste into garden gold.

Composting is a fantastic way to recycle kitchen scraps as life-saving nutrients that can nourish and sustain your garden beds and containers. Making this compost yourself can be simple, easy, and incredibly inexpensive, if you know what you're doing. You don’t necessarily need a fancy motorized tumbler or even a lot of space to make it happen. A quick and budget-friendly solution is to make your own in-ground worm composting tower, a vertical composting system that works right where your plants need it most.

Also known as a worm tower, this composting system is reassuringly straightforward for the eco-conscious gardener on a budget. Because it involves repurposing basic household items and unwanted materials, the costs are negligible – and the only real outlay is for the worms themselves. It’s a sustainable cycle that turns your morning coffee grounds and vegetable peels into a powerhouse of nutrients you can pay forward into your backyard, keeping waste out of landfills and money in your pocket.

Getting started now is the perfect way to prep for the upcoming season. While the rest of the garden is just starting to wake up, your underground crew of red wigglers can be hard at work. By the time you’re ready to tuck your spring seedlings into the earth, your tower will have already begun enriching some black gold that you can use to give your young plants a head start. Here’s how to make and maintain a budget-friendly, garden-friendly worm composting bin.

Why Try Worm Composting?

Worm composting (aka vermicomposting) harnesses the natural digestive power of worms as they break down organic material. Any sort of composting is essentially a win for sustainably minded gardeners, but a vermicomposting bin offers a fast-track to fertility. Because the worms do the heavy lifting of shredding and digesting, you can often see results in as little as 8 weeks, much faster than a cold-compost pile.

A worm tower is a great space-saver. This worm compost bin project uses the trench method, so doesn’t take up loads of precious space. It is well-suited for urban gardeners with more kitchen scraps than yard waste. Since the worms live and eat underground, these systems are naturally insulated and, when managed correctly, produce zero foul odors.

The real magic, however, lies in the worm castings. This is a polite term for worm poop. These castings are a lot more nutrient-dense than standard compost, packed with beneficial microbes and minerals that are immediately bioavailable to plants. And this particular project is incredibly easy on your pockets.

Your only outlay for this project will be the composting worms. You need to invest in composting-specific worms like red wigglers, rather than common earthworms. You should be able to find these online for $20-25. You can buy NaturesGoodGuys Red Wigglers from Amazon in tubs of 300 worms, ready and wiggling to do your composting bidding!

How to Make a Worm Tower

The most common DIY route for your worm bin composter involves a 5-gallon plastic bucket or a length of 4-to-6-inch (10-15 cm) wide PVC pipe. To prep your tower, drill a series of holes (approximately half an inch wide) around the sides of the lower two-thirds of the container. If you are using a bucket, drill several holes in the bottom as well, to allow the worms to move freely between the tower and your garden soil.

A pipe option is especially handy because it allows for deep insertion into the soil. The holes act a bit like worm doors. They allow the worms to exit the tower, deposit their nutrient-rich castings directly into the surrounding garden soil, and return to the tower to eat. This creates a radius of high soil fertility around the tower, and all without you having to move a single shovel of dirt.

The surrounding earth acts as a natural insulator, keeping your worms cool in the summer and warm in the winter. If you were to leave a plastic bucket sitting on bricks in the sun, by comparison, you would risk cooking your worm colony. This in-ground DIY method is far better for your worms (and for spring soil fertility).

Where to Place Your Worm Tower

The right worm composter location is everything when it comes to keeping worms happy. Choose a spot that is primarily shady. The tower should also be near established roots. Ideally, place your tower in a perennial bed, or near heavy feeders like tomatoes or squash. Worms will migrate out of the holes to aerate the soil and distribute nutrients directly to the roots of favorite plants. Just ensure it isn't in a high-traffic area where you might trip over the lid while weeding.

Dig a hole deep enough so the tower sits firmly in the earth with the top 3-5 inches (8-13 cm) and the lid above the soil line. This prevents rainwater flooding the unit while keeping the entry point accessible for you.

Adding Food and Bedding

Once your tower is in the ground, it’s time to make it cozy. Start with a layer of bedding. You don’t need to spend a dime here: shredded paper, corrugated cardboard, or empty egg cartons work perfectly. Soak your compost browns in a bucket of water first, wring them out until they feel like a damp sponge, and toss them in. If you have leftover coconut coir or fallen brown leaves, those make excellent additions.

Add your stars, the red wigglers (Eisenia fetida). Unlike common earthworms, these guys are surface dwellers that love living in the high-density organic matter contained in your worm tower. Add your first handful of kitchen scraps – think apple cores, carrot tops, and used coffee grounds (make sure they are used). A few inches is fine.

The All-Important Lid

Don’t forget to add a lid. This serves several purposes. It keeps the internal environment dark (which worms love), it keeps pests out, it retains moisture inside the tower, and it prevents your tower from pooling in a rainstorm. If you are using a 5-gallon bucket, the easiest lid is the one that came with it. If you are using a PVC pipe, look for a matching PVC cap at a hardware store, though those will cost extra.

For a zero-cost DIY lid, get creative with whatever is in your garage. Maybe try an old terracotta pot saucer turned upside down, a heavy flat stone, or a scrap piece of pressure-treated wood weighted down with a brick. Avoid using thin plastic wrap or flimsy cardboard, as these will degrade quickly.

Maintaining Your Tower

Maintenance is a breeze – it’s all about maintaining food for worms, and keeping things clean. Just add new scraps once the previous batch has been mostly consumed. If the tower starts to smell sour, you may be overfeeding or the contents may be too wet. Simply add more dry shredded paper to balance the moisture. In summer, give the tower a quick spritz with the garden hose if the bedding feels dry.

A good tip is that each time you add more kitchen scraps, it’s good to layer them with some of the bedding material. If you find that there are particular types of scraps not getting composted, it probably means the worms aren’t eating them. Remove these items and avoid adding them in the future.

To harvest compost, either just let the worms do the harvesting for you as they carry nutrients into the garden soil. Alternatively, if you want to use the concentrated compost elsewhere, stop feeding the tower for a couple of weeks. Then, place fresh food at the very top. The worms will migrate upward, allowing you to scoop out the rich, finished castings from the bottom and middle sections to use elsewhere.

Vermicomposting FAQ

Budget Worm Composters

Our worm project is great for a cheap sustainable win, but if you’re not confident with a drill, don’t want to make holes in your spare bucket, or can’t find a spare bit of PVC pipe, these worm composting solutions are reasonably priced and offer great features for different needs:

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As a former park ranger, I am always looking for ways to reduce my impact on the environment and take better care of our Earth. The USDA estimates that 30-40% of food in the U.S. is wasted which has a massive environmental impact, in addition to the financial impacts of trying to manage all this waste. Food is the largest category of waste that ends up in landfills. In 2010, over 133 billion pounds of food waste was created.

Shopping smarter is a great way to reduce food waste, but if you want to take it a step further, you can create a compost bin at home to utilize any waste and return the nutrients back into the soil. One of the easiest (and most fun!) ways to compost is by using worms. Vermicomposting quickly gets rid of kitchen scraps – or that carrot that you forgot about in the fridge for a little too long.

Vermicomposting requires very little labor compared to traditional composting and it can be done indoors in limited space. I have made my own vermicomposter out of plastic bins, but this Worm Factory vermicomposting kit from Amazon is a much better option and I wish I had tried it instead of my futile DIY setup. It has everything you need to get started on your vermicomposting journey.

Vermicomposting Basics

Vermicomposting is a method of composting that utilizes worms for all the hard work. There is no need to turn a huge bin of steaming compost in your backyard during the hottest days of the summer. Just 1 pound (0.45 kg) of worms can chow through half their weight in food scraps per day. Those little guys and gals compost your kitchen waste into incredibly nutritious worm castings that will give your garden a boost through the whole year.

You can feed just about any food scraps to your worms with a few exceptions. Meat, dairy, garlic, onions, and potatoes should be avoided. Other than those items, the worms will munch through it all! Breads, cereals, vegetables, fruits, tea leaves, coffee grounds, and even crushed egg shells will be devoured and turned into natural fertilizer in no time.

Worm Factory Kit

The Worm Factory vermicomposting kit comes with everything you need to ensure happy, healthy worms.

The sturdy molded plastic structure comes with 4 trays so you can expand your vermicomposting operation as your worm population grows or if you need more room for food waste disposal. Worm bedding materials are also provided so you can get your worms into the composter and working straight away. A mixture of coco coir, newspaper, and pumice stone is the perfect environment for your worm friends.

This kit also comes with a thermometer and cultivator to make monitoring the vermiculture environment and adding food scraps easier. A spigot at the bottom allows you to harvest worm tea which is also beneficial for your plants.

As the worms eat your scraps and work their way to the top of the tower, a super rich compost and worms castings will be left in the lower levels. Adding this natural fertilizer to your houseplants and outdoor gardens will give your plants an amazing boost while keeping food waste out of landfills. Talk about a win-win!

Where to Get Compost Worms

The only thing the composting kit doesn’t include is worms. The best composting worms are called red wigglers (Eisenia fetida). They produce the best compost and most nutrient-dense castings to feed your plants. Red wigglers can be purchased from online retailers like Meme’s Worms. It is important to note that you should not purchase worms from bait shops. They are not composting worms and they are often an invasive species.

This year, try a worm composting kit. It's a great way to take care of your garden, your family, and the Earth.

Kitchen scraps pile up fast at this time of year, and it can feel wasteful to toss them out. But winter actually offers an easy opportunity to turn those scraps into compost – no bin or fancy setup required. There’s a simple, old-fashioned method that lets the earth do the work for you while everything else sleeps: trench composting.

Instead of managing a pile, you just dig a small hole in an empty corner of the garden, drop in your kitchen scraps, and cover them back over with soil. That’s it. The freeze–thaw cycle quietly breaks everything down while you stay inside with a mug of hot cocoa. By the time spring arrives, the spot you chose will be rich, crumbly, and packed with nutrients – the kind that makes tomatoes blush deeper and greens shoot up faster.

What’s lovely about this home composting method is how accessible it is. Even the smallest yard can spare a little patch of soil, and you don’t need special tools beyond a shovel and a bit of common sense about what can be buried. It might feel strange burying banana peels in January, but come April, you’ll dig up that mellow, earthy “black gold” and feel like you grew it yourself.

The Simple Trench Method

Trench composting boils down to three really simple steps that take almost no time at all – dig, dump, done. You skip the bin odor and turning, letting soil microbes and worms handle the rest over winter. It's one of the most forgiving types of composting for beginners; even lumpy trenches work if you cover them well.

1. Dig a Hole

Start with a spade – I like to use a spear head design like this one from Amazon – or even a post-hole digger like this, and carve out a trench 8–12 inches (20–30 cm) deep and a foot (30 cm) wide – as long as your arm span if you want to clear a week's scraps.

Pick a spot you'll plant veggies or flowers come spring. Loamy soil mixes best, but clay or sand does fine too; just avoid low spots where water pools.

Aim for one trench a week or every other, rotating spots so no patch gets overloaded. A sturdy digging fork like this Truper design from Amazon makes quick work if your ground freezes shallow.

2. Fill with Scraps

Chop scraps roughly if they're big – cores, peels, rinds – and layer them in loose, no tighter than a salad toss. Mix in a handful of soil to help inoculate microbes, and leaves for carbon balance; it speeds up breakdown without creating a stink. Half-fill the hole, as you'll need to cover the scraps. Wet scraps sink faster in moist soil, but dry ones pull in snowmelt.

3. Cover Completely

Shovel the dirt back over, tamp lightly with your boot, and walk away – mark with a stick if your memory is like mine. Covering the scraps properly will minimize smells and pests, but worms can find their way down quickly.

Cold weather discourages rodents and flies, but if you are worried about animals digging up your trench, then a wire mesh like this from Amazon adds insurance.

What Kitchen Scraps Are Safe?

Safe scraps are the everyday materials that break down cleanly, feeding microbes without causing problems. When you’re deciding what can be composted, stick to soft, plant-based kitchen bits – mostly greens – that rot quickly and reliably. They help build soil that holds moisture and nutrients like a sponge, and they don’t require any complicated sorting.

• Vegetable and Fruit Scraps: Peels from potatoes, carrots, apples, or bananas go in first – they're moist and nitrogen-rich, the engine for decomposition. Cores from corn or pineapple add bulk without bulkiness. Chop if it’s stringy to avoid matting. These turn spongy fast in the cold, pulling earthworms in. A kitchen compost caddy like this on Amazon is ideal for saving up scraps before moving them from the counter to the trench.
• Coffee Grounds and Filters: Coffee grounds scatter easily and give an acidic boost for blues and roses later, plus they are a worm magnet for the soil. Paper filters (unbleached) shred fine; rinse if they’re clumped. No need to worry about caffeine – plants take it in slowly.
• Egg Shells: Crush shells roughly and toss in – they add calcium, helping to fend off blossom end rot in tomatoes come summer. Wash and dry them first to avoid a bad egg smell. Shells grit the soil like free lime, toughening it for roots. They dissolve gradually in wet winters.
• Tea Bags and Plant Clippings: Tea bags (nylon-free) and snipped herbs or veggie trimmings layer light – nitrogen punch from greens, carbon from woody bits. Strip bags if they’re plastic; clippings from prunings balance the wet. They melt to invisible by the thaw, leaving humus that smells like spring rain.

What Not to Add

• Meat, Bones, and Fish: Meat scraps, bones, and fish waste can attract rats and flies, and the lingering fats are a magnet for digging animals that will happily unearth your compost. In winter, even tiny amounts break down poorly – the cold creates uneven “hot spots” where harmful bacteria thrive instead of the beneficial microbes you want.
• Dairy Products: Cheese rinds or yogurt cups sour fast underground, the fats clotting soil and pulling maggots when it warms. Milk has the same effect – it's too rich for microbes without air.
• Fats and Cooking Oils: Oils and grease seal out air, slowing rot to a crawl while inviting mold or rodents. Just a dribble can turn rancid; poured grease mats up like wax. Let pans cool first, then wipe them clean with a paper towel and toss it away.

How to Tell it's Ready

Winter's slow grind is perfect for trench composting – the cold suppresses bad bugs, and freeze-thaw crumbles scraps finer than any tumbler would. By spring, scraps have thawed, refrozen, and thawed again – it's like nature's blender turning peels to humus. The microbes wake slowly, but worms till deep, leaving soil fluffy and fed without tilling.

To check if your compost is finished, dig test holes in March or April, and if it crumbles nice and dark, go ahead and plant away. You can either plant directly in that spot or dig up the compost and transport it to another area of the garden. If the food is still clearly visible, re-cover and wait a few more weeks.

Don’t bag those leaves up in fall and ditch them to the curb. Try composting them instead. Leaf compost or leaf mold can enrich your garden. Those crunchy leaves, packed with potential, become nutrient-rich treasure with some time and effort. That earthy scent feels like a garden win.

Ever raked leaves into a heap of potential? Leaf compost and leaf mold turn that crisp leaf crunch into something special – rich soil boosters for your beds. A bit of composting makes it happen. Choose leaf compost for a nutrient kick or leaf mold for better dirt texture, and sustainable gardening becomes a breeze.

Leaves dropping fast? Leaf compost and leaf mold start with fallen leaves but deliver different garden wins. Compost feeds plants quick; leaf mold builds better soil over time.

What Is Fall Leaf Composting?

You’ll want to turn those fall leaves into a crumbly mix for your beds. Toss in some green scraps – say, veggie bits or fresh grass – for a balanced heap. Leaves bring carbon, and greens add nitrogen. Shred them with a mower to speed things up. Keep it moist, like a wrung-out sponge, and flip it monthly for air. A quick turn brings rich compost to your garden.

What Is Leaf Mold?

What is leaf mold? It’s decomposed leaves turned into a crumbly, fungal-rich soil amendment. Unlike compost’s beneficial bacterial buzz, leaf mold, also called leaf mold compost, counts on fungi for a slow, easygoing process. Stack leaves high, wet them, and let them sit. No greens, just time. A shady yard corner or a mesh bin does just fine. Letting time work crafts soil that holds water tight.

Comparing the Benefits

Nutrient Content

If you need a nutrient boost, leaf compost packs soil with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It fuels veggie rows or flower patches like a full meal. It certainly lifts fertility for hungry crops. Digging in that rich mix fuels plant growth fast.

Leaf mold skips the nutrient rush but shines for soil texture. It trickles nutrients slowly through fungal mycelea. Perfect for loosening dirt, it’s less about feeding plants. Mixing it in makes soil loose and workable.

Soil Improvement

Compost breaks up clay soils and holds water in sandy soils. It boosts drainage and brings microbes in for strong roots. Spread some compost on beds, and plants leap to life. A thin layer revives tired garden patches.

Leaf mold soaks up water – up to 500% its weight. It lightens heavy soils and firms up loose soil. Ideal for mulching or seed mixes, it keeps roots cozy. Spreading it creates fluffier, water-hugging dirt.

Ease of Production

Composting takes work – shredding leaves, mixing greens and browns, turning piles. Keep it moist and aerate often for a 6-12 month payoff. A compost tumbler, like this one from Amazon, cuts the effort. Regular turning churns out nutrient-packed soil.

Leaf mold should stay simple. Stack leaves, dampen them, and wait – 1-3 years. No mixing or flipping needed. A yard corner or basic bin, like this from Amazon, works fine. Letting time pass yields a fluffy soil booster.

Best Applications

Compost powers up tomatoes, roses, or lawns. It blends into planting holes or spreads as topdressing. Digging it in sparks quick plant growth.

Leaf mold shines as mulch for shrubs, perennials, or thirsty beds. It crafts gentle seed-starting mixes for new sprouts. Spreading that flaky mix keeps roots hydrated.

When to Use Compost vs. Leaf Mold

Got veggie rows or lawns? You’ll want to spread leaf compost for a nutrient lift. It suits heavy feeders like squash or marigolds. Lay down 2-3 inches (5-7.5 cm) on beds or blend with soil for pots. Mixing it in drives a thriving garden.

Are your leaves chopped fine? Make sure to use leaf mold for mulching shrubs, perennials, or roses. It improves clay or sandy soils, holding water for roots. Stir it into seed-starting mixes for tender sprouts. Spread 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) as mulch or mix with soil. A layer locks in moisture for healthy beds.

Leaf compost and leaf mold transform that raked pile’s crisp scent into soil that makes beds thrive – pick one and start raking.

Have you ever wondered if you can compost sourdough starter to invigorate that backyard heap? This tangy mix, left over from home baking, tends to accumulate over time as it is discarded after the starter is fed. Its natural makeup, containing wild yeasts and microbes, would seem to be beneficial to the composting process. But is adding sourdough to compost really a clever way to turn a waste item into garden fuel?

This notion has recently been picking up steam, and composting food waste shows how everyday scraps can amp up decay. With so much unused starter that often ends up being thrown away, it’s fair to ask if it brings an extra spark to the process.

Whether you already have a backyard pile or want to learn how to compost to reduce kitchen waste, learning what can be composted is vital to get the best out of it and create that black gold.

Why Use Sourdough in Compost?

Bakers always have that extra sourdough starter after a feed, and it quickly adds up. While there are many discard recipes to try, sometimes it inevitably gets thrown out. Yet, the starter is buzzing with beneficial microbes. So, could these microbes, already at work on flour and water, keep going on other scraps and help hurry along the compost’s decay?

In theory, it’s like a natural jumpstart – not unlike tossing in veggie peels. That lively microbial nature hints it could shake up the pile, making it an interesting add-in to try out. The wet stuff and nitrogen might even warm things up a touch.

Does Science Back the Hype?

No big studies have proven its effectiveness yet, but the pieces fit. The starter’s got nitrogen from the flour, which teams up with carbon for a solid mix. Microbes are the stars of the show in decay, and the starter’s cultures might pitch in, even if it’s not locked in. These microbes, mainly Lactobacillus bacteria and Saccharomyces yeasts, can contribute enzymes that help break down organic matter, and they may briefly boost microbial diversity in the pile, though the existing compost community usually dominates the process. Too much could tip the scales, maybe overheating it.

Many experts figure adding sourdough starter is fine in small quantities, though solid proof is still out there waiting. It’s a fair guess, just not a done deal.

What Could it Do for Your Pile?

Adding starter to your pile could possibly help speed up decay. That could mean darker, richer compost ready for the garden sooner. The nitrogen nudge might also reinvigorate soil a little, helping plants grow better down the line. The enzymes and bacteria from the starter can help break down tough fibers, like bran or husks, and may slightly increase microbial diversity, which can improve nutrient cycling and structure in your pile. It’s a handy way to cut waste, flipping a baker’s extra into garden gold. The starter mixes things up, maybe improving the compost’s feel and nutrients with regular use.

Any Snags to Watch For?

Piling on too much sourdough starter might cause composting problems, like making the heap too soggy or sour, slowing it down, or calling in flies. The yeast could butt heads with other microbes, throwing things off if overdone. A whiff of funk might hang around without a good stir.

In warm spells, that extra wet could draw more bugs. Smaller bins might feel the strain, so keeping tabs on them helps dodge headaches. Speaking of bins, a good bin is one of the more important factors, as well. This VIVOSUN Outdoor Tumbling Composter from Amazon is a great choice that makes turning compost a breeze.

Doing it the Smart Way

To test whether you can compost your sourdough starter in your home bin, start by tossing in a small scoop – maybe a cup or two – into a pile that’s been turned over. Blend it with dry leaves or paper to soak up the damp. Flip it every few days to keep air moving and keep that sour smell at bay.

Watch how it goes. If it gets slimy or stinky, add more dry stuff and mix it up. It should settle in over a few weeks.

Other Tricks to Jazz Up Compost

Sprinkling in coffee grounds for a nitrogen kick is a tip many gardeners swear by. Grass clippings, if they’re clean, add a green punch, but stir them in to stop clumping. Crushed eggshells add calcium, balancing things out slow and steady.

Store-bought compost starters, packed with microbes, can get it going fast. A good go-to, and my personal favorite, is the Jobe's Organics Fast-Acting Granular Fertilizer Compost Starter, available from Amazon. These sidestep starter worries and keep the compost rolling strong.

A compost pile shines with a mix of things, so don’t bank on just one. Touch it. It ought to feel warm, not blazing or cold. Splash some water if it’s dry and crumbly, but don’t turn it into a puddle. A bit of everything keeps it cooking along.

Boba straws and acupuncture aren’t usually things we associate with gardening, but there’s a compost hack making waves at the moment which could be about to change all of that. Especially as it could make a traditionally laborious task much, much easier on our backs!

It’s important to learn how to make compost at home, especially if you want a more sustainable garden, but let's not forget the golden rule: you’ve got to turn it to keep it healthy. And here’s where it can become less appealing, because hauling out a fork every couple of weeks and flipping heavy compost? That’s not exactly everyone’s idea of fun – even if it does increase the chances of a solid source of “black gold” at the end of it all.

The good news? There’s a simple composting hack that keeps your pile aerated without any backbreaking work. All you need are a few hollow reeds, sunflower stalks, bamboo canes, or (yes) boba straws.

Possibly The Easiest Compost Hack Yet?

If you’ve ever started a compost bin, you’ll likely know that compost breaks down best when it has a good balance of greens, browns, moisture, and – most importantly – air. Without oxygen, the pile can go anaerobic, which means slow decomposition and a deeply unpleasant stench.

“When a compost pile smells like rotten eggs, it's a sure sign that it's going anaerobic, decomposing without the necessary oxygen," explains Sally McCabe, Associate Director of Community Education at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. "This process is slow, gunky, and can create an unpleasant stink. An aerobic, oxygen-rich pile, on the other hand, breaks down materials quickly and cleanly, often heating up significantly in the process,” she adds.

How This Composting Hack Works

While the traditional advice is to turn your pile, Sally says a better approach is to build it with airflow in mind from the very beginning. However, for ongoing maintenance, a nifty compost hack like acupuncture can work wonders. Sally reveals that you can simply poke several deep holes down into the pile to create channels for air. “You don’t need a pitchfork – a simple, long-handled tool like a piece of rebar, an old broomstick, or even a sturdy branch, can work wonders.”

The best compost bin ideas, however, are those that do this job for you. This is where Sally’s all-natural approach, using hollow-stemmed plants from your own garden, comes into play.

Whether you've built a DIY compost bin from wood or opted for a pre-made option (like the HuggleGreens Plastic Garden Compost Bin from Amazon), Sally points out that there are plenty of naturally grown items in the garden that can help with compost acupuncture.

“Reeds, bamboo stems, or sturdy, dried stalks of sunflowers can be cut into foot-long sections and inserted vertically into your compost pile,” Sally says. “This creates a network of air passages that won't collapse as the pile settles,” she adds. However, if you don’t have any hollow stemmed plants to hand, you could try using reed straws or even recycled boba straws made from plant stems.

“Along with being biodegradable and environmentally friendly, these do an excellent job of incorporating oxygen into the middle of a compost pile,” says Sally, noting that they will act like natural chimneys, allowing air to flow right through the heap.

What You Need for This Compost Hack

The success of this compost hack hinges almost entirely on the items you use for it. The main thing is to use something that will retain its shape for long enough to be beneficial. Horticulturalist and broadcaster Ellen Mary Webster says it's also vital you opt for something on the sturdier side, such as artichoke or sunflower stems.

“If thin stems are added, the weight of the materials and decomposition will likely crush them before they can help with aeration," she points out, noting that larger stems are far better as they "take longer to break down and create natural air pockets" as they do so. However, if you don't have anything in the garden that works, you could also use these handy items:

• Boba straws: Try something like HAY! Straws Jumbo Reed Stem Straws from Amazon.
• Bamboo stakes: You can pick up a bundle of Bamboo Plant Stakes from Amazon easily enough.
• Metal tubing: Try the Metal Copper Brass Round Tubes from Amazon.

Easy Aeration for Smart Composting

The best thing about this compost hack – other than the fact it allows us to really lean into our lazier goblin-mode alter egos – is that, over time, the stems will slowly decompose along with the rest of the material… leaving you with yet more rich, crumbly compost. If you’ve ever felt guilty about neglecting your compost pile, compost acupuncture is the hack for you. By staking your heap with hollow reeds, you’ll be gifting nature the air it needs to do the hard work – at least in the short term.

“It’s an easy, passive aeration technique that can make your composting experience less about back-breaking labor and more about smart, efficient gardening,” adds Sally. “This, along with a little planning, could be all it takes to maintain a healthy, odorless compost pile that will reward you with beautiful soil for seasons to come.”

Of course, if compost acupuncture isn't for you, you could create or buy a compost turning unit to make turning yours easier instead. Try mounting a barrel on a frame, attaching a handle to allow turning. Alternatively, you can speed up the process and pick up an electric composter or the Exaco 43 recycled plastic tumbler composter from Lowe's.

The Right Foundation for Your Compost

Whether you opt for our boba-friendly compost hack or a twirling-whirling compost bin, just take care that you start with a sturdy foundation. "Before you add a single food scrap, lay down a 6-inch base layer of coarse, chunky materials like chopped-up cornstalks, sturdy twigs, or small branches," says Sally. 'This creates a permanent airspace at the bottom of the pile, which acts as a natural air vent that allows oxygen to circulate from below."

And just like that, you have a new compost hack in your arsenal. Time to unleash your inner acupuncturist and set to work...

Some garden hacks acquire a reverential status, and we may use them without fully knowing why. As a gardener who has enjoyed many successes (but seen my share of failures), I’ve often been told about the benefits of using eggshells for plants, as though I was being gifted special VIP access to some magical plant wisdom.

Maybe you've heard of the beneficial properties of eggshells in gardening, for everything from slug traps to compost enhancements. Now I’m not going to dissuade you from ever using eggshells – and I’m all for organic gardening with recycling household waste in a safe and practical manner. But if you aren’t careful, you could be using eggshells in the wrong ways, potentially compromising the health and growing potential of plants.

This checklist isn’t designed to cause alarm, but rather to encourage you to use eggshells in a sensible way. If you scatter them willy-nilly around your garden, this article is for you. Don’t worry, you can still turn those shells to good use. It’s just a question of making sure you prep them appropriately and utilize them correctly. As the saying goes, you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs. But you can improve your gardening successes by using eggshells in a more thoughtful manner.

Are You Using Eggshells For Plants Correctly?

Eggshells naturally contain a high amount of calcium carbonate, and this ingredient is often mentioned as being beneficial in the garden, particularly as a soil amendment. While calcium can be enormously beneficial to plant growth, a couple of eggshells tossed around your plants won’t necessarily be harnessing the goodness of the shell – and it certainly isn’t an easy fix for just any plant in need of a growth spurt. For one thing, getting the calcium out of the shell and into the plant requires a particular process. For another, there are certain things in eggshells that might work against specific plants in your garden.

One hack you might have seen involves scattering eggshells around the base of plants to reduce the risk of blossom end rot. Again, this is to do with calcium in the shell. While blossom end rot is often associated with a lack of calcium, it doesn’t follow that you remove all risk by dropping eggshells around young plants. Timing can be critical in prepping the soil for optimum growing conditions – there are seldom going to be easy shortcuts if you haven’t prepped properly in the first place. Diseases like blossom end rot can often be as much to do with watering irregularities, soil pH problems or root damage, which could be preventing adequate calcium uptake in the roots or the soil.

With the following eggshell mistakes, I want to encourage a sense of taking all the necessary steps to ensure that plants grow in the safest and healthiest way, trying to stick to a sensible care routine, respecting the wishes of each plant – and proceeding with moderation and caution. Without wishing to take the fun out of trying out a few hacks here and there, it’s much better to follow a thoughtful routine tailored to each plant, from the beginning. So, here are a few classic uses for eggshells that can lead to mistakes. Hopefully, it’ll give you some food for thought on how you can better use your stray shells in your growing plans.

1. Using Eggshells to Tackle Slugs

One of the big uses for eggshells in a garden is in combating slugs and snails. It’s understandable to reach for any methods for keeping these pests away from plants. Nobody likes to see their hard work getting chomped by gastropods, I get it. Desperation can lead us to do crazy things – and that old advice about sprinkling eggshells around plants to create a barrier seems to have an element of persuasion. Unfortunately, the idea that eggshells will keep slugs and snails at bay is flawed.

According to the findings of trials conducted by the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society, amongst others, the use of eggshells can be unreliable and ineffective. Molluscs are adept at navigating coarse and pointed terrains thanks to their mucus secretions. Adding eggshells as large pieces will create gaps for slugs and snails to squeeze their way across. Even if you are willing to crush the shells up and create more sharp edges in greater volumes, this is far from a perfect solution. Relying on eggshells in the garden as your only slug buster is a recipe for disappointment.

For those in search of organic snail and slug controls and deterrents, there are far better measures you can try. A slug pub comprising a dish or bowl filled with beer is generally more effective as a way of managing slug numbers, particularly if used in tandem with other methods, such as nematodes. You can also get baits that target molluscs while being safe for pets, such as Bonide Captain Jack’s Slug Magic Granules from Amazon. Alternatively, sprinkling diatomaceous earth, such as Harris Diatomaceous Earth 4lb from Amazon, around plants can control slug numbers by causing them to dehydrate.

2. Using Eggshells with Acid-Loving Plants

Are eggshells always good for the garden? You may have seen eggshells dusted around plants to help “give the earth a boost” and figured where’s the harm in trying it yourself? The allure of a calcium boost may seem harmless enough. Unfortunately, if you are growing acid-loving plants like rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias or crops like blueberries, a mass scattering of eggshell is far from ideal. That high calcium content actually acts as a moderator in soil, and over time it can reduce acidity levels. It won’t necessarily be an instant issue – but once that calcium starts building up in the soil, it’s only a matter of time.

In extreme cases, the presence of eggshell where you grow acid-loving plants – and the buildup of calcium from eggshells in garden soil – can create a barrier between the plant and specific nutrients it needs to absorb. If in doubt about your soil pH, it’s wise to test the soil by using a soil meter, like the Raintrip 4-in-1 Meter from Amazon. If you need to raise the level of acidity in your soil, add a fine granular elemental sulfur in the fall, like Earth Science Fast Acting Sulfur from Walmart. Test the soil again, and once you are happy with acidity levels, aim to use eggshells only in places where you can be sure they won’t cause issues to acid-loving plants.

3. Using Eggshells As Pots for All Seedlings

The sight of a seedling growing out of an eggshell is undeniably life-affirming, and I must admitI have given this one a go. It’s not that it’s always a bad idea. But again, it shouldn’t be used across the board for all plants. When mulling over eggshell uses in the garden, you may well be scratching your head at this one and wondering how an iddy-biddy eggshell pot can possibly harm a seedling. It comes down to a little research into the plant you are starting from seed – specifically, how fast it is likely to germinate and grow in those first few weeks, and how deep its roots are likely to be.

For some crops, like cress, there are no issues with eggshell pots, since the roots are so shallow and the space they take up so negligible, even with multiple seedlings. However, for crops such as carrots and parsnips with longer tap roots, it’s easier for seed-starting mistakes to happen. Using a compact and irregular shaped base for deeper-rooted seedlings can lead to twisted or stunted root systems, compromised and potentially incapable of reaching maturity. Fast-growing seedlings such as beetroots and sunflowers can soon require more space than is feasible in the narrow confines of an eggshell pot.

If possible, it’s best to grow deep-rooted seedlings directly in the earth (making sure you have removed larger chunks of soil debris first). Where that isn’t possible, grow deep-rooted seedlings for crops such as carrots and beets in tailored cell trays and propagation kits. You can buy deep cell propagation trays such as Rootrainer 32-Cell Kits from Amazon.

How To Use Eggshells In The Garden Safely

My introduction to eggshells as a gardening aid, many years ago, is probably still the most reliable way to use them – and that is as part of a thoughtful, well timed composting routine. Whether you are planning on making compost via the traditional heap in the corner of your garden, or by way of a composting bin, the shells make an egg-cellent (sorry, couldn’t resist that one!) addition to a broader mass of well selected browns and greens. However, just because there’s safety in numbers, that doesn’t mean you are ok to throw the shells straight into the compost without having a few things checked off first.

If you have designated eggshells in the compost, make sure you have washed them thoroughly. This is important both as a way of neutralizing odors (so reducing the risk of attracting vermin) and minimizing the chances of transferring pathogens to the compost heap. Second, ensure that the shell particles are as small and finely crushed as possible. Leaving shells in two halves, sitting forlornly on the top of a pile of rotting vegetable matter, is no good – it can take a year or more for full shells to decompose. Crushing shells guarantees that all micronutrients will be absorbed into the compost as quickly as possible.

Crush your shells using a pestle and mortar like the highly rated ChefSofi Granite Mortar And Pestle Set from Amazon, or a blender such as the Vitamix Explorian E310 from Amazon. Eggshells can also be great if you are vermicomposting, as worms love them. They are beneficial to a worm’s digestive system and can help neutralise acidity levels in the worm bin. The Gardening Know How team loves the Vego In-Ground Worm Composter Bin from Amazon. Again, just make sure the eggshell pieces are as finely crushed as possible, and also that you use this compost in the right places in your garden.

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It’s become a bit of a fad to recycle kitchen leftovers these days. Whether it’s egg shells, cinnamon, banana skins or orange peels, it seems there’s always another great ingredient for plant health lurking in the top level of your waste bin. But there is compelling evidence that there are several plants that like coffee grounds and genuinely benefit from a java boost, particularly acid lovers.

As well as topping up levels of potassium and phosphorus, coffee grounds can supplement nitrogen, magnesium and key vitamins – as well as caffeine. Depending on who you speak to, there are between 400 billion and one trillion cups of coffee being consumed around the world each year. That’s a lot of grounds potentially getting binned!

For anyone with an interest in sustainable gardening and organic practices, being able to redirect some of that waste towards the health and wellbeing of plants can only be a good thing. But it’s important to pick coffee candidates wisely and moderately. While it can work wonders as a soil amendment, and can even help deter pests like mosquitoes and slugs, it isn’t wise to scatter leftovers indiscriminately around every plant you own.

Adding coffee grounds to a broader composting routine can be the most sensible way of ensuring that you are giving plants a balanced feed, but depending on the plant there are other ways. Here are the plants that love coffee grounds the most – with pointers on how to best apply your java and ensure that plants get the most from that next coffee break.

How Do You Add Coffee Grounds to Plants?

Before we look at the plants that benefit from coffee grounds the most, it’s good to get a sense of how best to administer that caffeine boost. Are coffee grounds good for plants in any shape or form? Not really – just scooping dregs into your raised beds, mixed beds and containers could be a recipe for disaster. Used dregs aren’t necessarily going to cause too much of an issue in small amounts, but give some thought to which plants are acid loving and alkaline loving – and check your soil pH before adding coffee grounds. In large amounts, they could raise acid levels in the soil.

If you are using grounds as a soil amendment, try to work them in a few inches deep (around 4in/10cm is a good gauge). Are used coffee grounds good for plants if applied directly? It’s not generally a good idea to just scatter coffee grounds in large quantities on the surface of the soil, because in extreme cases they can repel water. You can also add coffee grounds as a brew by steeping in hot water and allowing to cool – this is a quicker way of getting the nutrients to the soil.

The best way of introducing the benefits of coffee grounds is by adding them to your composting bin. A sensible ratio would be four parts green waste to one part coffee grounds. It might take a few months of turning with traditional composting methods, although electric composting units could speed up the process. Just try to make sure the overall composition of the pile does not contain more than around 15% coffee grounds.

What Plants are Coffee Grounds Good For?

Depending on how much coffee is given to plants, and how, the grounds can provide decent amounts of potassium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, nitrogen, magnesium, and zinc. They also feed soil microbes which release glues that assist with overall soil drainage and structure. What’s more, coffee grounds can also be used as a slug killer and mosquito repellent. To repel slugs most effectively, add to plants as a diluted soil drench or a foliar spray. To repel mosquitoes, burn some grounds – the smell releases a smoke that disorients the mosquito.

Read on for a list of plants that like coffee grounds the best. These tend to be plants and shrubs that are acid-loving in nature, although the extent to which the acid levels will be affected will vary, depending on existing soil pH, the amount of grounds added, and the method of application.

1. Hydrangeas

Many hydrangeas, specifically mophead or broadleaf hydrangea varieties, are capable of changing color depending on the soil pH of the ground in which they are planted. If the soil pH is acidic (below 6) then the flowers can change from pink to blue. Conversely, alkaline conditions can make blooms pinker. Adding coffee grounds can help to shift floral tones towards the blue end of the spectrum, if that’s your fancy.

A note of caution about coffee grounds for hydrangeas, though: it’s not guaranteed that adding coffee grounds will make your flowers change color dramatically. Other factors, such as USDA region and specific hydrangea variety, can influence the extent to which this is likely. Still, when growing hydrangeas, they are generally easy going enough to appreciate acidic soil conditions, so they will certainly appreciate a shot of java, whether in soil drench or compost form.

If you’re looking for a quick way to create compost with coffee grounds, try the Fast Composting Miracle-Gro Compost Tumbler from Amazon, or the Bokashi Composting Kit from Amazon.

2. Camellias

Organic feeds are the best bet for gorgeous camellias, with their immaculate and seemingly endless precision blooms. Giving camellias a regular fertilizer from early spring to early summer is recommended as a way of ensuring the luscious blooms year after year. A good natural option is Dr Earth Acid Lovers Feed from Lowes, which is geared specifically towards this shrub’s acid-loving nature.

While they should not be used as a complete alternative, coffee grounds are ideal as a supplement to your camellia fertilizing routine. Grounds are particularly useful if added to a compost that can be used to top up your shrub ahead of the flowering season. Adding too many grounds directly to the soil can result in clumping, so a compost mix is generally best for soil condition and balanced feeding.

3. Rhododendrons

There are a couple of great aspects to the use of coffee grounds when growing rhododendrons. One, rhodies are acid-lovers and so appreciate the extra acidic fix afforded by your used grounds. The second benefit is that the coarse nature of the grounds (applied directly or as part of a compost) is highly advantageous in deterring slugs and snails, which love shade-loving rhodies.

Where applying directly to the root system, only add grounds a few times a year in beds and borders. If you are growing rhodies in containers, a couple of coffee ground applications (once in spring, and again in early summer) is sufficient. Again, don’t leave used grounds on the surface of the soil, as they can form a barrier that prevents water from working its magic and in some cases can lead to water retention. Where possible, keep an eye on drainage when using grounds.

Adding coffee grounds to your compost heap or compost bin is a good workaround if you want to use grounds but don’t want to risk compromising hydration or drainage around your rhodies. To speed up the composting process, use Reencle’s Electric Composter, available on Amazon, to create a fine compost containing coffee grounds in just a few short weeks.

4. Azaleas

Lovely, low maintenance azaleas are a popular choice for Japanese garden themes, cottage gardens, and creative modern planting schemes. Presenting with both deciduous and evergreen breeds, they create a mellow, carefree yet highly structured elegance, usually flowering in spring (although a few azalea varieties bloom again in late summer or fall). They generally don’t need loads of feeding, although an early slow-release fertilizer, such as Expert Gardener’s Plant Food from Walmart, can help in boosting flower power.

When adding coffee grounds to your azaleas, be sure to dry the grounds first and consider working into the soil so they don’t form a crust on the surface of the soil (which can negatively affect the shrub’s drainage and water retention). Avoid direct contact with the stem. Alternatively, add to your compost pile or compost bin for a more balanced, gentler caffeine fix.

5. Blueberries

If there’s one crop you should treat to some spare grounds, it’s the lush and lovely blueberry. Adding used grounds directly to the ground or to your compost pile or bin will benefit this fruity acid-lover with supplementary nitrogen, potassium and magnesium while craftily helping to lower the soil pH a little (blueberries prefer a pH around 4-5.5).

If you’re adding coffee grounds directly to your blueberries, don’t add very thick amounts – keep the applications light and infrequent (and ideally work into the soil so it doesn’t crust around the surface). Don’t add more than three applications during a single growing season. Adding grounds to the compost is generally the most effective (and least risky) way to give your blues a coffee shot.

Plenty of great blueberry varieties can be treated to a little coffee fix, but check your specific variety for individual growing requirements. There are some excellent blueberry options for first-timers at Fast Growing Trees. However, if you notice the leaves of your blueberry start looking a little yellow, it might be a sign to go cold turkey on the caffeine – and you should definitely cut the coffee out once winter arrives.

6. Roses

The allure of coffee grounds when growing roses is perhaps surprising, but this really is a miracle tonic for developing blooms. First, the grounds top up nitrogen levels, promoting vigorous leaf growth. When used as a soil amendment or compost top-up, the grounds also help to fight diseases such as fusarium wilt. The application of grounds even keeps soil conditions coarse enough to deter pests such as slugs and snails.

While coffee grounds won’t help roses grow faster, they can certainly give roses a shot to the system in terms of flower power. However, as with other plants mentioned here, don’t be tempted to rely only on coffee grounds as a source of plant food. The best results rely on a balance of nutrients, so add the grounds to your compost bin. It’s still wise to incorporate a dedicated rose feed such as Burpee Organic Rose + Bloom from Burpee, in order to give roses the best chance of reaching their fullest, velvetiest and most fragrant potential.

7. Peace Lilies & Pothos

Coffee grounds make a lovely booster drink or compost top-up for a range of house plants, including aloe vera, snake plants and African violets. However, peace lilies and pothos plants are two house plants that like coffee grounds very much. Peace lilies appreciate the slight acidic boost as well as the structural benefits to the soil, enabling roots to better extract goodness from the soil. Pothos plants also appreciate the aerating properties of grounds when added as a gentle soil mix or compost top-up.

While these are two indoor plants that like coffee grounds, make sure you are still giving your houseplants a slow-release general purpose fertilizer or diluted general-purpose fertilizer at monthly intervals during the growing season. Coffee grounds are a great potential nitrogen boost, but ideally they need to be viewed as a top-up to a broader feeding routine. If possible, try a dedicated pothos or peace lily feed such as Houseplant Resource Center Original Indoor Plant Food, available from Walmart.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Just because composting at home is easy doesn’t mean that everyone does it. Yes, organic compost is expensive at the garden center and free when you make it yourself, but if you don’t figure out a convenient way to create compost, you aren’t likely to do it. So, let’s look at different compost bin ideas and find one that works for you.

There are so many different compost systems that it can seem overwhelming to review them. But the good news is that you can find one that works in your space, including indoor options. You can buy a bin or make one yourself, and there are solutions for both small and large spaces.

If you need more information about how to start a compost bin, you’ve come to the right place. Whatever types of composting you want to try, there is an option that will suit your space and budget, including ideas for how to make a compost bin.

Compost Bin Ideas

Mother nature is the master composter, making soil more fertile by incorporating organic matter from decaying dead leaves and plants. You can bring extra compost into your own landscape by installing a compost system that works for your household.

There are many compost box ideas out there. The key is to pick one that works with your budget and space. You can install a compost pile outdoors or a compost bin indoors – or both. Each type of composting works slightly differently and impacts the speed of composting.

1. Compost Bin with Hatch

Making your own compost lets you turn waste into garden gold – a product that you can add to your soil to provide your plants with the nutrients and soil consistency they need to thrive. The simplest way to do this is by buying and using a standard plastic compost bin and learning what can be composted.

You place garden and kitchen detritus into the bin and add water, and over time it becomes fresh, home-made compost. Choose a bin with a hatch to allow easy access to the mature compost.

This may be the best of the compost bin ideas for someone just learning how to compost. You buy and bring home a bin, set it up in your backyard, and start putting kitchen waste (like vegetable peels and coffee grounds) and garden waste (like dried leaves) into the bin in layers, then let nature do the rest. You can find these pre-made bins in many sizes, shapes and colors, and they are ready to go almost out of the box.

This Outsunny compost bin from Amazon offers a generous 80-gallon capacity at an affordable price.

2. A DIY Wooden Slat Compost Bin

If you are willing to put in a little work, you can build a DIY compost bin from wood. There are kits you can buy to make a wooden slat compost bin, or you can just repurpose an old wooden fence. It is also possible to use wooden pallets – which will cut down on the work. The idea is to build a rectangular, four-sided structure made from slatted wooden planks or boards that are screwed or nailed together. One side is left open as a “door” to put in the waste material.

This is a good option for those with a large backyard and DIY skills. Generally, wooden slat compost bins are at least 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2m) tall and wide and 3 to 4 feet high (0.9 to 1.2m). Covering the top of the bin with plastic will result in faster decomposition.

If you like the idea but don't want to build one, then Walmart offers a good range of Greenes Fence compost bins, made from safe, untreated North American cedar.

3. In-Ground Worm Composter

While standard composting relies on nature’s microorganisms to break down organic waste, you can also choose to put worms into the process. In vermicomposting, both worms and microbes help to decompose the material. The best way to use worms for composting is to buy an in-ground worm composter, such as this Vego design from Amazon. Essentially, it is a plastic bin with holes in it that you can place in the soil in a raised garden bed. You add organic waste and compost worms, then step back and let nature take its course. Worms really speed up the composting process.

This system works well and easily for those with raised garden beds. On the other hand, the amount of compost is limited, and it won’t work for those truly squeamish about worms. Generally, these boxes create between 5 and 10 gallons of compost.

4. Compost Tumbler or Turner

With a standard compost bin, the hardest work you’ll do is turning the compost regularly. If you create or buy a compost turning unit, turning becomes easy. To do a DIY version, you can mount a barrel on a frame, attaching a handle to allow turning. The barrel can be mounted horizontally or vertically on cinder blocks, using a metal pipe flange for the crank arm. Alternatively, you can buy a compost tumbler system ready-made. The Exaco 43 recycled plastic tumbler composter from Lowe's has two compartments to keep fresh organic waste and more mature compost separate.

This type of compost system makes the creation of compost as easy as can be. It is a simple way to blend the organic waste with the oxygen and water by simply turning the barrel.

5. Hot Compost Bin

One of the fastest ways to get ready compost is to use a hot compost bin. While all compost is created by microorganisms breaking down organic matter, hot composting optimizes microbial activity. The idea is to keep the composting material hot by reducing the size of the materials composted, turning it more often, and keeping track of the temperature. This results in a more rapid breakdown of organic materials.

In fact, the main advantage of this system is to produce usable compost in a matter of weeks, rather than the many-months’ time frame in regular “cool” composting. The big disadvantage of hot composting is the effort it requires.

6. Compost Pile in the Garden

The very simplest way to compost is by creating a compost pile in the garden. There are unlimited compost pile ideas – since all you need to do is select a flat spot that gets some sun and start piling up compost greens and browns. Layer green matter (e.g. kitchen waste) and brown matter (e.g. dried leaves) like a compost lasagne.

Compost piles are somewhat unsightly, so these are only viable alternatives if you have a big backyard. On the other hand, they are a cheap (indeed free!) way to get started.

7. Countertop Compost Bin

What about composting indoors, right in the kitchen? This is possible – on a small scale – with a countertop compost bin. Given the limited size of a kitchen countertop, the volume of compost detritus you can use is reduced. On the other hand, it makes it very easy to use kitchen scraps, since the bin is within reach. This Joseph Joseph intelligent waste compost bin from Amazon has a built-in odor filter and comes in two colors.

Once the countertop compost bin is full, you can add the material into a compost pile or an electric composter. These machines use heat and grind the food scraps into a crumbly material that, following a curing period, can be used as compost in the garden, reducing the time and effort required to make great compost. These may work for you if your space is extremely tight.

The Reencle Home Composter, available in the Gardening Know How Shop, nurtures microbial activity in the composting process, resulting in compost that is ready to plant with in as little as two weeks.

8. Bokashi Composting Bucket

If you are tired of working the compost pile in the garden, then waiting months for usable compost, you may be interested in bokashi composting. This is a method of fermenting organic waste that creates nutrient-rich compost quickly. It involves using a bokashi bran containing of microorganisms that cause rapid decay of organic matter. The downside is the limited amount of compost you can make at any one time.

In bokashi composting, you put your kitchen and garden waste in an airtight container, then a layer of the bokashi mix – according to the instruction on the product. This is repeated until the container is filled up. Keep the container tightly closed to allow the fermenting process to take place.

The bokashi composting method is quick and lets you compost items that you usually cannot put in a traditional compost heap, like meat scraps. The compost product can be buried in the garden in as little as two weeks, and the fermenting process continues in the soil.

This Premium Bokashi Composting Starter Kit from Amazon includes two bokashi bins, 4.4 lbs of bran, and full instructions to get you started.

9. 5-Gallon Bucket Compost

If you’ve got no space or low space in your yard, you can compost with a 5-gallon bucket system. This bucket with a lid from Amazon is ideal. It is possible to make compost in a small bucket if you use the vermicomposting or bokashi composting system.

For vermicomposting, you’ll need to drill lots of drain holes in a plastic 5-gallon bucket with a tight lid. The compost material and the worms go inside. Turn or shake the bucket every few days to add oxygen.

For bokashi composting, you’ll need to drill holes in the bottom of a 5-gallon container. Nest this inside an airtight container with a tight-fitting lid. Place a scoop of the bokashi bran mix on the mix every time you add kitchen scraps. After a week or so, the material is ready to be placed in garden soil to finish the composting process.

10. Trench in the Garden

When you compost in a bin or a pile, you need to move the finished compost into the garden beds when it is ready. You can avoid this step by composting in a trench in the garden. Subterranean composting makes compost underground in a trench or a hole at least 18 inches (46cm) deep. You add organic materials, soak them with water, then backfill the trench with the removed soil. Do this in the fall, and the bed will be all ready for spring planting.

11. Compost in a Bag

If you want to compost in a super-small space and on the cheap, you can make a compost bin with a plastic bag. While you can buy official “compost bags”, like these Ctosree bags from Amazon, garbage bags work well too. Just put organic material in a plastic bag, water it down, tie it closed, then put that bag in a second bag. Place it in a sunny spot and shake it every few weeks. Compost will be ready in a matter of months.

12. Compost Trash Can

Here’s a final, simple idea to build a compost bin from a trash can. Get a plastic or metal trash can with a locking lid – this 32-gallon heavy-duty plastic garbage can with a click-lock lid from Amazon is ideal. Saw or drill holes all around the garbage can, including the bottom and the lid. Place it in the backyard and put organic material and water in the can. Lock the top to prevent rodents.

Unlike some trends that don’t work, this viral gardening hack actually has something to it. A melon pit can help you grow healthier plants that need less tending. It can even help you find more space to grow!

Though it is named after melons because they are heavy feeders, this hack can be used for other crops, as well. This type of composting can boost your yields and grow the best tasting produce. Use this method in addition to or as a replacement for traditional raised bed vegetable gardening.

Here are the basics of melon pit gardening and a simple guide to making your own.

What Is A Melon Pit?

Essentially, a melon pit is a version of in-ground composting in which you plant directly into your composting pit. It is named after melons because they are heavy feeders and this compost-intensive environment will help melons, squash, and pumpkins to grow well with little tending.

There is a common myth that this type of planting was developed by Native Americans and passed to European colonists during their first years on the continent. Remember learning in school that Squanto taught Pilgrims the Native American agricultural practice of burying fish under their crops to help them grow?

Well, it turns out that it wasn’t actually a common practice among the Wampanoag and Squanto may have learned it from other Europeans. Just another example of the inaccuracies of the “First Thanksgiving” story.

But, regardless of the origins, it is well known that fish emulsion fertilizer and compost are great for plants! The melon pit is an example of how we can use that knowledge to easily improve our crops.

Benefits Of A Melon Pit

Melon pits are quick and easy to make and can offer amazing benefits to your garden. They are a great way to get into the practice of composting and making more sustainable choices in the yard. Some other benefits include:

• Improve soil – You will place your melon pit in a location that might have poor soil quality, but the pit will improve it as the materials break down.
• Plants need less water and fertilizer – Being in the ground rather than in a raised bed means that the plants dry out less quickly, and they are buried right on top of a great source of nutrients.
• Quick – There is no need to go and build a raised bed or dig a new garden, simply dig a hole and you are in business!
• Save space – You can dig a melon pit anywhere the growing conditions are right and they take up less space than a traditional raised bed.

How To Build A Melon Pit

1. Select a location: If you are growing melons in your melon pit, you will need to choose a location that is hot and sunny. Melons need full sun to ripen sweetly. If you are planting other crops in your pit, choose a location that will suit their sun needs. For instance, leafy greens will do better with some dappled sunlight. You should also choose a location where your vining melons or pumpkins can spread as they grow. Building a vegetable trellis or a cattle panel trellis arch is a good way to use vertical space and get the vines off the ground.
2. Dig melon pit: Dig a hole about 2 feet (0.61 m) deep and 1 foot (0.3 m) wide. I love a small shovel like the Little Pal shovel from Ace Hardware for small digging jobs like melon pits. Be sure to remove weeds and grass from your pile of dug soil.
3. Fill with composting materials: Fill your new pit with compostable materials. Starts with sticks and coarse brown materials on the bottom to allow for the best drainage. Then fill in with kitchen scraps, yard clippings, and other green materials. Fill the hole with compost material until there are a few inches left at the top.
4. Add Soil: Top off the last few inches of the hole with the soil you excavated and create a mound of soil on top of that. This will be your planting hill for melons and other crops. Be sure to remove any rocks as you are backfilling. Water the mound deeply before planting.
5. Plant: Plant your melons! You can sow directly into the mound or transplant seedlings that you have grown elsewhere.
6. Maintain: For melons, water deeply and infrequently and reduce the water as they begin to ripen to prevent any splitting. It is also a good idea to mulch the new plants.

Creating a melon pit is as easy as that! As you prepare your garden for the next year, be sure you rotate your crops so they continue to be happy and pest and disease free. Luckily, you can easily create new melon pits next year in a snap.

Homemade compost, affectionately known as black gold, is a secret weapon of some of the best gardeners. It’s the nutrient-rich material that results from the breakdown of organic materials, like kitchen and yard waste. But how does all that material break down? Microbes do much of the work – little organisms you can’t see. Larger creatures, like worms and insects, also help make compost. To keep piles productive and pest-free, many gardeners turn to an anti-bug compost spray to help strike the right balance.

The truth is, not all critters in your bin are bad. In fact, some bugs in compost play an essential role in breaking down organic matter. Others, though, are warning signs that something's off. Too many flies or roaches? That could mean excess moisture or the wrong composting ingredients. If you're just learning how to compost at home, it's important to identify and troubleshoot composting problems so you can get your pile back on track quickly.

Keeping compost healthy and pest-free doesn't have to be complicated. A few adjustments – and the occasional natural spray – can work wonders.

Beneficial Critters in Compost

Some insects and other critters are actually helpful in the process, actively breaking down waste to make compost. Unless their numbers get out of control or they become unsightly, don’t worry about these:

• Earthworms are highly beneficial in compost and are used in vermicomposting. Red worms are the specific type of worms you want in compost. They quickly break down organic material and leave behind nutrient-rich worm castings.
• Isopods are crustaceans. The types you might see in compost are pill bugs (rollie pollies) and sowbugs. They eat decaying organic matter and help create compost.
• Millipedes also consume decaying matter to help make compost. Don’t confuse millipedes with centipedes, which eat other insects, including beneficial ones. Centipedes love moisture, so their presence could indicate your compost is too wet.
• Soldier flies are different from houseflies. Both are attracted to decaying matter, but soldier flies are not likely to invade your home, so they can be useful in breaking down material in your compost pile. You don’t want their numbers to get too high, though.

Common Pests in Compost

These insects and other types of critters are purely pests in compost:

• Ants do nothing to break down organic material and typically indicate your compost pile is too dry.
• Houseflies can help break down organic matter, but they are also pests in that they are unpleasant to have around. This is especially true if the compost pile is inside or close to the house.
• Cockroaches, like houseflies, do help break down material in the compost pile, but most people don’t really want them around.
• Mammals such as rats, raccoons, and other small mammals are definitely not critters you want hanging around your compost pile. They are typically drawn to the smell of decaying food that they can eat.

Preventing Pests in Compost

The best way to eliminate unwanted pests from your compost is to prevent attracting them. Maintaining a healthy, balanced pile with the right compost temperature and moisture level goes a long way to preventing pests.

Check your compost regularly for moisture levels and pests. When composting food waste, break it down into smaller pieces. Cover it with plant waste or mix it into the middle of the pile. Never add meat, dairy, or foods with oil and fat. These are very attractive to mammals.

Keep compost well away from the house to avoid insects that are not necessarily pests, but that you don’t want in your house. Also, keep it away from other sources of food that might attract animals.

Natural Anti-Bug Compost Spray Recipes

Even with good composting practice, you might get pests in your compost. You might also end up with an overabundance of some insects that are beneficial but unsightly. Never use chemical pesticides on your compost. You don’t want these products ending up in the compost and then in your garden soil.

Instead, use natural, organic products or make your own recipes to deter pests. Neem oil and insecticidal soaps are examples of commercial products that are natural and can help keep pests at bay. Also, try these homemade anti-bug compost spray recipes:

• DIY insecticidal soap can be made by mixing water, liquid dish soap, and a deterrent, like cayenne pepper. The pepper deters pests while the soap helps it stick to the compost.
• Essential oils offer another way to deter pests, as they don't like the scents. Mix a few drops of essential oil into water with a little dish soap to make a mix that will stick to the compost and keep pests away. Try cedarwood, lemongrass, eucalyptus, citrus, or peppermint.
• White vinegar is attractive to flies, but you can use this fact to trap and kill them. Set up dishes in or near the compost with water, a little dish soap, and vinegar. The vinegar attracts them, and the dish soap causes them to sink in the water.
• Diatomaceous earth sprinkled over your compost pile will kill insects and soft-bodied critters, like slugs. Unfortunately, it will also kill beneficial insects and worms, so use it sparingly. Sprinkle it on the surface to manage maggots or an overabundance of flies, or cockroaches. Use food-grade diatomaceous earth only, which is safe for people and pets.

Keeping pests away from compost can be challenging. These natural alternatives to more drastic chemical measures should help. The best solution, though, is prevention through careful management of your compost pile.

The benefits of a backyard compost pile or bin are well known by seasoned gardeners, but sometimes achieving the right mix for that finished “black gold” can be tricky. If the pile is open, it can be derailed by too much or not enough rain, critters, lack of microorganisms, or cool weather. We can cause problems too by adding inappropriate materials, or not watering or turning the pile.

Keeping your compost pile in balance will eliminate many problems before they start. One of the first rules of learning how to compost at home is getting the right mix of compost greens and browns. Adding the brown material at 50 to 75 percent of the pile and green material at 25 to 50 percent will go a long way toward simplifying the process. In addition, turning the pile twice a month and monitoring the moisture level will ensure the pile can supply oxygen and water to the billions of microorganisms at work.

Get it right, and composting will allow you to transform kitchen and garden waste into fertile compost that will enrich your garden soil and improve its structure and texture. Even if you have to troubleshoot a few problems along the way, it's still a project worth pursuing. Here are some common issues you may encounter while composting and ways to fix them.

1. Compost Smells Bad

If the compost has a rotten egg smell, it could be overly wet, or the oxygen level is low or nonexistent. When that happens, the pile becomes anaerobic instead of the desirable aerobic, which needs oxygen. Anaerobic bacteria don't require oxygen to survive and will do the work, but very slowly and with an unpleasant odor.

To fix the compost smell, reduce the moisture and increase the oxygen. Do this by turning the pile while adding dry material such as shredded newspaper, leaves, or straw to absorb some of the moisture. If too much rain is the problem, cover the pile or bin with a tarp till the rain subsides.

If the odor smells more like ammonia, there is an excess of nitrogen in the pile. Correct the balance of browns and greens by adding more carbon materials to the pile, such as chopped wood chips, sawdust, or newspaper. If you can, spread out the pile to allow the ammonia to evaporate.

2. Pile Doesn’t Heat Up

Hot composting, where the pile is maintained at a higher temperature, is much more efficient than cold composting and breaks the materials down more quickly, killing many weed seeds and pathogens in the process. However, if the pile doesn’t heat up to the optimal compost temperature, there could be several issues at work. It could mean a lack of oxygen, a lack of nitrogen, a lack of moisture, the pile is too small, or there aren’t enough microorganisms.

First, check the moisture level in the pile by inserting your hand inside the pile in several places. If it is dry, add water via the hose and turn the pile in case lack of oxygen is a contributing factor. If the pile still doesn’t heat up, add more green material such as manure to boost the nitrogen.

If the pile is less than 3 cubic feet (0.08m³), it doesn’t have enough fresh material to start cooking. Add more browns and greens to achieve the desired size. Also, make sure the microorganisms in the soil can reach the compost.

3. Bugs in Compost

It depends on what kind of insects you are finding in the compost as to whether it is a problem. Some bugs in compost, such as fruit flies, fungus gnats, and slugs, are normal. The fruit flies are seeking fruit or vegetable remnants. If their presence is annoying, try burying the fruit scraps deeper in the center of the pile. Both fruit flies and fungus gnats are attracted to moisture so the pile may be too wet. Add more carbon materials and turn the pile to air it out. If you see a lot of fungus gnats in the finished compost, let it dry out in the sun before using it.

Flies buzzing around compost may indicate inappropriate material such as meat, bones, dairy, grease, or fat. Bury the scraps further down in the center of the pile and refrain from adding them in the future.

Flies in compost may also be black soldier flies, the larvae of which are highly beneficial to the compost and do not carry disease.

Pillbugs and sowbugs may invade the pile, and they don’t harm the compost itself, but sowbugs could munch on emerging vegetable leaves and roots if they make it to the garden in compost. Send them packing by heating up the compost pile above 120°F (49°C).

4. Pot Worms

Pot worms are small, clear worms that function similarly to earthworms. Because of their tiny size, they consume bacterial and fungal materials as well as excretions from other soil dwellers. While moving along the soil, they help aerate the soil as well as contribute humus to the soil.

If potworms become bothersome in the compost, reduce the amount of water in the pile.

5. Vegetables Growing in Compost Pile

You may notice seedlings growing in the unfinished compost from vegetable or weed seeds that were not destroyed during the heating phase. If you recognize vegetables growing in the compost pile as prized seedlings, go ahead and move them to the garden to grow.

Weed seedlings can be pulled and thrown on the unfinished compost pile because they do not carry weed seeds at this stage.

6. Pile Attracts Animals

If rodents, dogs, raccoons, and other unwanted animals are sniffing around your compost heap, they are scenting meat, bones, dairy products, fats, or other undesirables in the compost pile. Bury the scraps deep in the center of the pile, but it is best not to add them at all. If you live in bear country, do not even add vegetable scraps to the compost pile.

7. Leaves or Grass Clippings Not Decomposing

If the leaves or grass were added in a heap it probably has matted down. Turn the pile to mix them in and they will soon start decomposing. When adding a large amount of material, chop it up fine and turn the pile to mix it.

8. Dry Compost Pile

If the pile does not have enough moisture, it won’t heat up. It also may move to anaerobic activity instead of aerobic. Add water to the pile alternately while turning to thoroughly rewet the pile. It should always be moist. When rain is absent, be sure to water the pile regularly.

9. Compost Fungus

You may be startled to see a yellow slime mold growing in your compost bin, but it is harmless. Many types of compost fungi help break down debris along with billions of microorganisms.

10. Unable to Turn Pile

There is no shame in neglecting to turn the pile. Many experts recommend turning compost two to four times a month. But it is hard work, and many people are physically unable to turn it or do not have the time. Never fear, you can still have compost, but it will take longer.

Help your “cold” composting along by making sure everything you add is chopped up into fine pieces, and mix the greens and browns together while building it up. Water as you go and continue to keep the pile moist. Don’t forget to sprinkle a few handfuls of soil or compost on top to get the microorganisms working!

Composting Tips

If you are a beginning composter, there are a few basics you need to know to get cooking. Pick a corner of the yard where you can start a compost bin or pile. Ideally it needs to be close to a water source. By creating layers of waste – carbon material (browns) and nitrogen material (greens) – you can speed up the decomposition process and turn plant material into organic material in just a few months.

Examples of browns are dry leaves, shredded newspaper, non-corrugated cardboard, sawdust, dry grass, woody prunings (chopped), straw, and pine needles. Examples of greens are fruit and vegetable waste, grass clippings (unless herbicides applied in the last few weeks), coffee grounds, coffee filters, tea bags, and livestock manure.

Start the pile with a layer of sticks on the ground for ventilation, then alternate layers of browns and greens to a height of 3 feet (90cm). When the layers are complete, add a couple of handfuls of garden soil to introduce the microorganisms. That’s it!

Keep the pile moist, but not overly wet. If a lot of rain is forecast, you can cover the pile with a tarp. Then, to keep the pile oxygenated, turn the pile with a shovel or pitchfork every three to four weeks. The pile should heat up, but if it doesn’t, add more greens or water.

It takes some trial and error, but even if you don’t ever turn the pile or add water, it will still compost, but it may take a year or more.

More Composting Inspiration

• Discover 4 superfast composting methods to turn waste into garden gold in 30 days or less.
• Are electric composters the future of sustainability? Learn all about them in our guide to countertop food recycling.
• Make a compost bin on a budget with these 7 easy DIY projects for beginners.
• Sign up for the Gardening Know How Newsletter for regular expert advice and exclusive offers.

Traditional composting is a long process. It can take six months to more than a year to make usable compost for your garden. This is fine if you have the time and keep the process going continuously, but if you are short on compost and want to start planting as soon as possible, then the fastest composting methods​ will accelerate the process.

There are numerous ways to speed up composting in a regular bin by ensuring the best materials balance and maintaining the pile to keep it moist and aerated. However, to make garden gold in just four weeks, you'll need to explore different types of composting that are designed with speed in mind.

Whether you're learning how to compost at home or are a seasoned composter looking to supercharge an existing pile, these are the fastest composting methods to try.

1. The Berkeley Method

One of the fastest ways to make compost is also the most labor-intensive. If you have the time to devote to tending it, you can get compost in about three weeks using the Berkeley method, which is a type of hot composting. Developed by a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, this method relies on creating the ideal conditions for composting. Here’s how to do it:

• Start with the optimal ratio of compost greens and browns. Compost greens are nitrogen-rich materials, such as food waste and grass clippings, and browns are carbon-rich materials, such as paper, dry leaves, wood chips, and twigs. For regular composting, the usual ratio is around 3 or 4 browns to 1 green, but for the Berkeley method, the browns make up the majority of the pile, with a brown-to-green ratio of roughly 30:1.
• Chop or shred the materials into very small pieces, a half inch (1.3cm) to 1.5 inches (3.8cm) maximum.
• Wet all the materials to achieve about 50% moisture. It should feel like a wrung-out sponge or like you can get just a few drops of water when you squeeze the material tightly.
• Create a pile that is at least H3xW3xD3 feet or as big as H5xW5xD5 feet (0.9m or 1.5m).
• Check the temperature inside the compost pile every day and turn when it reaches 160°F (71°C). This should take four or five days. Turn the pile by trying to get the material from the inside to the outside and vice versa.
• Continue turning every other day. Within 18 or 19 days, you should have usable compost.

If your pile isn’t reaching the ideal temperature, it is probably either too dry or too wet. Add more water or spread the materials out to dry. An ammonia smell from the pile indicates you have too much nitrogen. Add more brown, carbon material to the pile.

2. Electric Composting

Electric composting is an exciting new development for anyone who doesn’t have the space for a proper compost pile (or the desire to create one) in the garden. An electric composter is a machine that you can set right on your kitchen counter or floor. Put kitchen waste into the machine, let it run, and out comes a compost-like material that just requires a short period of curing in the garden before it can be used for planting.

It’s important to understand that many products that claim to be electric composters don’t really produce compost. They produce dried, crumbled food waste, heated to a high temperature that kills beneficial bacteria. The best electric composters support microbes in the composting process and operate at a slightly lower temperature that destroys many harmful pathogens but crucially does not kill the composting bacteria.

One such appliance is the Reencle Home Composter, available on Amazon. It nurtures microbial activity and breaks down kitchen scraps within 24 hours into pre-compost. This requires just a 3-week curing period before being plantable, though it can be used immediately for mulch and top dressing.

In addition to the speed and convenience, another benefit of composting this way is that you can include meat and dairy, which should not go in a traditional compost pile.

3. Drunken Composting

Another way to speed up compost production is to use additional materials to accelerate the process of decaying organic matter. Drunken composting uses beer, ammonia, and either soda or sugar as an accelerating mix.

To get the ratio right, mix together one can of beer, eight ounces of ammonia, and either a 12-ounce can of soda (not a diet type) or three tablespoons of sugar dissolved in 12 ounces of water.

Use a sprayer to add the accelerator mix evenly to your compost pile. Use a fork or shovel to turn the pile. If you started with a good mix of greens to browns and shredded the materials in the compost pile, the accelerator should give you usable compost within a couple of weeks.

4. Bokashi Composting

Bokashi composting is a method popularized by a Japanese professor in the 1980s. Bokashi means fermented organic matter, and the method relies on an anaerobic process to break down food waste. This means it does not use oxygen. Traditional composting is aerobic and requires oxygen. To create the anaerobic reaction, the food waste is sealed in a bucket with a special Bokashi bran.

There are several benefits to composting this way. It allows you to use all kitchen waste, including meat and dairy, which normally does not go into a compost pile. Additionally, it doesn’t take up a lot of space and can be done in your kitchen. The initial fermentation process takes just two weeks

A downside to Bokashi composting is that the fermented food waste is not true compost – yet. The material you get from your Bokashi system should either be added to a compost pile or buried in garden trenches to break down further. It takes two to four weeks before the soil is plantable.

The best way to use the Bokashi method is to buy a kit and follow the instructions. This involves breaking up kitchen waste into small pieces and layering it in the compost container with the Bokashi bran that comes with the kit. Once the container is full, it sits for about two weeks.

During this time, you need to drain off the Bokashi tea that forms in the container. You can use the tea like a fertilizer, but first dilute it with water using a ratio of one to 100. The tea is highly acidic and will harm your plants if you use it undiluted.

More Composting Inspiration

• Not sure if your compost is ready yet? Don't use it for planting until it passes this simple radish test.
• Learn how to make a compost bin on a budget with these 7 easy DIY projects for beginners.
• Harness the power of worms to make amazing organic compost! Our vermicomposting guide explains how to do it.
• For more sustainable gardening advice and inspiration, sign up for the Gardening Know How Newsletter.

Composting is a great way to use up organic waste, both from the yard and the kitchen, and to add nutrients to your garden or potting soil. While the concept behind composting is simple, the process isn’t always. You have to create the right conditions for organic matter to break down into usable compost.

This requires setting up a composting area, adding the right materials, mixing them in the correct ratios, stirring and turning the mix, and maintaining optimal temperature and moisture levels in the pile. Even with all that effort, it can take many months before the waste is transformed into "black gold", ready to be used in the garden.

So, how do you know when compost is ready? Aside from learning what finished compost looks and feels like, there is one easy test gardeners can try to check whether it's ready to be used.

Why Test Compost?

When learning how to compost at home, gardeners are often eager to start planting with it as soon as possible. However, applying compost too soon could create a nutrient imbalance in the soil and even burn the roots of tender plants.

There are signs you can look for to determine if compost is ready or if it needs more time in the pile. However, looks can be deceiving. A pile of compost that doesn’t quite look right might actually be ready. So, how do you know for sure? Try the radish test.

The Radish Test for Finished Compost

The radish compost test is very simple. Sow some radish seeds (available on Amazon) in your compost and see if they germinate and sprout. You can do this straight in the top of the pile or fill a couple of containers.

Immature compost contains toxins that destroy seed embryos. Therefore, if the compost isn’t finished, your seeds won’t germinate. Or, if the seeds germinate but the leaves are yellow, it still needs further maturation. If you get healthy, green sprouts, then your compost is ready.

So, why radish seeds? Actually, you could use any fast-growing seeds for this test, but radishes germinate and sprout particularly quickly. You should see the results of your test in three to ten days.

Do All the Seeds Need to Germinate?

For the most accurate results from the radish test, you should determine the germination rate. If 80% of the seeds germinate, then the compost is just right. This means if you sow 100 radish seeds, at least 80 of them germinate. You can scale this back and use fewer seeds, like 50 (40 germinate) or even 30 (24 germinate). But for the most accurate determination, don’t skimp on the number of seeds. You need a good sample size. This pack of radish seeds on Amazon includes over 800 seeds, which is perfect for testing your compost!

What to do with all your new radish seedlings? Transfer them to the garden and grow them on, of course!

What if My Compost Fails the Test?

If you feel like the compost is ready, but it failed the radish test, there might be other issues. For example, your compost might be finished but too acidic or high in salts. If you suspect this, it’s worth getting a soil test done on the compost before using it.

Another issue could be the seeds themselves. They might not be viable. You can try a seed viability test by creating a control group. Try germinating seeds in paper towel or seed-starting mix at the same time to see if they are viable or not. We recommend this seed starting mix from Amazon.

Other Tests for Finished Compost

The radish test takes a few days, but it’s a simple and easy way to check the maturity of your compost. These are some other signs of finished compost:

• Size. Compost piles get smaller as the material decomposes. When ready, a compost pile has about half the volume of the starting material.
• Contents. When you started your compost pile, you could identify the waste going in. Even if you shredded it, you could see the difference between leaves from the yard and a banana peel from the kitchen. In finished compost, you can no longer see these differences. The materials are no longer recognizable.
• Smell. The waste you put into your compost pile is initially identifiable by appearance but also by smell. Again, you can smell the difference between a banana peel and yard waste. By the time it has turned into finished compost, the entire pile should smell like earth or soil. If compost smells bad, it isn't ready and might need some attention. You can dive further into the smell test with a little experiment. Put a big handful of compost in a jar and add enough water to make what looks like soggy soil. Close the jar and check it in a week. It should still only smell like earth. If it has some bad odors, it isn't ready yet.
• Feel. When testing finished compost, pick up a big handful of it to look at and smell. In addition to uniformity in smell and appearance, the compost should feel crumbly and moist. Finished compost might not feel or look as uniform as you expect. This is why other signs, or the radish test, are helpful.
• Temperature. If you are hot composting, the temperature in the pile should reach a peak of about 160°F (71°C) and then drop off as microbial activity dies down. Finished compost should no longer be that hot. You can get a long post compost thermometer on Amazon.

Determining readiness for compost is both a science and an art. As you get more experienced with compost, you’ll be better able to determine when it’s ready just by using your senses. But, if you like a more scientific approach, you really can’t go wrong with the radish test.

More Composting Inspiration

• Are electric composters the future of sustainability? Discover whether a countertop food recycler is right for you.
• Not sure which composting method is best for your lifestyle and budget? Explore the different types of composting.
• Learn how to make a compost bin on a budget with these 7 easy DIY projects for beginners.
• Sign up for the Gardening Know How Newsletter to receive a regular dose of gardening content and exclusive offers.

Shop Our Composting Picks

Homemade compost is a vital ingredient of any sustainable garden, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach to making it. There are several types of composting worth exploring – each with its own pros and cons. If you have a good-sized garden, you can exploit various methods, but even gardeners with little to no outdoor space can practice some form of composting to cut down on food waste.

Whatever the method, there are some key principles when learning how to compost at home. You need to know what can be composted, as not just anything can go into the pile. Most kitchen scraps can be added, with some notable exceptions like meat, along with certain types of garden waste and other biodegradable materials. But you can’t just toss it on any old way, or the microbial magic won’t happen. You need to get the right balance of compost greens and browns, which are nitrogen-rich materials like food waste and grass clippings, and carbon-rich materials like paper and dried leaves.

Once you understand what ingredients to add to the pile, everything else will fall into place. You can use this knowledge to experiment with a range of composting types to make your own “black gold”.

Best Types of Composting

Each composting method has pros and cons, but all will eventually yield the most nutritious loamy soil improver imaginable. When choosing the best type of composting from these tried-and-trusted methods, consider the amount of available space, your budget, how long you’re willing to wait, and how much work you can put in.

Traditional Compost Bin or Pile

Learning how to start a compost bin or pile is an achievable goal for most gardeners, and requires just a little outdoor space. While it can be as simple as piling up food scraps and garden waste in the corner of the yard, adding a bin or enclosure is tidier and more effective.

Most gardeners choose to buy a bin, but learning how to make a compost bin is easy, with various possibilities to suit every ability level – from an attractive wood slat design to a compost trash can.

When choosing the best compost bin for your needs, consider size and compost accessibility. A width and depth of 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2m) is ideal, but 3 x 3 feet (90 x 90cm) is usable for a small garden. The ideal height is 3 to 4 feet (0.9-1.2m). You will need easy access to the compost to allow for turning and harvesting. This can be provided through a door, hatch, or open-fronted design.

But it’s not all about the bin – it’s what you put in it that matters. The general rule is to aim for a rough balance of two to three times as much brown material as green. How precise you are about this, and how much effort you put into maintenance, will affect how hot the pile gets – and thus how soon the compost is ready. Broadly speaking, there are two approaches to this: hot and cold composting.

Hot Composting

Hot composting prioritizes getting the right materials balance in the pile and keeping it moist and aerated. This will cause the pile to heat up, breaking down materials and killing many weed seeds and harmful pathogens. When done correctly, the method yields finished compost in as little as eight weeks.

It’s best to layer materials when adding them to the pile, similar to the lasagna composting method. The material should be shredded or cut into small pieces. Start with a layer of brown material, moisten it with water, then add a thinner layer of green and water again. Keep layering up until you have filled the bin at least halfway.

Check the temperature every day with a thermometer. The ideal compost temperature is about 130°F (55°C) – if the temperature gets too high or low, then turning compost will introduce oxygen and help to balance it. Some gardeners use a compost turner to make the process easier.

Cold Composting

Cold composting is a passive, add-as-you-go method that’s perfect for gardeners seeking a more hands-off approach. Simply add suitable materials to the pile as and when they are ready and leave them to decompose.

In this method, there are no strict rules about materials balance and turning, but it takes a lot longer than hot composting – a year or more – and the pile may not get hot enough to kill weed seeds or pathogens.

Both hot and cold composting are effective in the long run, but the more effort you put into maintaining the compost, the sooner it will be ready to use in the garden. With either approach, you can dispose of kitchen waste day-to-day by composting in a bag, kitchen caddy, or 5-gallon bucket, before adding it to the compost bin.

Vermicomposting

Take your composting to the next level with vermicomposting, which uses red wriggler worms to quickly break down the material in the pile. As a byproduct they also produce worm castings, which can be harvested to use as a super-nutritious fertilizer or turned into worm tea to gives plants a boost when watering. It’s more effort than traditional composting, but the rewards are great – producing top-quality compost in just six to eight weeks.

First, you need to learn how to make a worm bed in the garden, or buy or make DIY worm bins that can be used indoors or outdoors. Alternatively, an in-ground worm composter is the perfect solution. Simply bury it in the ground, add compost worms and scraps, and let them get to work.

As well as kitchen scraps, worms need a layer of bedding material, such as shredded newspaper, straw, sawdust, or dry grass clippings. In contrast to traditional composting, worms need twice as much green material as brown. As living creatures, worms need more care and attention than with other methods. Follow guidelines about what to feed compost worms and avoid the pile getting too hot, or it could kill them.

In-Ground Composting

Why make compost in a bin, when you can do it directly in the earth? In-ground composting – also known as trench composting – involves burying organic waste in the soil and letting it decompose right where you want to use it. It’s simple, low-maintenance, attracts fewer pests, and allows for a wider range of compost ingredients, such as meat.

However, it’s not a workable long-term solution for most small yards, as you need space to dig compost trenches that aren’t directly next to existing plants. It’s ideal for larger gardens and for preparing bare areas for future planting, or for getting a vegetable garden ready for the next growing season (don’t add meat if you intend to plant vegetables). Waste buried in the fall should have broken down in time for spring planting.

The best method is to dig a hole or trench around 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61cm) deep, fill the bottom 6 inches (15cm) with waste, add water, and backfill the pit. The materials will decompose faster if they are moist, so don't be afraid to soak them with the hose before backfilling the pit. To minimize weeds and further enrich the soil, plant the area with a cover crop after backfilling in the fall, then turn it into the soil in the spring.

Electric Composting

The latest innovation in the composting world, electric composters are countertop appliances that break down kitchen scraps – including meat and small bones – in a matter of hours, using heat and aeration to dry out the material. They are ideal indoor composting solutions, although the product name is a little misleading, as the finished product is not yet “compost”. Rather, it is crumbly, dehydrated food waste that must be cured in the garden or on an existing compost pile before being used to plant.

The best electric composters, such as the Reencle Home Composter, available on Amazon, introduce microbes to the process, to speed up decomposition. The appliance also breaks down the waste at a slightly lower temperature than other models, which avoids killing the beneficial compost bacteria. Once the food waste is broken down, it can be used immediately as mulch. If intended for planting, it first needs to be cured for about three weeks by being buried in unplanted soil or added to the compost bin.

Bokashi Composting

Waiting for waste to decompose isn’t the only way to compost. The Japanese method of Bokashi composting relies on fermentation to break down food waste, producing finished compost in just one or two months. You don’t need much to start – just a couple of buckets with tight-fitting lids and drainage taps, and a packet of bokashi bran, which contains microorganisms to kickstart fermentation. Specially designed kits can be purchased fairly cheaply.

After each meal, add food scraps, including meat, dairy, and bones, to the bucket and sprinkle a layer of bran over the top. Keep layering it up until the bin is full, then compress the waste down to minimize air gaps, and seal the lid. The contents will ferment in two to three weeks.

During the fermentation process, the bucket needs to be drained using the tap, and this liquid is a potent fertilizer that must be diluted before being applied to plants. The resulting picked food waste needs to be buried in unplanted soil or added to a compost bin to cure for a further two to four weeks before being used for planting.

Drunken Compost

Though a light-hearted term, drunken composting has serious speed benefits, using beer (plus a little sugar and ammonia) to produce finished compost in as little as two weeks. In a bucket, mix one tall can of any beer and mix with 8 ounces (250ml) of ammonia, and either a can of soda or 3 tablespoons of sugar mixed with 12 ounces (355ml) of water. Use a hose spray bottle to apply the solution onto a compost pile with a ratio of 1:3 greens to browns, mix it in with a fork, then sit back and wait.

Leaf Mold

Leaf mold is prized by many gardening experts for its soil conditioning properties, including improved soil structure, water retention, and aeration. It also helps suppress weeds and support a thriving ecosystem within the soil. It’s one of the easiest types of compost to make, using leaves from the fall cleanup.

To make leaf mold, rake the leaves and put them into large garbage bags. Tie the tops tightly, and poke holes in the bags to allow air circulation. Store the bags in a sheltered spot out of direct sunlight, and they will break down in around a year. You can shorten this process to just a few months – in time for spring planting – if you shred the leaves before bagging.

The finished soft, crumbly compost makes a wonderful addition to garden beds, or can be used as free mulch.

Compost Tea

So, you’ve made your compost. How about turning some of it into a powerful liquid fertilizer? Compost tea is made by steeping or brewing compost in water before applying it to the garden to boost plant health and soil vitality. It can be used as a soil drench or a foliar spray.

There are two main ways to make compost tea: passive steeping and aerated brewing. The passive method simply involves placing compost in a porous bag and soaking it in water (ideally rainwater) for about two weeks, with occasional stirring. Then the bag is taken out, and the water is used in the garden. Aim for a 5:1 ratio of water to compost.

Aerated compost tea is a faster process that involves oxygenating the mix with an air pump while adding nutrient boosters such as kelp or fish hydrolysate. This method speeds up microbial growth, so that the tea is ready to use in just a few days.

Choosing Between Different Types of Composting

When choosing the best type of composting for you, several considerations will help guide your choice:

• Space: A traditional hot or cold composting pile takes up a lot of space in the garden, while others can be done indoors – such as electric composting.
• Budget: You can make a compost pile in the corner of the garden without spending a penny, but certain methods require a financial outlay to buy the equipment.
• Speed: How long are you prepared to wait? Slow composting methods can take a year or more, while others produce plantable compost in just a few weeks.
• Maintenance: Some methods require regular checks and maintenance to ensure the compost is developing properly, while cold and in-ground composting are almost completely hands-off. In particular, vermicomposting requires closer attention to ensure the worms are thriving, while a hot compost heap needs to be nurtured at a consistent temperature.
• Climate: The best composting method may be affected by your local climate. For instance, cold composting will take a long time to be effective in cold regions, while vermicomposting experiences more challenges in both hot and cold climates. Indoor solutions like electric composting or bokashi are ideal winter composting shortcuts.
• Problems: Traditional piles are more prone to common compost problems, such as bad smells and attracting pests. If you don't want to have to deal with these issues, then choose a method where the waste is sealed, such as electric or bokashi composting.

If you try a composting solution that doesn't work for you, then don't be discouraged – try another option more compatible with your lifestyle and space. Soon you will be proudly harvesting your homemade organic compost and seeing the rewards of enriching your soil, with bigger, healthier plants, and more flowers and vegetables.

More Inspiration

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• Sign up for the Gardening Know How newsletter for a regular dose of gardening advice and inspiration.

Many gardeners want to learn how to make a compost bin, and for good reason. Not only is composting a low-cost way to nourish your plants with the most nutritious soil improver, but it also recycles food and garden waste that might otherwise be sent to landfill. The alternative is to contribute to your municipality's compost program, but that has no benefit for your own garden.

So, we all know the value of starting a compost bin – but not everyone knows how to do it. To the uninitiated, learning how to compost at home can seem like a mysterious art, mixing the perfect blend of ingredients to awaken microorganisms that produce enzymes. As if by magic, the pile heats up, helping to kill harmful bacteria and weed seeds, and breaking down the waste into rich, loamy compost.

For those who have the space (and it may take less space than you think) and the inclination, a DIY compost bin is the first step on your composting journey, putting the resulting nutrient-rich material directly in your hands with little to no cost. Of course, you could just buy one of the best compost bins on the market – but once you know how easy it is to make one, you won't look back. Then, all you need to do is learn what can be composted and maintain your pile.

DIY Compost Bin Considerations

Composting can be as simple as starting a pile of yard waste in an out of the way corner of your yard. However, this doesn’t often get the attention it needs to become compost, instead becoming a sprawling giant of detritus that is unsightly and never goes away. If you’re against this vision, you’ll want to know how to make a composter.

A DIY bin is an option to contain the compost, making it easier to work with, less unsightly and more efficient. These bins can be made out of a myriad of materials – from wood to concrete to stone or wire – and can be free to fairly inexpensive.

Before choosing what type of bin you want, consider the cost, the amount of effort you’re willing to put in, and the size of the structure.

1. Wood Slat Compost Bin

There are so many materials that can be used to make a compost bin, and wood is a good option. The main downside is that wood will eventually decompose, and even cheaper wood can be costly when used to make a large bin. However, if you have access to reclaimed – from an old fence, a home remodel, or other structure – you can significantly cut costs while minimizing waste.

A basic wood compost bin is a rectangular, four-sided structure made from slatted wooden planks or boards that are screwed or nailed together. You will need enough wooden planks or slats for the sides, four wooden corner posts – ideally 4x4 inches (10x10cm) or 2x4 inches (5x10cm) – and deck screws or nails.

To extend the bin's lifespan, use pressure-treated wood (rated for ground contact) or a naturally rot-resistant type like cedar or redwood.

Choose a level, well-drained area of the garden to site your bin. Ideally, it should be a fairly sunny spot, as compost breaks down more slowly in the shade.

A good size for a compost bin is between 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2m) wide and 3 to 4 feet high (0.9-1.2m). However, in a small garden, 3 by 3 feet (0.9 by 0.9m) is a usable size.

1. Cut the four corner posts to your desired bin height. Measure the distance between the posts and cut your wooden planks or slats for the sides.
2. Attach the slats horizontally to the corner posts, spacing them about ½ to 1 inch (1.25 to 2.5cm) apart. These gaps are important to allow for airflow, which helps the compost to break down. Secure the slats to the posts with deck screws or nails.
3. For easy access to the compost, attach slats to only half the height of the bin front, or better yet, install a removable or hinged front panel.
4. For added protection against pests like mice and rats, and to keep the contents securely inside, you can wrap chicken wire around the exterior.

2. Pallet Compost Bin

This is another wood bin option that's very economical if you can source the pallets for free. Check industrial areas that often have stacks of these out for the taking. Be sure to ask if they are not labeled as such though!

You will need 3-4 pallets; it depends on if you want a three-sided structure or a fourth pallet for use as a gate or enclosure.

The beauty of a pallet compost bin is not only its affordability, but its fairly lightweight construction with panels that can be easily opened to turn the compost material or access it when done while still providing a structure to contain these materials.

To make a pallet bin, take a pallet for the back of the bin and stand it on its long edge. Then, position the two side pallets at right angles. To secure the palettes in place, you can either attach them with deck screws or nails, reinforcing the corners internally with corner brackets, or drive stakes through the open ends of the pallets on both ends to secure them into the ground.

You can leave the front open for easy access to the compost, but a better solution is to make a stable door-type opening by cutting the front pallet in half horizontally and affixing it to the bin on one side using door hinges, fitted to the outside so the pallet sections swing outwards. Leave a slight gap between the floor and the palette, and between the top and bottom sections, for easy movement.

3. Compost Trash Can

A compost trash can is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to start composting. All you need is a plastic or metal garbage can with a locking lid, a drill with a hole saw bit, and three or four cinder blocks for drainage.

To make your bin, drill holes all around the can, including the bottom and lid, for airflow and drainage. If using a plastic can, place a 2x4 inside while drilling to prevent it from warping. Once assembled, set the can on cinder blocks to keep it elevated and improve drainage.

To use, layer kitchen scraps with soil, shredded newspaper, or sawdust each time you add waste. Stir occasionally to aerate, and add water if it dries out. This bin can also be used in winter to store compost until spring, when it will break down quickly. For stability, keep it on solid footing to prevent tipping from animals or wind.

4. Bucket Compost Bin

Making 5-gallon bucket compost couldn’t be any easier – and it's the perfect solution for small space composting. All you need to do is purchase a plastic bucket from your local hardware store or, ask nicely at a restaurant that uses large quantities of say, pickles or mayonnaise. You might get one for free.

Drill several holes in the bottom of the bucket. Add a layer of shredded leaves or newspaper (carbon), followed by a layer of food scraps (nitrogen). Repeat, alternating your carbon layer with a nitrogen layer.

Turn the mixture every few days and keep it slightly moist to aid in decomposition. The downside of this method of DIY composting is that it can smell, so take it outside or dump it frequently into a larger outdoor composting pile.

If you want to take it up a notch, use a bucket with a lid and try bokashi composting. This Japanese method involves sprinkling a bran mix containing microorganisms over each layer of food waste to kickstart a fermentation process that produces plantable compost in just one to two months.

5. Chicken Wire Compost Enclosure

Chicken wire is inexpensive and easy to find, making it a great option for a DIY compost enclosure. Start by driving stakes about 6 inches (15cm) into the ground along the edges of a rectangular shape – sized to suit your needs – spacing them about a foot (30cm) apart. Alternatively, you can make a small circular bin, using 3-4 stakes.

Wrap chicken wire around the outside of the stakes and secure it by looping baling wire around both the stakes and the wire. To keep the stakes from spreading outward, tie lengths of baling wire across the width of the bin at the top or middle, creating cross supports that help maintain the structure while allowing plenty of room for compost.

When it's time to turn the compost pile, cut the baling wire securing the chicken wire to the stakes by cutting or untwisting it. Then, remove the cross-bracing wires and simply roll back the chicken wire to access the compost. Depending on the size of the enclosure, you may only need to remove one side when turning. Once you're done, you can reattach the chicken wire and cross supports as before.

6. Cinder Block or Brick Compost Bin

You can build a simple, durable compost bin using cinder blocks, bricks, or even rocks – often available for free or at low cost through social media, resale sites, or leftover from landscaping projects. This type of bin is sturdy, long-lasting, and easy to access.

To build it, stack the blocks to form three sides of a square, leaving the front open or at half height for easy access to fill, turn, and use the compost. There’s no need for mortar – just stack the blocks securely, leaving small gaps between them to allow for air circulation. Alternatively, build a circular brick design that will add to the character of your garden.

This no-mortar design makes the bin breathable, simple to build, and easy to adjust or move if needed.

7. Straw Bale Composter

Straw bales can be used to make a highly eco-friendly DIY composter. The walls become part of the pile and, when the bales break down, composting the straw will increase the carbon content and balance out the pile. Straw bales will also help to retain moisture and heat in the compost while allowing air to circulate.

Use three or more bales (depending on the size of bin you want) to form a C-shape. These become the walls of the compost bin, helping to enclose the yard waste and food scraps. It's as simple as that.

As the straw bales break down, you can add them to the compost bin and replace them with new ones.

Getting the Best Out of a DIY Compost Bin

Whatever method you use for building your own DIY compost bin, make sure it is easy to access. If you make it too difficult to fill or turn, very likely it won’t get the attention it deserves and will just become a pile of yard waste that doesn’t break down. The whole point is to create something that will turn what is waste into black gold for your garden which does require some tending.

Along with turning compost, remember to keep it moist and add both carbon and nitrogen sources to the pile – known as compost greens and browns. To speed up the decomposition process, either break or cut up debris or run it through a lawn mower or shredder.

Compost piles also need air to aid in the decomposition process, so never cover your pile with plastic unless it is finished compost. If you find the pile is getting too wet, you can cover it with a compost blanket, a special covering made from composted materials that allows for air exchange yet sheds rainwater.

Good things come to those who wait and you can expect finished compost within a year – less if you combine some of these clever ways to speed up composting.

Your Next Read

• Learn how to make amazing organic compost with worms, in our essential vermicomposting guide.
• Discover the secrets of hot composting – the faster way to make rich, organic compost at home.
• Are electric composters the future of sustainability? Find out whether a countertop food recycler is the right choice for you.

Composting is an essential skill to learn for any serious gardener. Known affectionately as black gold, compost is a rich, nutritious soil improver and costs little to make besides time. As well as benefitting plants, it's a great way to reduce food and garden waste, as these can be added to the compost heap, where they will decompose over several months. But not all gardeners are patient enough to wait that long. This is where hot composting comes in.

When learning how to compost at home, most gardeners will practice the traditional "cold" method of layering up a bin or pile with the right mix of compost greens and browns, turning the heap occasionally, and waiting until it's ready to use. It's a slow, steady process that gives reliable results. Hot composting uses many of the same ideas but refines the process to speed up development. Here’s what you need to know.

What is Hot Composting?

Compost is created when microorganisms break down organic matter. The microbes create heat as they do this, so all compost piles are warm to a certain degree. Hot composting is a specific method for creating compost that optimizes microbial activity, resulting in quicker breakdown of organic materials.

Optimizing the activity of these compost bacteria depends on achieving a minimum temperature. Hot composting happens at higher temperatures than standard composting, hence the name.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Hot Composting?

One of the biggest advantages of hot composting is the speed of the process. By optimizing microbial activity, you can produce usable compost in much less time than with the standard cool compost method. While traditional composting takes six to 12 months, hot composting gets results in a matter of weeks if you do it right.

Another important advantage of hot composting is weed and pathogen control. The high temperatures in the compost pile kill most weed seeds and pathogens that can cause disease.

The primary disadvantage of hot composting is that it requires more effort. Cool composting is also known as passive composting. You mostly leave it alone and let it decompose. The hot method requires more turning, temperature checks, and other factors, like moisture control.

Can I Make Hot Compost Indoors?

Technically, you can make hot compost inside, but keep in mind that you need a larger size bin than for standard compost. Other potential issues could be attracting pests and unpleasant smells. So, hot compost is best created outside.

However, there are other ways to compost indoors. Electric composters offer gardeners a way of recycling kitchen scraps on the countertop. While most models apply high heat to dehydrate the food waste, the best electric composters break it down at a lower temperature and add bacteria to the process. One such model is the Reencle electric composter, available on Amazon, which supports microbial activity and produces plantable compost in just three weeks.

What Do I Need to Start Hot Composting?

You need a few key ingredients and tools to start hot composting in your garden. In addition, it's vital to learn what can be composted.

• You need a compost bin or area for a compost pile, approximately 3 or 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2m) on each side
• A thermometer for checking the temperature of the pile
• Green (nitrogen-rich) waste, including grass clippings, plant trimmings, coffee grounds, tea bags, and fruit and vegetable scraps
• Brown (carbon-rich) waste, including dry leaves and other yard waste, paper and cardboard, straw, hay, untreated sawdust, and small twigs and branches

How to Start a Hot Compost Pile

Once you have all the materials, the next step is to chop down the organic matter into small pieces. This speeds up the composting process. The easiest way to do this is to run over the materials with a lawn mower. You can also use hand shears to break down bigger pieces of yard waste. The smaller you can get the pieces, the more successful your hot composting will be.

Next, layer the green and brown waste in the composting bin or area. Start with a bottom layer of larger pieces of plant material, like sticks or straw. This will allow for some airflow in the bottom of the pile. Alternate layers of green and brown waste of equal thickness on top of this base layer.

As you layer the materials, add water. The overall moisture of the pile should be like that of a wrung-out sponge. It should be moist throughout but not dripping wet. Finish with a brown layer to deter flies and other pests.

How to Maintain Hot Compost

Building the hot compost pile is only the beginning. To get good, fast results, you need to maintain the pile’s moisture content and interior temperature. The ideal compost temperature for optimizing microbial activity without killing the microbes is about 130°F (55°C).

Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the pile, ideally every day. You should see the temperature rise to 130. Whenever you notice the temperature change (rising above or going below 130), it’s time to turn the pile. Turning compost will cool the temperature if it’s getting too hot. When the temperature is too cool, turning it will introduce oxygen and restart microbial activity.

Use a garden fork or shovel to turn the material. As you turn it, aim to move some of the material from the outside of the pile to the interior and vice versa. Check the moisture regularly, adding water as needed.

How to Use Hot Compost

Your compost is ready to use when it has a fairly uniform consistency and is dark brown or black. The size of the pile should have reduced by about 60%. The smell of finished compost is earthy. It shouldn’t retain any smell of waste materials.

Use hot compost as you would any other compost. Add it to garden beds to enrich the soil or add it to potted plants to add nutrients.

Common Issues with Hot Compost

Hot composting requires more maintenance and attention to detail than standard composting. There is more room for error. Here are some typical issues and how to fix them:

• Flies in Compost
  You don’t want to attract a bunch of flies with your compost. This usually happens if you leave kitchen scraps on top of the pile. Always bury these under other layers and keep brown waste on the top of the pile.
• The Temperature isn’t Rising
  If the temperature is not getting to the ideal level, you could have a few issues. One is that the pile isn’t big enough. Volume is needed to reach critical temperatures. You may also need more green waste, which is an easy fix. If the pile is too dry, the microbes won’t do their work. Add water to keep it evenly moist.
• Bad Compost Smell
  If you detect a smell of ammonia or rotting, you might be keeping the pile too wet. Another issue could be an excess of green waste. Add dry brown waste to fix these problems.

More Sustainability Inspiration

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Home composting is essential for serious gardeners. Affectionately known as "black gold", compost is the nutritious, loamy material you get from letting organic matter decompose. It enriches the soil and provides vital nourishment for the plants you grow.

Vermicomposting is steadily becoming one of the most popular types of composting – and for good reason. There are several routes to learning how to compost at home, but harnessing the power of worms is both fast and effective. Worm composting is also known as vermicomposting, while vermiculture refers to the process of raising worms.

What Is Vermicomposting?

All composting involves allowing organic waste materials, like yard and kitchen waste, to decompose into a rich, soil-like product. You can use compost in garden beds and in containers.

Vermicomposting uses worms to break down organic material. The worms consume most organic materials, transforming them into superior compost.

Standard composting relies solely on microorganisms to break down organic waste. In vermicomposting, both worms and microbes do the job.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Vermicomposting?

The pros of any kind of composting include reusing organic waste and the finished product, which helps you grow better, healthier plants. There are also specific advantages of vermicomposting. If done correctly, it’s a clean setup with no bad odors. Vermicomposting is cost-effective, and you can do it indoors.

One of the main upsides is that the process produces worm castings, an incredibly rich organic fertilizer, which can be harvested and fed to plants. It can also be turned into worm tea that gives a powerful nutrient boost when used while watering plants.

There are not many downsides to composting with worms. There are some startup costs. Additionally, you’ll need to spend some time maintaining the setup, for example, draining and rinsing the liquid tray at the bottom of the worm bin composter every few days.

About Worm Composting Bins

You need four things for successful vermicomposting: worms, worm bedding, organic waste, and a bin or area for composting. You can buy a red worm composting bin, learn how to make a worm bed, or make your own bin.

It's simple and inexpensive to make DIY worm bins:

1. Start with a ten-gallon plastic storage bin with a lid. This size will be good for about one pound of waste per week. Use the opaque type, not the clear bins.
2. Drill 20 to 30 holes in the bottom of the bin.
3. Set the bin on top of wood scraps or bricks. This will allow air to flow through the holes.
4. Place the whole setup on a tray. Liquid waste, called leachate, will drip through the holes.

In-Ground Worm Composting

As an alternative to a worm bed, you can add a worm tower or tube to the soil or use an in-ground worm composter to vermicompost in situ.

This 2-pack in-ground worm composter from Amazon is such a simple way to get started. Simply dig a hole in the ground, add the composter, fill it with worms and scraps, and let them get to work.

Where Do I Get Compost Worms?

Before you begin vermicomposting, you need to get some compost worms. The best worms for composting are of the Eisenia fetida species. Common names for this worm include red worms, red wigglers, and tiger worms.

Other species of worms are also sometimes called red wigglers, so take care when choosing them. Only use E. fetida. Some other types are invasive pests. A quick search online should show you where you can buy red wigglers locally. You can also order them online and have them shipped to you.

How many worms for compost varies, but for a standard bin you’ll need about a pound of worms.

How to Fill and Maintain a Compost Bin and Worms

Once you have your bin set up and worms ready to go, you can fill the bin. Start with a layer of bedding for the worms in the bottom of the bin. This can be shredded newspaper or cardboard, straw, sawdust, dry grass clippings, peat moss, coconut coir, or a mix of materials. Moisten the bedding until it is like a wrung-out sponge.

Add worms and kitchen food waste and cover the bin. The worms will get to work right away. Start with just about an inch (2.5cm) of waste to get the worms started. Too much waste will create heat, which can kill them.

You need to learn what to feed compost worms to fuel them in breaking down waste. Worms will eat almost anything that you would put in a traditional compost bin, with a few exceptions. Use these types of kitchen waste:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Coffee grounds and tea leaves
• Crushed eggshells
• Bread and cereals

Do not use meat, bones, fat, dairy products, and potatoes. You can chop up food scraps into small pieces to speed the process of decomposition.

Once the worms get going, feed them two to three times per week. Keep the bedding moist. If it gets too dry or too wet, the worms may try to get out of the bin. You will also need to move the bin to drain off the water and clean the tray every few days. You can use this liquid to water plants.

How to Use Worm Compost

You should have usable compost within six to eight weeks of setting up your worm bin. It will look like small, black or dark brown clumps that break apart easily when you handle them.

To harvest compost, stop feeding for a week or two and push the compost to one side of the bin. Put fresh bedding on the other side. The worms will move to the new bedding and you can remove the compost.

Use vermicomposting product as you would any compost. Mix it into soil in garden beds to improve its texture and to add nutrients. Add it to container plants to feed them and enrich the soil with nutrients.

Can I Compost With Worms Indoors?

Vermicomposting is ideal for indoor composting. Doing it indoors allows you to control the environment to keep the worms healthy and productive. If you do it right, the worms will remain in the bin and the only odor produced should be earthy and pleasant.

When adding an indoor worm compost bin, it’s important to choose the right spot for it. The worms need a location that is well-ventilated and with temperatures between 55 and 75°F (13 to 24°C). They should be protected from direct light. Basements or garages are usually good options.

Issues with Vermicomposting

Vermicomposting takes some effort to maintain healthy, productive worms and to get a good product. You may run across a few vermiculture problems with easy fixes:

• If you see fruit flies in worm bins, bury fresh food scraps in the worms’ bedding. You can also use fly tape on the underside of the lid.
• Other pests in worm bins can be harmful to the worms, so need to be managed by making the environment less friendly to them or setting traps.
• If vermicompost smells, you may be adding too much waste at one time. Pick out excess waste and give the worms time to work on the rest before adding more. An odor may also result from too much moisture. Keep the bedding as moist as a wrung-out sponge, no more. If necessary, add dry bedding.
• Compost worms dying may be due to a few issues such as incorrect moisture or temperature levels, lack of air circulation, and too little food. Check and reset your bin and keep going.
• Vermicompost worms escaping is common for new worms that are acclimatizing, but could also be due to poor conditions or lack of food. If those issues are addressed, then you can escape-proof the bin by covering air holes with nylon stockings.
• Worm beds may overheat in hot weather, so it's important to know how to keep worms cool in summer. Locating the bed in a shady spot is a good starting point.
• When the weather gets too cold, the worms will become sluggish and may stop feeding. Worm composting in winter is focused on helping the worms to survive, rather than expecting them to produce compost at the same rate.

Vermicomposting takes some effort, but it is a clean, simple way to reuse kitchen waste and produce useful, nutrient-rich compost.

More Composting Inspiration

• Discover 5 easy composting shortcuts to fill garden beds and pots in time for spring planting.
• Learn about electric composters and decide whether countertop food recyclers are the right solution for you.
• Find out how to compost all the different paper types – and which ones you can't – with our expert guide.

We’re all familiar with the idea of composting kitchen scraps, but is paper compostable? The amount of paper waste produced by households each year is astronomical – and if adding some to the compost heap can lessen its environmental impact and contribute to better soil and healthier plants in the garden, then it's worth knowing more about it. You may even wonder whether it is better to compost or recycle paper.

Finding out what can be composted is one of the most important aspects of learning how to compost at home. All piles require a mix of compost greens and browns – or rather a mix of nitrogen and carbon-rich materials – to create a loamy, nutritious soil improver. Paper belongs on the brown side of the recipe, which includes dry or woody plant material. A good mix of browns and greens in a compost pile is about 4:1 browns to greens, so paper can be a valuable contribution to bulking it up.

Is it Better to Compost or Recycle Paper​?

Bear in mind paper can be recycled 5 to 7 times. So if the paper is clean, it might be better to recycle it rather than compost it. It can then be returned to use rather than cutting down more trees to produce more paper.

However, not all paper types can be recycled, and so are better composted than trashed. Where paper is recyclable, use it to top up the compost pile only where you have insufficient other brown materials, rather than relying on it completely.

Which Types of Paper Can Be Composted?

Keep in mind that there are many types of paper waste – from tissues to glossy magazine pages – and not all paper is created equal when it comes to composting.

Generally, you can compost most types of paper in your home composting pile. However, you need to be careful about composting paper with waxy components or other additives, including plastic and glitter, that aren’t suited to a compost pile. If in doubt, check the paper composition on the packaging.

Additionally, if you use your city's compost program, consult with your municipality to determine their exact rules and regulations.

Confused? See our list of paper products below to check which common paper product types are safe to compost.

• Coffee Filters
• Egg Cartons
• Napkins
• Newspaper
• Paper Bags
• Paper Cups
• Paper Plates
• Paper Towels
• Paper with Ink
• Parchment Paper
• Shredded Paper
• Tissue Paper
• Toilet Paper
• Wax Paper
• Wrapping Paper

Coffee Filters

Whether or not you can compost coffee filters depends on what they are made of. Some contain synthetic materials (plastic or nylon).

Generally, coffee filters can be composted, but if possible use unbleached coffee filters to be certain.

You don't even have to clean them out, as using coffee grounds in the garden is a great way to add nitrogen to the soil and give the compost pile a boost.

Egg Cartons

Again, whether or not you can compost egg cartons depends on their composition. Some cartons are made from styrofoam while others are made from paper. Paper egg cartons can be used in the compost pile.

To get them to break down faster, remove any stickers on them and rip them up into smaller pieces.

However, before adding egg cartons to the compost heap, see if you can get a second life out of them. Starting seeds in egg cartons is a great way to repurpose them.

Napkins

Most paper napkins are compostable even if they are wet or have food residue on them. Their short paper fibers mean they will break down quickly on the compost heap – and also mean they should not be put in recycling.

However, avoid composting napkins that have glitter or plastic fibers in the mix. If unsure, check the packaging for the composition and avoid buying this type of napkin in future.

Newspaper

Composting newspaper is usually fine. However, due to its high lignin content newsprint does tend to break down slowly, so rip it into strips to aid in decomposition prior to tossing it in the compost pile. Never add it in bundles.

Many gardeners are concerned about the inks used for newspapers, but modern newsprint inks are non-toxic and will not have a negative effect on the compost.

Paper Bags

It is safe to compost paper bags as long as they are clean or only stained with food and drink waste. If the bag is large, tear it into smaller pieces before adding to the pile.

If the bag is printed with a design, it is still usually okay to compost since most of the time the ink is soy-based.

Paper Cups

Only compostable paper cups can be composted – but not usually at home. They need to be processed at industrial composting facilities. Even biodegradable paper cups are not usually suitable for home composting

Regular paper cups cannot be composted at all as they are coated with a plastic lining that stops liquids from seeping through. When these break down in the compost pile, they will impart microplastics.

Stick to reusable cups wherever possible.

Paper Plates

You can compost paper plates, even if they have food residue, if they are solely made from paper. If however, they are waxed or made of plastic, they cannot be composted.

Read the packaging to check, and in the future only buy compostable paper plates.

Paper Towels

Whether paper towels can go in a compost pile depends on whether they are unbleached and free from chemicals, so check the packaging. If they are used for cleaning up food or food-related oils, they can also be composted.

Adding paper towels to the compost heap is a great way to dispose of them as they cannot be recycled.

Paper with Ink

In general, it is safe to compost paper with ink, but it really depends on what type of paper and what type of ink is used. Some ink on paper is compostable; those with non-toxic or vegetable or soy-based inks are fine to compost.

But also remember, you need to consider the paper itself. Is it eligible for the compost pile or is it made with synthetics or chemicals? Check before composting.

Parchment Paper

Can you compost parchment paper? Parchment paper can be composted if it is not coated with wax or silicone. That is, it must be untreated parchment paper. Often, parchment is coated, so be sure to check.

Shredded Paper

Most shredded paper can be composted, provided it doesn’t contain any synthetic or chemical components.

Before adding documents to the shredder, it's worth separating out any non-compostable paper types, or plastics such as old credit cards.

Tissue Paper

Tissue paper is compostable as long as it doesn’t have a glittery or shiny look to it. Check before buying these for arts and crafts projects.

Toilet Paper

This depends on the toilet paper and how it was used. Compostable toilet paper does exist – and is necessary if you are interested in installing a composting toilet – but soiled toilet paper really shouldn’t be used in the home compost pile. Go ahead and flush it down.

Wax Paper

Sorry, wax paper can not be composted. It contains petroleum products that will not break down during the compost process.

Wrapping Paper

Whether wrapping paper can go in the compost pile depends on what the paper is made of. Compostable wrapping paper exists and should be labeled as such but some types of gift wrap may be made of foil or have embellishments that are not compostable.

The paper may also be glossy or colored using products that aren’t recommended for the compost pile. Ideally, buy unrefined wrapping paper printed with natural dyes.

How to Compost Paper

Most of the time you don’t need to do anything to paper to compost it. Sometimes you need to remove labels or other materials that are non-compostable from the paper first.

Just like when composting cardboard, large or heavy paper should be shredded or ripped into smaller pieces.

Keep your compost pile moist and be sure to add “green” materials like food scraps and grass clippings to the pile. Turning compost regularly will help to aerate it.

How Much Paper Should I Add to the Compost Bin?

You want to have about a 4-inch-thick (10cm) layer of paper with a “green” layer above and below it to facilitate composting.

How Long Does Paper Take to Compost?

The length of time it takes paper to compost depends on the type of paper, its thickness, and environmental conditions like the amount of moisture and oxygen.

Papers with low lignin content and higher cellulose content (envelopes, computer paper, and writing paper) tend to compost more quickly.

That said, generally, paper products take from a few months to over a year to break down.

More Composting Inspiration

• Find out whether an electric composter is right for you, with our guide to countertop food recyclers.
• Discover 5 winter composting shortcuts that will fill garden beds and pots in time for spring.

Organic homemade compost is an invaluable addition to garden soil, creating a rich, well-textured growing medium teeming with nutrients and beneficial bacteria. Unfortunately, winter can pose a challenge for gardeners eager to get beds and pots ready for the growing season ahead. Traditional composting methods can be slow at the best of times, but in the colder months, microbial activity in outdoor bins and piles slows significantly.

Many gardeners simply let their compost go dormant at this time of year, losing out on an abundance of "black gold" come spring – which is just when you need it the most. Winter composting advice is usually focused on protecting the pile and retaining some warmth so that it can reactivate in the spring.

However, when learning how to compost at home, you don't have to do everything the long and hard way. Some clever composting shortcuts allow you to continue recycling food and organic waste efficiently, even in the dead of winter.

From space-efficient indoor composting options to additives that will speed up composting in the garden, there are numerous ways to build better soil without waiting for the spring thaw. These shortcuts will help you fill garden beds and containers with top-quality compost, so you can get planting as soon as warmer weather arrives.

1. Break Down Waste with an Electric Composter

Electric composters are countertop appliances that use a combination of heat, grinding, and mixing, to break down food scraps into a dry, soil-like material in as little as a few hours.

This output, often termed "pre-compost", is not yet ready to plant with and requires further curing, either through mixing in with unplanted soil or adding to a compost pile, to finish decomposing. However, it significantly reduces the waiting time.

Another advantage of electric composters is that the machines can handle some foods unsuitable for traditional compost bins, like meat, dairy, and small bones.

There is a lot of industry debate about the value of electric composters, and whether they can even be termed as such – some models have been rebranded as food waste recyclers. The reason is that most machines have the unfortunate side effect of destroying compost bacteria in the heating process. Without the "microbial magic", the pre-compost has little benefits to plants and may also have an unbalanced nutrient profile. It takes time for the material to rebuild bacteria and decompose in the ground.

However, industry innovations like the Reencle Home Composter, available on Amazon, have introduced microorganisms to the process, creating a close-to-ready compost product that is rich in nutrients. One of the best electric composters, Reencle uses lower temperatures over a longer period (usually within 24 hours) to give the pre-compost the best possible start.

While most machines produce compost ready for planting in about three months, Reencle reduces this timeline to just two or three weeks – making it ideal for building up compost over winter.

2. Master the Art of Bokashi

If the cost of an electric composter is offputting, then consider bokashi composting, an affordable, low-tech method, suitable for indoors, that allows gardeners to break down kitchen waste in buckets in just a few weeks – even during winter.

Originating in Asia, bokashi uses a special bran, which contains microorganisms, to kickstart an anaerobic fermentation process. The food waste is sealed in a bucket with the bran and allowed to pickle rather than rot, producing an end product that quickly decomposes when added to soil or a compost pile.

To start, you need a bucket with a tight lid – ideally, this needs a tap, so you might want to consider buying one designed for bokashi. Food scraps, including meat, dairy, and bones, are layered in the bucket with the bran sprinkled over the top. Each time a layer of food waste is added, another spoon of bran is sprinkled over the top until the bin is full. Then, the waste is compressed to remove air, and the lid is tightly closed.

Over two weeks – possibly three in the depths of winter – the contents ferment. During this time, any liquid should be drained off from the bucket tap and may be used as "bokashi tea", which is a powerful fertilizer. The pickled material should be buried in unplanted garden soil or added to a compost bin to finish decomposing, which usually takes two to four weeks.

All in all, it takes just one or two months to create finished compost using the bokashi method.

3. Add Some Wriggly Helpers

Vermicomposting utilizes worms to break down food scraps and produce nutrient-packed worm castings. It’s quicker than classic composting methods and can even be done inside, making it a viable winter composting solution. An indoor worm composting bin can be stored in a kitchen or basement, and the process is virtually odor-free.

You can buy or make a vermicompost bin using a large plastic container, To this you need to add moist bedding such as shredded newspaper, worms – red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) are the preferred compost worms – and then add food scraps in small amounts daily. Waste like fruit, vegetables, bread, tea bags, and coffee grounds can be added, but you should avoid greasy foods, meat, bones, or dairy. Worms can break down food faster if it's soft or chopped into smaller pieces.

It takes a few months to establish a vermicomposting bin, allowing the worm population to grow to hundreds. At this stage, the process is quick and compost is ready in two to three months.

4. Bury Waste in a Trench

Trench composting is quite possibly the simplest compost method going, and works well in winter, as the earth insulates the pile, retaining warmth. The practice involves digging a trench, filling it with kitchen scraps and other organic waste, and covering it over with soil.

If you make your trench in the winter before the ground freezes, then over a few short months, microbes in the soil will break down the waste, enriching it with nutrients in time for spring planting season.

To begin, select a spot in your garden where you won’t plant immediately and dig a trench or hole. This needs to be roughly 12-18 inches deep to keep pests away and ensure the waste decomposes properly. Add scraps like vegetable peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, as well as garden clippings. Avoid adding meat, dairy, or oily foods, as these can attract pests. Once the trench is full, cover it with soil.

Trench composting is low-maintenance, requires no turning or monitoring, and is ideal for both vegetable gardens and flower beds.

5. Use a Drunken Compost Accelerator

As its name suggests, drunken composting uses the addition of alcohol – as well as sugar and ammonia – to supercharge the decomposition process. Rather than being a style of composting, it is an additive that is added to a traditional compost pile to help get things going and increase the compost temperature.

In the bucket, mix one can of beer with 8 ounces (250ml) of ammonia and 12 ounces (355ml) of non-diet soda. Instead of soda, you can use 3 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in 12 ounces (355ml) of water.

Dilute the mix with 2 gallons (8 liters) of warm water and pour over the compost pile, mixing it with a garden fork or shovel.

While a homemade compost accelerator is less effective in winter than in warmer months, it will still reduce the timescale and have you ready to plant come spring.

With so many models available, choosing the best electric composter can feel overwhelming. But the right choice can significantly enhance your sustainable lifestyle, making food waste management faster, cleaner, and more convenient.

An electric composter uses heat and grinding mechanisms to break down food scraps into a crumbly material that, following a curing period, can be used as compost in the garden. This significantly reduces the time and effort required compared to traditional composting methods which can take many months.

It's an ideal option for indoor composting, where space is at a premium, but also helps the process if you're learning how to compost in your garden. However, not all models are created equal, so understanding your specific needs is essential.

This guide will help you navigate the options to find the best electric composter that fits your lifestyle and supports sustainable living.

Best Electric Composters 2024

Whether you're a seasoned composter or new to the concept, our analysis of the best electric composters will empower you to make an informed decision.

To select these composters, we researched the latest models, read real product reviews, and interviewed manufacturers where possible.

How to Buy the Best Electric Composter

When choosing the best electric composter for your needs, there are various aspects to consider. Are you composting for a large family or just yourself? How quickly do you want to be able to use the compost in the garden? Are you prepared for ongoing running costs in terms of filter replacements and spare parts?

In this guide, we will explain the different appliance types and features to help you find an electric composter that suits your requirements and budget.

How Do Electric Composters Work?

Electric composters are designed to break down food waste and contribute to compost in the garden. They work by heating the waste to a high temperature – usually at least 160°F (71°C) – to destroy harmful bacteria and remove moisture.

The appliances also use a grinding or chopping mechanism to break down the food waste and move it around in the unit, aerating the waste and giving it a dry, loamy texture.

In the space of just a few hours, the process reduces the mass of the food waste by 70-90%. The resulting material does not produce a strong odor, which is also controlled through the use of a charcoal filter.

The end product may look like compost – or even sawdust depending on the appliances used and the food types processed. However, it is not yet compost…

Electric Composter or Food Dehydrator?

When investing in an electric composter, it's important to understand that none of the machines produce finished compost that can be immediately used for planting in the garden. This is why some appliances are branded as "food recyclers", with the goal of reducing the levels of food waste going to landfill.

In nature, it takes many months for organic matter to decompose and become crumbly, fertile compost with a balanced nutrient profile that feeds plants and contributes to a loamy soil structure. Electric composters can't produce the same results in a few hours – but they can significantly speed up the process.

Using heat and movement, the appliances break down and dehydrate kitchen scraps to create food grounds. The downside of this process is that the heat treatment destroys beneficial compost bacteria in the process, which decompose the material and contribute to healthy soil. The waste material might look similar to compost, but it hasn't actually decomposed. It can be better described as "pre-compost".

If you simply add the pre-compost to plants, then it can attract mold, disrupt the nutrient balance in the soil, and add excess sodium. This is why most manufacturers advise a curing period before planting – or using it in soil in low concentration.

Some brands – most notably Reencle – have refined the electric composting process by adding resilient bacteria strains into the unit and processing the material over a longer period at a lower temperature. This allows the bacteria to remain active and speeds up the compost maturation process – though it still requires a short curing period.

How Long Until You Can Use the Compost?

A key consideration when choosing an electric composter is the time it takes for ground, dehydrated food waste to become usable, plantable compost.

On average, most pre-composts produced by electric composters need three months to mature before they are plantable. This can be achieved by adding the food grounds to an existing compost pile or mixing them with soil in an unplanted area of the garden.

If you want to be able to use your compost more quickly, then it can be mixed with soil at a ratio of 10:1 (soil to compost) and applied as mulch or top dressing.

Where bacteria are enabled to thrive in the process, as with Reencle, the plantable curing time is reduced to just three weeks, or immediately if used as mulch or top dressing.

Size and Capacity

When thinking about composter size, don’t just consider the amount of food waste your household generates – consider how much space you have in your kitchen.

Some electric composters are trash can-sized, designed to sit on the floor, while others are compact enough to take pride of place on your countertop. Smaller units are ideal for individuals or small families, while larger models can accommodate higher volumes.

Electric composters can hold anything from 2-12 lbs, so it’s vital that you choose a design compatible with the amount of food waste your household produces.

What Can You Compost?

One of the advantages of electric composters is that the appliances are able to process a wider variety of waste types that wouldn't usually be added to a compost heap, such as meat, dairy, and even weeds.

Some composters are able to tackle tougher waste than others, such as small bones, shellfish shells and even avocado pits, while others are a little more restrictive about what can be composted. Check the manufacturer's guidelines before purchasing to ensure it is suitable for your needs.

Carbon Filter Replacement

When choosing an electric composter, it’s essential to consider the carbon filter lifecycle and the associated ongoing costs. Carbon filters play a critical role in reducing odors produced during the composting process, making your device suitable for indoor use. However, these filters are not permanent and require regular replacement to maintain their effectiveness.

The lifespan of carbon filters varies depending on the composter model and usage frequency. Some filters last as long as a year, while others may need replacing more frequently. Before purchasing, check the manufacturer’s recommendations for filter replacement intervals and the cost of replacements. Over time, these expenses can add up, potentially making one composter model more expensive to operate than another, even if the initial price is lower.

Evaluate the availability of replacement filters, as some brands may have limited supply or require ordering directly from the manufacturer.

Noise Levels

Noise level is an important factor to consider if the composter will be used in a sociable kitchen or other living spaces. Different models operate at varying noise levels, depending on their size, technology, and mechanisms for breaking down food waste.

Electric composters with grinding or shredding features tend to be louder, as these components crush waste into smaller pieces. However, some premium models incorporate noise-reduction technology to minimize disturbance. Always check the manufacturer’s specifications for decibel levels, which can give you a clear idea of the noise impact. For reference, a noise level below 50 decibels is considered relatively quiet, equivalent to a moderate conversation.

Consider your household environment when evaluating noise. If your home has an open floor plan or if the composter will run overnight, a quieter model may be preferable. Frequent users might also prioritize low noise over speed or capacity.

Ongoing Maintenance

As with any appliance, ongoing maintenance is necessary to ensure optimal performance and longevity. While filters play a key role, other maintenance tasks are equally important.

Electric composters require regular cleaning to prevent clogs, unpleasant smells, and reduced performance. Most units feature removable buckets or chambers for easy cleaning, while some have cleaning programs. Look for models with dishwasher-safe buckets for the ultimate convenience.

If your composter has a grinding or shredding component, it may need an occasional clean and check. Food scraps – particularly fibrous, stringy waste – can sometimes get stuck, requiring manual removal. Some models also recommend occasional lubrication to keep the grinder running smoothly.

Aside from filters, certain parts like seals, grinding blades, or heating elements may wear out over time. Research the availability and cost of these replacements before committing to a specific model.

Energy Cost

Electric composters are designed to use minimal energy, with shorter cycles using about 1kW of power – at a cost of about 16.63 cents per cycle.

However, composters with longer cycles will cost slightly more to run. This is something to consider when choosing a model that operates at a longer period and lower temperature to preserve the bacteria in the compost.

For most users, however, the running cost is so low that it does not make much difference to energy bills.

Electric Composter Cost

Electric composters cost anything from $300 to over $1,000, with options to satisfy most budgets. However, you must weigh the upfront cost against long-term usage costs – such as replacement carbon filters, microbe pods, energy usage, and replacement parts.

Electric composting is promoted as a super fast way to process food scraps on the kitchen countertop and turn them into nutrient-rich compost for the garden. The machines are rising in popularity among gadget-loving gardeners but subject to much industry debate – rhapsodized by proponents as a quick route to sustainability and demonized by critics who say the claims are too good to be true. So where does the truth lie?

All gardeners generally agree that learning how to compost at home is a good thing – not only because it’s great for plants, but because it tackles some of the staggering 92 billion pounds of food waste produced annually in the United States. Research by EPA suggests that only 5% of this food waste is composted, with the rest going to landfill.

While reducing food waste should be the priority, where unavoidable, composting is the most sustainable outcome and supports healthy plant growth in the garden.

The problem is that it takes time to make “black gold”. The process of allowing food scraps and garden waste to break down into compost takes anything from a few months to more than a year. It also requires space for a compost bin or pile, a careful balance of compost greens and browns, the correct temperature, and aeration through turning the pile. So a countertop composting solution offering results in as little as a few hours sounds like the gardening holy grail.

The best electric composters are designed to provide a quick and convenient solution for composting food waste and turning it into soil-like material – all from the comfort of your home with minimal effort. They are an appealing option for those who lack outdoor space for traditional composting or need a fast solution for indoor composting. But they come with both advantages and limitations.

How Do Electric Composters Work?

Electric composters accelerate the natural composting process through a combination of heat, grinding, and aeration. When you add food scraps into the machine, it heats them to a high temperature – usually at least 160°F (71°C), with some models claiming to operate at over 212°F (100°C) – to kill off harmful bacteria and pathogens.

While heating, electric composters use a grinding or chopping mechanism to break down the scraps into smaller pieces, speeding up decomposition. Most models then introduce air by rotating or agitating the material, simulating the aeration needed in traditional composting. This continuous mixing keeps the breakdown process efficient and minimizes odor – which is also aided through use of a charcoal filter.

Electric composters take as little as a few hours to reduce food waste to a dry, crumbly material that has reduced in volume by 70-90% due to the removal of water. However, though it may look like compost, it is not ready to use in the garden and must be further decomposed in soil or traditional composting systems before it can benefit plants.

“While efficient, electric composters remove much of the moisture that microorganisms need to thrive, resulting in a material that is drier than traditional compost. However, once matured into a nutrient-rich material, the remnants are ideal for use in the garden,” explains Caleb Quiatchon, product manager at Newair, the brand behind the Luma Kitchen Composter.

Not Real Compost?

The main criticism of electric composting is that most – but not all – machines essentially dehydrate and grind down food. This means the resulting material lacks the “microbial magic” found in compost made using traditional, slower methods. Because the waste has not undergone microbial decomposition, it doesn't contain the compost bacteria required to enrich the soil. Indeed, the process of heating and grinding the material can eliminate essential microbes. In short, it is not compost – yet.

To become compost, the material should be added to a traditional compost solution, or unplanted soil, where it will eventually break down with the help of microorganisms.

It’s worth noting that while the US Composting Council does not recognize this material produced by electric composters as compost, it does acknowledge that it can be ”useful feedstock for the composting process or other applications”. Due to the debate surrounding electric composters, some manufacturers have rebranded their machines as food recyclers.

It’s not only the missing bacteria that may be problematic, as the freshly ground material can contain concentrated levels of certain nutrients and salts that, when added to garden beds, create an imbalance in the soil's nutrient profile. It may also heat up during the decomposition process, harming plant growth. In addition, the food waste could become moldy or attract pests if immediately used in the garden.

All this highlights the need for ground food waste to undergo further decomposition before it can be used as compost. This can be added to the compost pile or bin, a vermicomposting system, an alternative solution such as bokashi composting, or it can be sent to a municipal composting facility.

Adding the Microbial Magic

Most electric composters should be considered “pre-composters”, offering a quick and convenient solution for processing kitchen scraps that, after a term on the compost pile, can contribute to making compost for the garden. However, the latest industry innovations have made great strides towards fixing the microbial problem.

The Reencle Home Composter, available on Amazon, is the first microorganism composter that produces something close to real compost by introducing bacillus, a bacteria found in compost heaps. Maintaining an optimal temperature range of 131-140°F (55-60°C), the machine allows the microbes to participate in the decomposition of food scraps, rather than killing them off, with just the right amount of moisture left in the material.

“Most of the electric composting products in the market are dehydrators,” explains Joe Tegerdine, Reencle’s general manager for North America. “Some of them have additive packets to add to cycles to introduce bacteria to their grounds, but in order for bacteria to function they need moisture, so adding bacteria to a dry environment is not actually stimulating bacterial decomposition.

“Reencle attempts to create the optimal environment for the microbes so they can do their job as quickly and efficiently as possible. It relies on bacterial decomposition to compost food waste and uses a proprietary compost starter that must be present in the unit for it to work. The unit utilizes the microbes, heat, water, and oxygen to compost food waste, simulating what someone would essentially do if they were composting in their backyard using a tumbler or turning bin.”

Reencle can handle about 2.2 lbs of food waste per day and will generate enough compost to be removed about every 10 days. Generally, close to 90% of food waste processed by the unit will be broken down within 24 hours, but it is not quite ready to be used as compost at this stage…

How Long Do Electric Composters Take?

Until the broken-down food waste starts to decompose, most of the nutrients are not accessible to plants, and so the “compost” must be allowed to further mature. “Exactly how long the compost takes to be garden-ready depends on what you are using it for; it can vary based on what you are composting, or what you are putting the compost on,” explains Newair’s Caleb.

Ideally, the broken-down food waste should be added to the compost pile along with your garden waste, and allowed to complete its natural cycle; however, it can also be dug into soil in an area of the garden that is not yet planted to enrich the soil. You should wait around three months before planting.

Due to the addition of microorganisms, Reecle is quicker than most. “In typical settings, once the excess compost is removed from the unit, it needs to be mixed with soil 4:1 and allowed to cure for about three weeks if used for planting. However, mulch can be spread immediately,” explains Joe.

What Can You Compost?

What can be composted in an electric composter is similar to a traditional compost bin. However, electric composting has a few advantages here as the machines can tackle meat scraps, which are usually left out due to pathogens, as well as weeds, which most electric composters destroy through the heating process.

Newair’s Caleb provided the following list of what can and cannot be added to an electric composter, although it may differ slightly depending on your chosen model.

Go ahead and recycle:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Meat scraps
• Shellfish
• Dairy
• Nuts and seeds
• Legumes
• Fish bones
• Coffee grounds
• Teabags
• Eggshells
• Weeds and foliage

Do not recycle:

• Large bones
• Hardwood
• Cooking oil
• Candy and gum
• Large fruit cores
• Hard fruit shells
• Metals
• Synthetic fibers
• Plastic

How Much Do They Cost to Run?

Though the initial outlay of purchasing an electric composter is high – on average between $400-$1,000 – they are not expensive to run.

“A composting cycle uses about 1kW of power. On average, that is about 16.63 cents per cycle,” says Caleb.

Are Electric Composters Good for the Environment?

In some aspects, electric composters are good for the environment as they can quickly break down food waste to be used in composting. On a wider scale, this could significantly reduce the level of food waste that ends up in landfills.

Conversely, the plastic and energy used in the manufacturing and running of electric composters have a negative environmental contribution. The units also require regular charcoal filter replacements and contribute to electronic waste at the end of their life.

Owners of electric composters must ensure they make proper use of their machines to avoid undermining their eco-conscious efforts.

Where space and time allow, other slower forms of composting are more sustainable and cost-effective solutions. However, where other options are limited and you don’t have access to municipal composting, then an electric composter offers a solution to dealing with food scraps that is better than sending them to landfill – as long as you are able to either use or donate the waste material.

Are Electric Composters Worth It?

Given that starting a compost heap in the garden doesn’t cost anything, electric composters are a financial investment that may prove too costly for some. The units can also struggle with the quantity of kitchen waste in bigger households, and gardeners may find they lack the space to utilize all of the resulting material.

However, the machines’ benefits make electric composting a worthwhile investment for many. Since they’re indoors, electric composters work in any season, even in winter when outdoor compost piles might freeze. They can also process a greater variety of food scraps than traditional methods. If odors are a concern, it’s good to know that these units are typically sealed and equipped with filters to minimize or eliminate bad smells.

For most proponents, however, their value simply comes down to the time saved. “The biggest difference between what is produced in our product and a traditional backyard composting setup is the time it takes to create mature compost,” explains Reencle’s Joe. “Depending on the climate where someone lives, traditional composting can take months, sometimes even a year, while our takes a few weeks.”

As good stewards of the land, we seek ways to give back to the soil and avoid waste. Composting checks all the boxes. It makes use of something that would go into a landfill and produces beautiful material to enrich the land.

There are many ways to compost: a tumbler, a three-bin system, vermicomposting, or just an attended pile. The process isn’t difficult but you do need to adhere to a few precise steps, and avoid common composting mistakes, to ensure that “black gold” at the end.

Decomposition may take two weeks to two years in unmanaged piles. There are ways to speed up the composting process with an activator, proper management, and other steps.

1. Think Small

Each piece of yard waste or kitchen scrap that goes into the compost situation has to break down. The smaller the surface area, the faster the item will decompose.

One of the most important composting steps for faster breakdown is to simply cut everything up small. Ideally, no piece should be larger than 1 inch (2.5cm) in diameter.

This is fairly easy to do in the kitchen since you are already chopping. Cut that broccoli stem into small pieces, crush your egg shells, and mince those carrot ends.

In the garden, this takes a bit more work. Use pruners to cut stems and branches into smaller pieces before adding them to the pile.

2. Use The Proper Ratio

The breakdown of organic waste relies on a mixture of carbon and nitrogen – or browns and greens. The key is to have much more brown material than green, with a good mix being about 4:1 browns to greens.

Greens include kitchen scraps, grass clippings, coffee grounds, manure, and freshly pulled weeds.

Carbon sources may be shredded (non-glossy) paper, dried leaves, or sawdust. The garden waste pile will benefit from the addition of woody, brown items. Hay or straw are good and inexpensive carbon additives.

If your compost production is slow, and the pile is not heating up, add more green material. However, if it starts to smell bad, add more brown material.

3. Mix In Compost Or Garden Soil

Layering the pile or bin with compost or garden soil will introduce the much-needed microorganisms and bacteria that are the backbone of composting.

Think of it as an inoculation for the compost heap. You are essentially infecting the almost sterile pile with beneficial organisms that begin the microscopic part of decomposition. This will also add mycelium, which are fungal bodies that also help decompose organic matter.

4. Just Add Water

A dry compost pile will not break down well. This is because all living things need moisture and that includes the tiny organisms that contribute to composting.

Some gardeners struggle with a pile that is too moist. That indicates too little carbon. But if the pile is dry to the touch, the little critters that are there to help break down the material aren’t active.

Your pile should have the consistency of a damp sponge when you grab a handful and squeeze.

5. Introduce Worms

This might be something fun for the kids or grandkids to do. Have them dig up worms and add them to the pile. This works especially well in the kitchen compost. Worms eat food debris and excrete castings, nutrient-rich soil conditioners.

You may also order red wigglers to come directly to your door. This variety of worm is a powerful addition to the compost heap. These worms ingest up to ¾ their weight in food scraps per day.

6. Turn The Pile

As with moisture, the organisms busily breaking down the organic matter also need oxygen. Turning compost will ensure the interior is moist but will also aerate the material.

In small spaces, this may be done by using a tumbler. In larger situations, grab a garden fork and turn the pile every few days. This will keep all the organisms happy and busy at their job.

Without enough oxygen, the anaerobic organisms are at the forefront and they don’t break up material as quickly as aerobic organisms. Without airflow, the pile will smell bad and decomposition slows.

7. Give It A Blanket

Heating up compost is essential to speed up development. The pile should be at around 155 degrees Fahrenheit (68°C) to ensure any weed seeds or pathogens die.

While you could drape an actual blanket over the pile to trap heat, a layer of straw is just as effective. This is especially important in winter when the pile tends to cool. An old carpet, bubble wrap, or other items can also be used.

The key is to keep the pile warm so the organisms stay active and useful. Covering the compost situation can raise the temperature up to 30 degrees.

There are also hi-tech solutions like insulated compost bins and regulating technology to keep the perfect temperature, ratio, and moisture.

8. Use A Compost Accelerator

If all else fails, try a compost activator or accelerator. These compost starters can easily be found in garden centers or online.

They stimulate bacterial growth and increase the temperature in the middle of your pile. High nitrogen formulas can be useful in carbon-heavy piles, such as wooden brush, branches, or stumps, and will enhance decomposition by helping to balance the ratio of the pile.

Biochar – organic material carbonized under high temperatures – can also be added to compost to speed up development by about 20 percent. It can also help to rejuvenate spent compost.

Urban composting enriches the soil and supports healthy plant growth, even in the middle of a big city. Composting is the managed decomposition of organic waste into nutrient-rich material used for soil amendment. We think of a compost pile being relatively easy to manage with a lot of garden space or out in the country, but what if you’re a city gardener? Composting in urban areas can be done on a smaller scale.

Benefits of Urban Composting

Composting in the city has many benefits, as it does in any area. If you produce waste and grow plants, there are several reasons to compost:

• Give your waste new life instead of sending it to a landfill or incinerator. Compost is made from kitchen and yard waste.
• Good compost supports healthy plant growth by providing needed nutrients and refreshing spent soil or amending poor soil.
• In addition to adding nutrients to the soil, compost lightens compacted soils to improve aeration and root growth.
• By using compost to soil, you reduce the need to use chemical fertilizers. You’ll also save water, as compost improves water retention.

How to Compost in Urban Areas for Beginners

Composting isn’t difficult, but it also isn’t as easy as simply piling up all your food scraps. Composting in a big backyard in the country is different from composting in the city. Urban composting presents some unique challenges, but it can still be done. Here’s what you need to know to get started with urban composting.

What You Will Need

All you really need to get started is a container and waste material. The most important consideration is the container. Living in the city, you need an appropriately sized container that fits but still produces usable amounts of compost. You also need a container with a good lid that will contain odors and prevent pests, like rodents, from getting inside.

Where to Put Your Compost Container

With at least a small outdoor space, you have the option to use a medium or large compost bin outdoors. Ideally, place it away from the house. If it needs to be nearby, you can always try porch or balcony composting.

Another option is making compost indoors. Urban worm composting might sound creepy- crawly, but it’s actually ideal for indoors. All it takes is a large, sealable plastic storage bin with holes drilled in the top and some earthworms. They’ll quickly turn your organic waste into rich compost with no mess.

What You Can (and Can’t) Compost

Once you have a container and a location, it’s time to add the waste. You need a mix of green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) waste. An ideal mix of browns and greens has a ratio of one part green to two or three parts brown.

Green waste includes most of your kitchen scraps, like vegetables, fruits, clean eggshells, coffee grounds, and tea. It also includes grass clippings and weeds. For brown material, add dry yard waste material, like leaves, twigs, pine needles, or dried grass and vegetative clippings. Other brown waste is sawdust, paper, brown cardboard, and natural fabrics.

Here are examples of what not to put in your compost pile:

• Fish, meat, oil, grease, or bones
• Dairy and eggs
• Weeds that have set seed
• Diseased plants
• Coated paper or cardboard

Urban Compost Maintenance

First, leave your compost pile alone for a week or two. This allows microorganisms in the center to do their work and increase the temperature of the compost. Then, turn the pile with a pitchfork or spade. The goal is to bring the inside material to the outside of the pile. Leave the pile alone to reheat, and then turn again. You should be turning it every week or two.

Composting in an urban setting is doable, but many municipalities now offer city-wide composting services. If you’re not ready to start your own compost pile, check with your city to find out if collects organic waste to make and distribute compost.

Composting is a more complicated business than many give it credit for. Get it wrong and you’ll have a smelly, ineffective heap that offers no benefit to your garden.

But get it right, and you will cultivate the most nutrient-rich substance that will transform your soil and ensure plants thrive. It truly is black gold.

Unfortunately there are several critical mistakes that can quickly render your compost useless. Read on to discover how to avoid them – and how to fix your supply if it’s already out of balance.

1. Adding the wrong types of kitchen waste

Kitchen scraps are an essential component of any compost heap, but you cannot add everything.

Composting meat, fat, bone, and dairy should be avoided as they can encourage pests and introduce harmful pathogens. As meat and dairy go off, they will also develop a terrible smell.

Good kitchen waste to include in your compost heap includes vegetables and fruit peeling, eggshells, coffee grounds, and tea bags.

When adding kitchen scraps to the compost heap, you should always bury them by topping off with a layer of brown ingredients, such as paper, and soil.

This is to avoid attracting pests, such as flies, and to minimize any unpleasant smells.

2. Not shredding paper

Paper, especially newspaper, is a common ingredient added to compost. As a brown composting material, it will help to add carbon to the compost pile.

However, you cannot simply pile up bundles of paper onto the compost heap. In order for paper to break down, it needs oxygen to circulate, otherwise it will simply mold and become an unusable mess. This means it must first be shredded.

Cardboard is also ideal to add to compost heaps. If it’s too thick to shred, then tear it as well as you can or cut it into small pieces.

3. Getting the wrong balance

Any compost heap needs a careful balance of green and brown materials.

Brown materials relate to dry or woody plant material, such as leaves, paper, wood chips and straw. They add bulk and carbon to the compost heap, and enable better air circulation.

If you don’t have enough brown material in your compost heap, it will smell like sewage or ammonia.

Green composting materials are wet or recently growing materials, such as food scraps, grass clippings, manure, and fresh weeds. They add a lot of nutrients to the pile, including nitrogen.

If your compost pile is dry or not heating up, then you need to add more greens.

A good mix of browns and greens in your compost pile is about 4:1 browns to greens.

4. Adding diseased garden waste to the pile

It’s tempting to add diseased garden waste to the compost heap; however, it takes high temperatures to destroy the pathogens, and most garden composting setups won’t be able to achieve it.

The disease could infect your compost and then be spread around to other plants as you use it around the garden. A common example is composting tomato plants that have developed blight or another disease, or rose clippings infected with blackspot.

Diseased garden waste should either be burnt or sent to your county yard waste program.

5. Including invasive weeds

Composting weeds can be a complicated subject, as they can add valuable nutrients to the heap, as long as they are properly broken down at the right temperature.

However, you should not add weeds with invasive roots to your compost heap – this includes plants such as dock weed, alligatorweed and bermudagrass.

Even small fragments that don’t decompose in the compost could cause the weed to spread around the garden when it is added to beds.

Likewise, you shouldn’t compost weeds that have already gone to seed, as your compost heap may not get hot enough to kill the seeds.

If you don’t want to risk adding weeds to the compost heap, then make them into a liquid fertilizer. To do this, soak them in water for a month and then strain. The resulting liquid can be diluted and applied to beds to add nutrients.

6. Not turning your compost

Turning your compost heap on a regular basis is essential to create aeration and ultimately speed up the decomposition process.

If it is not turned then it can become compacted, meaning oxygen, microbes, and moisture aren’t able to effectively spread throughout the heap.

A strong sign that compost has insufficient aeration is if it smells very unpleasant, or like rotting eggs.

The best way to turn home compost is with a composting tumbler or manually with a pitchfork or shovel.

7. Not adding liquid

An effective compost heap needs moisture to work, so if you only apply dry matter then it may not be moist enough. Adding liquids to the compost will help to keep it moist.

The liquid should be plant based and not contain any chemical preservatives, drugs, or other contaminants.

Good examples include coffee, tea, soda, beer, graywater, ketchup, and small amounts of cooking oil.

8. Composting pet waste

While it’s fine to add manure from farm animals like cows and chickens to your compost, you should not add fecal material from dogs and cats.

Their waste contains a host of pathogens and parasites that can be harmful to humans. In theory these can be removed by heating the compost heap to a high enough temperature over a long enough period of time, but this is not something a beginner composter should attempt.

Dispose of dog and cat waste by putting in a biodegradable poop bag and binning it.

9. Not storing it properly

When compost is ready, proper storage is required to ensure it stays moist and nutrient rich – otherwise it will dry out and lose its microbial magic.

One of the easiest storage methods is on the ground covered with a tarp or plastic sheeting. This will protect it from rain and snow but still allow in some moisture to keep the pile damp.

If you don’t intend to keep your compost lying around for months then you can store the compost in plastic bags or garbage cans for a while.

10. Not heating it up

Heating up a compost pile is an essential part of the process, as this allows the micro-organisms to thrive and do their job. Heat will speed up the composting process and also destroy seeds and potential weeds.

You don’t need to manually apply heat to your compost heap – you need to get the right balance of ingredients. If the balance is wrong, or the heap is dry, it will not heat up.

A good compost heap should have the right balance of nitrogen-rich green matter, carbon-containing brown matter, some moisture, and the right bacteria. Add a shovelful of dirt into your compost pile to help with this.

If your pile still isn’t heating up, then it may be too small to warm up effectively – the ideal pile should be 4 to 6 feet (1-2m) high.

11. Letting it get old and inactive

Compost is alive with organisms, but if neglected for too long these will start to die off, the heap will become compacted, and it may even go moldy.

You can revive old compost by mixing in fresh green matter, such as grass clippings, with a smaller amount of brown material.

Turn the pile 2 to 3 times per week and keep it moist but not soggy. It won’t take long before your compost heap comes to life again.

12. Using compost before it’s ready

When compost is ready, it will look dark and crumbly and have an earthy smell. It will have reduced in volume and the organic items added to the pile will not be visible.

If it has not yet reached this stage, you should not use your compost, as it will not have the desired effect on your garden.

It might take anything from 6 months to two years for compost to be usable, so you have to be patient.

However, you can speed up composting by having the right balance of materials, shredding them into small pieces, layering it effectively, and turning it regularly.

One of the most important things to know about making your own compost is what you can and cannot put in it. For example, meat and dairy shouldn’t go in because they get very stinky and attract pests. What about eggshells, though? When composting eggshells, salmonella might concern a conscientious gardener, but it’s really nothing to worry about.

Why Add Eggshells to Compost?

You can add eggshells to your compost pile as part of your regular kitchen waste. And you should, because doing so reduces waste to the landfill and because they add nutrients to your soil. Eggshells are particularly rich in calcium, a micronutrient for your plants.

Do You Need to Wash Eggshells Before Composting?

When putting eggshells in compost, salmonella might be a worry, but it shouldn’t be. It’s true that we need to take care when handling eggs in the kitchen due to the risk of salmonella on the shell. Chickens often host a type of salmonella that can transfer to the shell of the egg and make you sick.

To avoid contamination with salmonella, it’s important to wash your hands after handling raw eggs. We’re also advised to avoid eating foods with raw eggs, like cookie dough. These kinds of rules may lead you to believe you should also wash raw eggshells before adding them to compost.

Washing eggshells before composting is not necessary to eliminate salmonella. Compost piles get very hot in the center, around 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit (60 to 71 degrees Celsius), which is enough to kill most pathogens. Even if salmonella survives the composting process, the amount present in the finished product is likely to be very low, similar to what is naturally in the soil anyway.

One reason you might consider washing shells with raw egg or bits of cooked hardboiled egg left in them is to avoid pests. Animals like skunks or raccoons are uninterested in the shells, but if they can smell egg, they might be drawn to the compost.

Can You Put Cooked Eggshells in Compost?

If you have already cooked the eggs, go ahead and put the shells in the compost pile. Again, if you hardboiled eggs and some of the egg remains in the shell, it might attract pests. This is unlikely, though, as it is probably a very small amount.

How to Prepare Eggshells for Composting

You can put raw or cooked eggshells in compost, either washed or not, depending on how concerned you are about pests in your compost. You can put them in as is, but you will find that eggshells take a lot longer to break down in compost than other materials.

If you don’t do anything to prepare them for composting, you will have visible pieces of eggshell in the finished product. This is fine, but if you don’t like the look or if you want to get more calcium out of the shells, they need to be in smaller pieces before going into the compost pile.

You can dry out the eggshells by leaving them out for a few days or by baking them in the oven at a low temperature. Dry shells are easier to crush into smaller pieces. Crush them by hand or use a spice grinder or food processor. The smaller you can get the eggshell pieces, the more calcium you will get out of them.

Eggshells are great for compost if you do it right. Don’t add the actual egg, and grind up the shells as much as possible. And, while you’re at it, add paper egg cartons to the compost pile. They'll decompose quickly.

Mushroom compost for the garden has been promoted as beneficial for some time now, but it’s important to note that not every plant reaps the benefits of mushroom compost. What plants don’t like mushroom compost? Acid loving plants, for one. Is mushroom compost good for a vegetable garden? The following contains information on plants that do and don’t like mushroom compost and how to use it in your garden.

What is Mushroom Compost?

Sold packaged at garden supply centers or in bulk from mushroom growers themselves, mushroom compost is specially mixed compost most suited for commercial growing of mushrooms. It’s sold when it is “spent,” meaning after a round of mushrooms has been grown in it and it is beginning to lose some of the nutrients specific to the optimal growth of the fungi.

Just because mushroom compost is spent doesn’t mean it has no value. In fact mushroom compost is incredibly good for most but not all of the garden.

What is in mushroom compost? The recipe for mushroom compost varies depending upon the company, but it may contain wheat or rye straw, peat moss, used horse bedding straw, chicken manure, cottonseed or canola meal, the leavenings from grape pressing, soybean meal, potash, gypsum, urea, ammonium nitrate and lime.

The concoction is mixed up and then allowed to sit for about 30 days to heat up and begin the composting process. Straw provides the basis for the compost and some nourishment for beneficial bacteria and the chicken manure, while cottonseed meal and urea provide additional nutrition. The bacteria feed and multiply, raising the temp of the compost pile enough to kill any weed seeds or pathogens. The resulting compost is then ready to grow mushrooms in.

What is Mushroom Compost Good For?

Mushroom compost improves water retention, improves soil structure, has a mild nitrogen content which means it provides a slow uptake for plants but low enough to discourage weed growth, attracts earthworms, effectively insulates cooling or warming roots according to the season, and is an excellent slow release fertilizer.

What Plants Don’t Like Mushroom Compost?

Because mushroom compost is great at improving water retention, it isn't a good option for plants that don’t like “wet feet” such as succulents. This increase in water retention can also lead to rot or fungal infections.

Mushroom compost may be alkaline due to its high content of chalk or lime. But not all mushroom compost will be alkaline, so it is best to do a pH test prior to use, especially around acidic loving plants.

Mushroom compost is also high in salt, which can be problematic for some plants such as blueberries, camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas. These soluble salts along with other nutrients in fresh mushroom compost are too concentrated to germinate seeds or plant young seedlings.

If you have mushroom compost and are unsure of its content, it's best to mix it with garden soil prior to use on young plants. Or better yet, procure your compost in the fall and allow it to sit and cure over the winter months.

Although mushroom compost attracts earthworms, at the outset it lacks beneficial microorganisms. This is because the spent product has been pasteurized prior to sale in order to kill weed seeds, pests or pathogens.

How to Use Mushroom Compost

You can either procure your mushroom compost by the bag or order it in bulk. When used after curing or when mixed with garden soil, mushroom compost can be used around perennials, trees, and shrubs. In the vegetable garden, till three inches (8 cm) of compost into the top six inches (15 cm) of dry soil.

Mushroom compost can be used in container grown plants as well, but only at the rate of 1 to 4, compost to soil.

By now most of us know the benefits of composting our yard detritus, but what about composting food waste? In the year 2015 it was estimated about 95% of food waste was dumped into a landfill, which isn’t ideal. Why is food waste a problem? Well it’s literally a waste when composting can turn food scraps into nutrient rich soil, but there are other benefits to compost vs. landfill not as widely known. Read on to learn why you should be composting your food waste.

Food Waste Facts

An overwhelming majority of Americans do not compost their food scraps. Instead, we dump them in the garbage contributing to the amount added to landfills. Landfills, by the way, are finite. They do fill up and when that happens they close. Just as landfills are finite, so is the space on the planet for more landfills.

The other big issue with dumping food scraps into a landfill is that they increase the amount of methane gas produced by the pile. When food is dumped in a landfill it begins to decompose under tons of other garbage without the benefit of oxygen which, in turn, releases methane. Why is methane a big deal?

Food Waste and Climate Change

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 28 to 34 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It is responsible for 25% of today’s global warming; the long term warming of earth’s temperature due to the actions of humans.

More than 72% of material entering a landfill can be composted. Composting food waste not only frees up landfill space and slows methane production but reduces water pollution and benefits the environment as a whole.

Food waste dumped in the landfill creates a pungent odor made up of ammonia and leachate. Leachate is the liquid produced when water filters through waste, in this case food waste. It is highly toxic, as it leaches chemicals and other constituents and flushes them into groundwater, soil, and waterways.

Compost vs. Landfill Benefits

Some of the benefits of composting food scraps vs. dumping them in the garbage have already been mentioned but there are many more. Composting food waste protects groundwater and minimizes odors in agricultural regions. Food waste combined with bulking agents also speeds up decomposition and reduces the production of methane and leachate.

Composting food waste binds heavy metals to prevent them from spilling into water sources or being absorbed by plants or humans.

Composting also has huge advantages with relation to the agricultural industry. Compost adds organic matter to poor soils and stabilizes the pH level, retards some plant diseases and weeds, increases the yield and overall vigor of crops, increases water retention in the soil thus reducing irrigation needs, and restores soil that has been denuded of microorganisms and worm populations due to chemical controls.

Purchasing compost is expensive, so the production of the it gives an opportunity for extra income. Not only can a grower add to their income by producing quality compost, but the use of organic compost elicits a higher price for the resulting organic produce.

Whether you compost on your property or contribute to a municipal compost, be assured that you are doing your part on a number of levels to combat global warming in a sustainable manner.

Most gardeners compost in some manner, using the resulting mixture as a rich soil amendment. This is often done in a bin system, turned pile, or tumbler. You may wonder, "Can I compost directly in my garden?" In situ composting is possible and reduces the need to turn the compost. There are several ways to compost in place, removing the need to move the material and maintain it.

Trenching, layering, and cold composting are all reliable ways to break down organic matter. There is no need to move yard waste to a different location in the landscape with any of these. The material simply stays where it is and decomposes naturally. These methods are slower than a maintained "hot" compost system, but the job will still get done. Depending on the method, the material may be ready in a year, but the ease and lack of maintenance may be worth selecting one of these ways to compost.

Composting in Garden Trenches

Trenching is as simple as digging a good sized hole. With this type of composting, you can bury vegetative materials, but also meat and grains. The latter two items are normally discouraged in compost because they attract scavengers. If the material is buried under at least 12 inches (31 cm.) of soil, animals like rats cannot access it.

Trenching is a great method for any time of the year. The natural microbes and other organisms in soil will make quick work of the debris. When done as an underground side dress around vegetable crops, it will enhance the nutrient value of the soil and help retain moisture. It is important not to add too much waste to the trench, and make the trench wide enough and long enough to accept the material. A layer of 6 inches (15 cm.) of waste is the proper amount. Any more and the material will take too long to break down and unwanted pathogens could form.

In Situ Composting

This is really what it sounds like, leaving the organic material in place. It may just be left there, but a more effective method is to add organic matter like leaf mulch, wood chips, twigs, and other woody material onto the top. In Hugelkultur, the area is first lined with logs and small woody matter. Then the organic material is laid over these and finally topped with straw or grass clippings. If the pile is to be planted immediately, mix in some manure to help the composting process and top with a good soil mixture. If the site is not to be used for planting immediately, cover it with black plastic to enhance heat, retain moisture, and speed up the breakdown process.

How to Bury Compost in Garden Layers

Sheet or lasagna gardening is a very effective method of breaking down organic waste. The site starts with layers of wet newspaper or cardboard. Make sure to not use the glossy type of ad paper and remove tape from cardboard. Next, layer in green materials like kitchen scraps, grass clippings, or manure. On top of these a carbon layer is added. This could be dried leaves, straw, or paper shreds. Then add another green layer and another brown layer. The bed can be layered several times but must end with a carbon or brown layer.

If the lasagna garden is completed in fall, it will be ready for planting in spring. This is a suitable method for any time of the year and a great way to compost items like sod.

Keeping a flock of backyard chickens is another step toward a self-sufficient lifestyle. Yet as a gardener, you may be looking beyond the egg and meat benefits of chicken ownership and wondering how to make this activity more sustainable. One way is learning how to use chicken manure as fertilizer for your garden.

The Nutrient Content of Chicken Manure

Chicken manure is considered a complete fertilizer as it contains thirteen of the nutrients which plants require. In addition to supplying nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), it includes these macro and micronutrients:

• Calcium
• Sulfur
• Manganese
• Magnesium
• Copper
• Zinc
• Chlorine
• Boron
• Iron
• Molybdenum

Unfortunately, chicken manure also contains harmful pathogens. Safe methods of handling and applying chicken manure to the garden are essential to prevent food-borne illnesses.

How Long to Compost Chicken Manure

Composting chicken manure is one way to reduce harmful disease organisms. When a compost pile is properly maintained, heat is created as a by-product of the breakdown of organic materials by beneficial microbes. A temperature range between 145 and 160 degrees F. (63-71 C.) for a minimum of three consecutive days can reduce harmful pathogens while protecting beneficial microbes.

In addition to reducing disease-causing microorganisms, composting stabilizes the nutrients found in chicken manure and transforms them into chemical compounds which plants can utilize. Adding compost made from chicken litter to garden soil provides these additional benefits:

• Loosens heavy soils such as clay
• Increases the soil's ability to hold water
• Improves aeration
• Enhances drainage
• Reduces erosion
• Releases nutrients slowly

If you're wondering how long chicken manure needs to compost before spreading it on the garden, you may be disappointed by the answer. While a properly maintained chicken litter compost pile can complete the decomposition process in as little as five to six weeks, the recommendation is to wait three to four months.

How to Age Chicken Manure

It should be noted that even a properly maintained compost pile will have areas near the surface and sides that can't be maintained at 145 degrees F. (63 C.) for the three consecutive days needed to kill pathogens. Frequently turning the pile helps ensure these areas are composted, but there is no guarantee all the disease-producing organisms will be killed.

Allowing compost to cure creates unfavorable conditions that result in a gradual reduction of viable disease-producing organisms. An alternative method to composting manure is to spread it directly in the garden and let it age. The recommendation is to cure compost or age manure 120 days for vegetables that come in contact with the soil and 90 days for crops, like corn, which do not.

How and When to Apply Chicken Manure to the Garden

While cured compost can be spread on the garden and worked in three to four weeks before planting, it's advisable to spread fresh or raw chicken manure in the fall after all crops have been removed for the year. If you use a deep litter method, fall is also an ideal time to clean out an accumulation of soiled bedding and finish composting it in the garden.

Fresh or un-composted aged chicken manure can be spread on the garden at a rate of 14 pounds (6 kg.) per 100 square feet (9 sq. m.). Fresh chicken manure is high in ammonia, which evaporates quickly. To prevent this soluble form of nitrogen from being lost, it's advisable to till fresh manure into the soil within 12 hours of application.

Composted chicken manure can be spread at a rate of 44 pounds (20 kg.) per 100 square feet (9 sq. m.). As a general rule of thumb, a five-gallon bucket will hold approximately 25 pounds (11 kg.) of fresh manure or compost. Compost is more stable than fresh manure and doesn't need to be tilled in as quickly but incorporating it into the soil several weeks before planting ensures microbial activity won't interfere with seed germination.

Aged chicken manure or chicken manure compost can also be used around flowers and ornamentals where issues with food-borne illnesses are not a concern. However, fresh chicken manure should never be applied to side dress growing plants. Due to the high ammonia content, fresh manure is “hot” and will damage or kill the plants.

Composting is a fad that has staying power. There are many ways to reduce waste, and turning kitchen scraps into nutrient rich soil is a fairly easy one. But not everyone has room for a compost pile. Using an indoor worm bin is a small way to make sure those leftover veggies don't go to waste and our landfills aren't overfilled. Indoor worm composting may be done with a purchased kit, but it's just as easy to make a DIY worm farm.

Red wigglers are the key to starting a worm farm, and their habitat can be made with many household items. Curious how to make a worm farm? First, find a good container that will breathe, hold in the worms, and is large enough for the worms and your level of kitchen scraps. The worms will need bedding, a bit of moisture, and the system will also need regular carbon sources to help the nitrogen balance.

Tips on Starting a Worm Farm

Vermicomposting is similar to regular composting. The degrading items will need to be consistently damp but not soggy, have the correct balance of nitrogen and carbon, and be cut fairly small for quicker break down and to avoid mold. The enclosed system uses the worms to eat the kitchen scraps and excrete nutrient rich castings. The resulting finished product may be used in house plants, as a fertilizing tea, or in the garden.

The type of worm is important. The earthworms outside your home do effectively break down organic matter but they are not suited to the high temperatures the worm bin will achieve. Red wigglers are a type of worm adapted to warm temperatures and their activities won't be interrupted by high heat. Red wigglers are available to purchase at many garden centers or online. But before they arrive, make them a nice home.

Starting a Worm Farm

The first step is selecting a container. It may be steel, clay, cement, plastic, wood, or other materials. Avoid using a cardboard box due to the moisture levels which will break it down too quickly. A very easy, inexpensive, and quick home for the worms comes in the form of a plastic tub that has had holes made in the bottom, top, and sides. Whatever container you choose should have a tight-fitting lid like those that come with storage tubs. The holes provide air, but also release excess moisture to prevent mold. That excess moisture will drip, so situate the bin on something absorbent or easily cleaned.

The size of the bin depends on the amount of kitchen waste you generate. It is recommended to purchase 2,000 red wigglers for every pound per day of kitchen waste. They will need a bit of room, but crowding a bit is not a problem.

Steps to a DIY Worm Farm

Once you have your container and location, it is time to put in bedding. Use organic materials without chemical dyes such as paper bags, newspaper, paper towels or coconut coir. Dried leaves, sawdust, and other organic carbon sources are also suitable.

Strip the paper material and soak it in water. Squeeze out excess moisture, line the bin, and top it with garden soil or compost. The resulting mix should fill the container by 1/3. Add the red wigglers and let them get used to the new home for a couple days. Then place a 1 inch (2.5 cm.) layer of finely chopped kitchen scraps in the bin. Don't add too much at once or it will mold before the worms have a chance to eat it all.

As you add scraps, top them with an equal amount of carbon, such as paper or wood-based materials, dry leaves or grass, to keep the proper balance. If the habitat gets dry, mist it with water until just damp. The castings will be dark brown, and ready to use for your plants within 1 to 2 weeks depending upon size of food scraps, temperature, and other factors.

If you plan to nourish a lawn, golf course, or field with compost, there are several different compost spreaders to make the job easier. Whether you have a large farm or plan to use a manual compost spreader in your own backyard, choose the right tool for the size of your job. 

How To Use Different Types of Compost Spreaders

Compost spreaders come in varying sizes as well as manual and motorized. You also can buy a tow-behind compost spreader if you own a garden tractor or ATV. Large volume spreaders are ideal for field use, while smaller spreaders benefit orchards, vineyards and small-scale vegetable farming. 

Before you go out and purchase equipment, make sure it is the best equipment for the job, and it fits within your budget. Here are several equipment options for spreading compost:

• Push/Pull and Self-Propelled models are designed for small farms and gardens. A towing vehicle is not needed. A compost roller spreader can be manually pushed or pulled by the long handle. Mesh openings are 1 inch by ½ inch (2.5 by 1.27 cm.) in a 24-inch-wide (61 cm.) drum. Walk-behind motorized spreaders generally range from 22 inch to 30 inch (56 to 76 cm.) spreading width. 
• Ground Drive spreaders are heavy duty and require a lawn tractor, ATV, or gator utility vehicle to pull them. They can quickly spread 13 to 80 cubic feet (368 to 2265 L) of material. Larger-capacity models need a gator to pull them. 
• Rear Discharge spreaders with vertical or horizontal beaters can quickly discharge up to several hundred cubic feet of material. 
• Side Discharge models are ideal for adding compost to row crops, orchards, and berries. Some models fit narrow rows. 

Tips for Spreading Compost

• Before topdressing with compost, be sure to get a soil sample to know exactly what the field or lawn needs. 
• Calibrate the spreader before applying compost. 
• If seeding a new lawn, the compost can be incorporated into the soil. Till in a 1-to-2-inch (2.5 to 5 cm.) layer. 
• Apply compost to established lawns in the spring or fall when the lawn is actively growing, but conditions are cool and moist. Do not apply more than once per year. 
• For established lawns, aerate the lawn first with a hollow-tine aerator. Then broadcast a ¼ to ½ inch (0.6 to 1 cm.) layer of compost with a lawn compost spreader.
• For small areas, broadcast compost by hand and work it in with a rake.

Compost is a great garden soil amendment and an effective way to avoid wasting food and other plant material. If you’re new to composting and have yet to pull any out of the bin, here’s everything you need to know about harvesting compost. 

How Long Does Compost Take? 

This depends on the size of the scraps you put in and the purpose of the compost. Larger scraps naturally take more time to break down. For a top dressing or to mulch a bed, you don’t need uniform compost. For a container or raised bed, it should be uniform and thoroughly composted. 

With these varying factors in mind, it can take between a month and a year before your compost pile is ready for harvesting. 

What Does Finished Compost Look Like? 

The best way to determine when your compost is ready is by observing it and looking for visual and other clues: 

• Fully prepared compost is dark and crumbly.
• It smells earthy.
• The pile has reduced in size by about half.
• It’s no longer generating warmth.
• You can no longer see recognizable pieces of food and plant scraps. 

How to Empty a Compost Tumbler

Knowing how to empty a compost bin or tumbler is necessary for getting the best material and for your safety. Microorganisms in rotting food can be harmful to your health, so wear a mask when harvesting and wash your hands before doing anything else. 

No matter which style of compost container you have, the good stuff is at the bottom. A tumbler is designed to create a complete batch of compost. The catch is that you have to stop adding new material for a few weeks or a month. You can then harvest all the contents of the tumbler and start over. 

If you have a standard bin, you’ll need to remove the top layer, take out the bottom material, and put the rest back. The same is true for an open compost pile. 

To make harvesting easier, consider getting a specially-designed compost bin with bottom-opening panels. You can open at the bottom, pull out the finished compost and keep adding fresh materials to the top. 

Harvesting Worm Compost

Vermicompost is compost made with the assistance of earthworms. Keep them in a warm, moist, and dark bin with bedding, a little soil, and kitchen scraps and you’ll have rich compost in no time. 

Worm compost is ready within two to three months. To harvest it, you need to separate it from the worms. Push everything to one side of the bin and put fresh bedding and scraps on the other side. The worms will move to it to feed and leave a pile of worm-free compost.

Fall is the best time to harvest and spread compost just in case it isn’t fully ready yet. This gives it time to mature before spring planting. However, you can harvest, and use, finished compost any time.

Soil health is one of the most important factors for our plants. Over time, soil may compact, lose nutrients, or even change pH. These differences can be altered by amending soil with compost. Knowing when to put compost in garden beds may take a little investigating. Learn how to add compost to garden soil to improve plant health, drainage, and water retention. 

Adding compost to existing plants will slowly feed them as the compost continues to break down. It also prevents some weeds, keeps soil moist, helps regulate the temperature of the dirt, and has many more benefits. How to amend soil around existing plants with compost depends upon the age of the plant, the use for the compost, and even the time of year. 

When to Put Compost in Garden Beds

There are several reasons to add compost to your soil. Compost increases the tilth or structure of the soil. It helps increase percolation while simultaneously capturing moisture. Adding compost to garden soil increases the micro-biome of the soil. The enhanced bacteria and tiny critters break down the compost making it even more readily available to plant roots. Good compost can also minimize some pests and diseases. 

If the goal is improving soil structure, mix compost in the soil in fall. For blooming plants, apply as a mulch, or mix into the soil prior to planting. In the vegetable garden, add compost to soil in spring, or mix into the soil in fall. Lawns can benefit too. In spring, aerate the lawn and spread a thin layer over the grass blades. 

How to Add Compost to Existing Plants

In ground plants like perennials may not need extra compost annually. Giving established plants too much fertilizer can cause them to get leggy and floppy. But plants such as annuals and vegetables can greatly appreciate the addition. When adding compost for such plants, mix it into the soil prior to planting. Ensure the compost is well rotted to prevent hot soil. Over time, the compost will further degrade slowly, releasing nutrients to plant roots. Alternately, compost may be applied as a side dressing, especially in vegetable plots. 

What and How Much

You may decide to purchase compost or make your own. Compost is well rotted organic material and may include kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaf litter, or manure. Make sure the compost is well rotted and not too hot, or it may burn plant leaves and roots. 

The amount depends upon the situation. In heavily cropped sites, more compost needs to be added to return soil health. As a rule, mix in 1-3 inches ( 2.54- 7.62 cm.) to vegetable garden soil prior to planting. Around trees and shrubs the same amount may be used as a top dressing. Around flowers, layer the compost around plant stems. In all cases of top dressing, keep the compost from touching stems and trunks to prevent rot issues.

One of the largest pollutants of our planet is plastic. Since the 1950’s the world has produced over nine billion tons of plastic, much of it still in existence. This problem has been tackled with the introduction of compostable take out containers and other packaging and yet, what to do with compostable packaging is still a problem. Keep reading to learn what to do with compostable packaging. 

Can you Compost Biodegradable Plastic? 

Biodegradable plastic has been touted as the solution to the problem of plastic pollution. Sounds great in theory, but the problem is that many “compostable” plastic bags, cup lids, and utensils do not break down during composting. On top of that they then contaminate recyclable plastic resulting in a real mess for recyclers. 

The truth is that most compostable plastics are made from polyester called polylactic acid (PLA) that ends up in landfills along with the plastics made in the 1950’s. 

So, the answer to the above questions is yes and no. Biodegradable plastic breaks down with the aid of microorganisms into water, carbon dioxide, and compost within weeks to months. Some of these bioplastics, however, are made from biomass that can’t be easily broken down and are then non-biodegradable. 

How to Dispose of Compostable Cups

Compostable cups and other containers biodegrade at the same rate as other organic materials when composting and with no toxic residue. This does not mean though, that they are safe to add to your compost pile. 

Generally compostable plastic is meant to go to an industrial composting facility which has higher temperatures than that of a home compost bin. 

In lieu of adding to the compost pile, some restaurants and companies have a special bin for compostable products, separate from trash or recycling. 

Are Biodegradable Bags Compostable? 

So here’s the problem. Biodegradable and compostable are often used interchangeably when in fact they are very different. Biodegradable bags are made from petroleum that has been incorporated with heavy metals. Some types of bacteria will feed on the metals in the plastic and break it down more quickly than non-biodegradable plastic. 

Compostable bags are those made from naturally occurring materials that break down easily and are non-toxic. The use of the term compostable is regulated while that of biodegradable is not.

So, no -- biodegradable bags are not compostable. Under specific conditions they will break down over the course of a few months but not in a landfill. Conditions in a landfill are not conducive to the breakdown of biodegradable bags and they can in fact sit for decades to centuries. 

Is it possible to make compost in a bucket? Perhaps you've heard the minimum size for a backyard compost pile is a square yard (.8 sq. m.) and you've held off making this organic soil amendment due to space limitations. While this is true, there are two methods for decomposing kitchen scraps in a space as small as a five gallon bucket. 

How to Make a Compost Bucket

The first method uses vermiculture, which is commonly referred to as worm farming. This term can be a bit misleading as it implies the purpose of vermiculture is to produce more worms. While that does happen, the main benefit of worm farming is to make vermicompost.

Vermicompost is worm castings or the bodily waste which worms produce when they consume kitchen scraps. A balance of brown and green components is needed to make vermicompost. Red wrigglers (Eisenia fetida) are the worms of choice for composting in a bucket and they are readily available from online retailers.

Gardeners can easily make their own vermiculture bucket composter with two 5 gallon buckets, a tight-fitting lid, and a drill. Start by drilling 10 to 15 holes in the bottom of one of the buckets. This facilitates drainage and keeps the composting materials from becoming too soggy.

Next, drill an additional 15 to 20 holes in the side of the same bucket in which you drilled the bottom holes. Then, drill 10 to 15 holes in the lid. Nest the drilled bucket inside the undrilled bucket to catch the drainage. This liquid can be poured out every few days and used to fertilize plants in the garden.

If desired, a piece of mesh fabric, window screen, or a coir disk can be placed in the bottom of the drilled bucket to prevent the drainage holes from clogging. Bedding materials (brown components) are placed on top of this screen and then layered with kitchen scraps. It's best to avoid garlic and onions as these have anti-bacterial properties. 

Finally, add the worms and replace the lid. Gently turn or agitate the bucket every few days to add oxygen. You may wish to start a second system as it can take several months to make garden-ready compost. 

Anaerobic 5-Gallon Bucket Compost

The second method is Bokashi composting. Developed in Japan by Dr. Teuro Higa, this method uses anaerobic decomposition to ferment kitchen scraps in a sealed bucket. This is the fastest method of composting, but it does produce a yeast or vinegar type odor.

In addition to vegetable and fruit scraps, this method can be used to decompose meat, bones, and dairy products. Maintaining a balanced carbon-nitrogen (greens and browns) ratio is not necessary, but specific microbes are needed for Bokashi composting. These are available on the internet.

Bokashi bucket composting requires an airtight system, so holes are only drilled in the bottom of the bucket. The drilled bucket is nested inside the undrilled bucket and the lid must fit tightly. A plate or circle of plastic can be placed on top of the organic material to prevent oxygen from permeating the fermentation zone.

A scoop of microbes are sprinkled on the mix each time kitchen scraps are added. Once the bucket is full, it should not be disturbed as this introduces oxygen. It takes about a week to complete the fermentation process. The fermented organic matter is then mixed with soil to finish the composting process. 

Vermicompost is the process of converting organic waste into nutrient rich humus through the use of earthworms. The newest incarnation of this process is the worm tower. A worm compost tower is similar to an enclosed worm farm but with the tower placed directly into the garden. You can purchase a compost tower or make your own DIY worm compost tower. 

About Worm Tower Composting

A vermicomposting tower is a terrific way to get to a zero waste household. Not only do the worms clean up your organic waste but they leave behind nutrient rich castings in the soil. 

Sounds like a win/win right? Well in a perfect world, it is. But the reality is that you need to pay attention to the type of worm used, the size of your worm tower, venting heat yet keeping water out of the compost tower, and using safe materials that don’t leach hazardous toxins into the soil. 

Compost Tower Materials

A vermicomposting tower can be purchased, or you can build one yourself fairly easily. The choice of material you use depends on you and what you are concerned with. For instance PVC piping is often recommended for use when building a DIY worm compost tower however some people are concerned with leaching of vinyl chloride from the cut ends. Another option is ABS piping, however, it is made with BPA which may not be ideal either. 

A food grade bucket will eliminate issues with BPA or other risky materials, or clay pipes can be used although they are difficult to cut into without cracking or shattering. Another option is to build your DIY worm compost tower out of wood. 

DIY Worm Compost Tower

Whichever type of material you choose it must have a hole in both ends as well as alternating holes all around the tube. Next dig a hole in the ground or raised bed that is deep enough to accommodate the tube. Don’t dig too deep, about a foot or so (30 cm.); remember worms are surface creatures. 

Place the compost tube in the hole and fill in the outside of the tube with soil. Place a layer of old leaves and food scraps into the bottom of the tube and cover the food with shredded paper, grass clippings, soil or dried leaves. Add the worms and cap off the tube with a PVC cap or a terra cotta plant pot. 

Continue to add food scraps to the worm compost tube avoiding any meat, bones, dairy, citrus or oily food scraps. 

Let's say you want the benefits of adding homemade compost to your garden beds, but you're not too keen on an unsightly compost pile dominating your backyard. The same goes for compost tumblers. It's just too difficult to camouflage a plastic barrel in the garden setting. Making compost in the ground is an alternative method.

What is Subterranean Composting?

Like it sounds, subterranean composting is a method of decomposing organic materials by burying them in the ground. Not only do these methods allow gardeners to keep their compost out of sight, but there are additional advantages to composting in the ground:

• Less work – No need to make compost in one place, then transport it to where you'll need it. With an in-ground compost system, the decomposed organic materials are right where you want them.
• Nitrogen retention – Composting in the ground is a slower process which helps retain nitrogen levels. Additionally, above ground piles can lose nitrogen in run-off from heavy rains.
• Wider variety of materials – With subterranean composting, meat and other food scraps which attract rodents or pet waste can be safely broken down underground. It's not advisable to plant food crops over these areas, but ornamentals will benefit from this type of soil amendment.

How to Compost in the Ground

Compost can be made underground in either a trench or a hole. Either way, this compost pit should be 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61 cm.) deep to prevent animals from finding the kitchen scraps. It's not necessary to move the soil that is dug from the pit as it will be used to cover up the organic material. 

Next, fill the bottom 6 inches (15 cm.) of the trench with organic materials. The materials will decompose faster if they are moist, so don't be afraid to soak them with the hose before backfilling the pit. 

Finally, use the soil that was removed from the pit to completely cover the materials. To prevent rodents from unearthing kitchen scraps, be sure there are at least 18 inches (46 cm.) of soil covering the materials.

Amending Soil with Compost

In-ground composting is an excellent method for improving vegetable garden soil. Compost pits started in late fall are usually ready for spring planting. Be sure to mark where the organic material was buried. Then, plant heavy feeders, like tomatoes or corn, over the top of the buried compost.

If desired, garden compost trenches can be planted with a cover crop after backfilling in the fall. A cover crop can prevent soil erosion and weeds. The area is then turned under before planting food crops the next spring.

Subterranean composting can also be used to provide additional nutrients to fruit trees. Try composting in a hole in the ground by digging a series of pits in a circle just outside the drip edge of fruit trees. These can be filled with organic materials any time of year, and can be done one at a time as kitchen scraps are generated.

If you don’t have space (or the desire) to manage a regular compost bin or pile, you can still reap the benefits of rich, earthy compost, even if it’s just for indoor plants or containers on your deck or balcony. 

Although you can find reusable composting sacks made from sturdy material, you can save a few bucks by making a bag of compost in a sturdy garbage bag. Read on for a basic compost bag DIY.

Compost Bag DIY: Can I Make Compost In A Bag?

Compost made using a couple of large, sturdy, black plastic garbage bags is great for a small amount of material. But keep in mind, making compost in a bag probably isn’t the best idea if you’re planning on making a lot of compost.

To make a bag of compost, layer one part “brown” material, one part “green” material, and one part soil in the bag, along with a little finished compost to get things started. Add enough water to moisten the mixture. 

Tie the top of the garbage bag securely, then put it in the second garbage bag, and tie it. (Double-bagging will help to prevent the bag from splitting). Put the compost garbage bag in a sunny spot and give it a good shake every couple of weeks. 

Open the bag after a couple of months. If the compost is crumbly and dark with a fresh, earthy odor, it’s ready to use. If it isn’t finished, leave it a few more weeks. Compost can take up to a year, depending on the weather. If your compost isn’t finished by winter, put the bag in a frost-free shed or garage.

Compost Bag Materials For Your Compost In A Bag

What materials should go into your compost garbage bag? Here are a few suggestions:

Browns: You can compost dry leaves, sawdust, dryer lint, coffee filters, or paper. You can also use twigs, bark, pine needles, or straw, but be careful about materials that may poke a hole in the compost garbage bag.

Greens: Materials such as tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells, trimmings from houseplants, and fruit or vegetable scraps are all great for compost in a bag. 

Soil: Weed-free garden soil, preferably rich in organic material, will help the material break down faster. A scoop of finished compost will jump-start the composting process. 

Don’t compost: Never compost cat or dog waste, meat, grease, fat, oil, diseased plant debris, weeds, or sawdust from pressure-treated wood. 

A Note About Biodegradable Compost Bags

Be careful about biodegradable compost bags, which are intended for temporary use. Because they’re biodegradable -- made of materials like starches, vegetable oils, plant fibers, or biodegradable polymers -- they won’t hold up long enough to make finished compost.

This doesn’t mean, however, that biodegradable bags don’t have a purpose. The bags are great for lining a countertop compost bin or under-the-sink compost pail. Toss the bags in your regular outdoor compost pile or bin every few days, where they will decompose along with the contents of the bag. 

Composting is easy, whether you do it in a bin or in a pile on the ground. It feels a little bit like magic as you help Mother Nature turn kitchen and garden detritus into a wonderful soil additive. 

Can you compost yard waste? Yes, you can compost yard waste together with kitchen waste as long as you look out for weeds and maintain a proper balance. If you are ready to use yard waste as compost, read on.

Can You Compost Yard Waste?

Composting is a win-win endeavor, ridding the garden of dead leaves and clippings while, at the same time, creating organic compost. While you can buy this product at the garden store, why not make your own for free by learning to compost garden waste?

In order to start viewing yard waste as compost, you need to understand the composting process. Composting is the process of piling up brown waste (like dead, dried leaves) and green waste (like vegetable peelings and spent tomato vines) and giving them the sun, water and air they need to decompose rapidly. The resulting product can be worked into garden soil to improve its texture and add nutrients.

Compost Garden Waste

You can get started composting in the back yard for free by opting for a compost pile rather than a bin. You’ll need a shady level spot some 3-6 feet (1-2 m.) square where the drainage is good. Start with dry yard clippings including autumn leaves (aka brown material), then add about half as much green matter. You can compost green waste and brown waste by adding them in separate layers, but it’s also fine to blend them together before adding to the pile. 

As the pile grows, you need to mix it once a week. The mixing adds air that quickens the compost process. Turning yard waste to compost also requires moisture. If it rains every week where you live, you may not have to add any water, but if not, get out the garden hose. The pile should be the consistency of a rung-out sponge. 

How long does it take before your pile of garden water turns into usable compost? There is no set time schedule, and everything depends on Mother Nature. In an ideal situation, with sufficient rain and sun, you may be able to start using your compost in two to three months.

Compost Yard Waste Weeds

While you can compost garden waste, you cannot compost all of it. Some items should not be added to the compost. Only garden clippings and fallen leaves that have not been treated with chemicals belong in the compost pile. That includes chemical pesticides and fungicides.

The decomposition process occurs on the surface of the waste materials, which means their shape and size impact composting. Large woody chunks of shrub won’t decompose easily, so these should be shredded or chopped into smaller particles before layering them in the compost. But leave the smaller branch clippings intact since rigid particles provide structure and ventilation to the compost pile.

Likewise, it is tricky to compost yard waste weeds. If the weeds have already gone to seed, they should not go into the compost since it may not get hot enough to kill tough weed seeds. Likewise, you should not add weed cuttings when the plants have invasive roots. This will exclude plants like dock weed, alligatorweed and bermudagrass from your compost. Even small bits of these plant roots may allow the weeds to grow back.

Compost experts have a lot of rules for the process. They warn that failing to do each step properly will result in a smelly, moldy pile of waste. This is not necessarily true. If you lack a compost heap, tumbler, or 3 bin system, don't despair. You can use cold composting for an easy solution. This type of add as you go compost pile won't break down as quickly as a hot compost heap, but you can still reap the rewards in time. 

What is Passive Composting? 

What is passive composting? It is add as you go composting, and the process is as it sounds. A passive compost pile will break down slower in cooler temperatures but the little bacteria and microbes will still do their work. The result takes longer than traditional methods but is a good way to reuse yard and kitchen scraps in the winter or cooler seasons. 

A passive compost pile allows you to use up yard and kitchen scraps as they occur. Because you are continuously adding to the pile, the composting material doesn't heat up like a traditional system. An add as you go compost pile still needs the right proportion of greens and browns ( nitrogen and carbon) to work but it doesn't require you to layer evenly. Just make sure you have plenty of browns to offset the wet greens and keep the pile from being too moist. As with any compost pile, avoid animal fats, waste, and bones. The process can take 3 to 6 months, which is quite a bit longer than a hot compost system. 

How to Make an Add As You Go Compost Pile

Cold composting is beautiful in its simplicity. The passive compost pile can be in the form of trenches in the garden, tumblers, bins, or just heaps on the ground. The unit you use will dictate if you are adding kitchen scraps. Open systems will attract rodents and birds, so it might be best to stick with garden waste. Because they don't heat up much, avoid weed seeds which will not compost adequately. Build the pile as material is available, taking care to balance the nitrogen and carbon properly. 

Maintaining Add As You Go Composting

There are few hard and fast rules on keeping up a cold compost system. In order to speed things up and avoid dry and wet spots, turn the compost frequently. As with any compost pile, keep it moderately moist but not soggy. The items that are added will decompose more quickly if chopped small. However, if there are whole items, such as an apple, don't fret. It will compost but will take longer than apple pieces. Keep a layer of brown material on the top of the pile to prevent flies from laying eggs. That's all there is to it. This is an easy and convenient way to get rid of yard and kitchen waste.

Can you compost wood chips? The answer is a definite maybe. Yes, you can put wood chips in compost, but composting wood chips isn’t as straightforward as a typical backyard compost pile. 

Can I Put Wood Chips In My Compost?

If you want to put wood chips in compost, the process will work best if the chips are as small as possible, preferably 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm.) at most. Be patient; composting wood chips is a long, slow process that can take as long as three or four years. The larger the chips, the longer the process takes.

Some types of wood, including cedar, cypress, oak, redwood, and American mahogany, are especially slow to decompose. If you have a lot of wood chips, you might want to create a separate pile in an out-of-the-way corner of your garden. 

Don’t compost wood from yew or other toxic plants unless you’re sure the pile will be hot enough to break down the toxic substances. Otherwise, let the chips sit for a few months before composting it, then let the finished compost sit a few more months before using it.

Composting Wood Chips: Tips On Speeding Up The Process

Wood chips are a great source of carbon, but they contain very little nitrogen, so you’ll need to add green material to wood chips in compost. For instance, you can add fresh lawn clippings, food waste, coffee grounds, or manure. 

Blood meal or feather meal are nitrogen-rich materials that will help speed up the process. If the pile is large, you can spread a couple of handfuls of balanced, dry fertilizer evenly over the surface. 

Turn the pile frequently, generally every couple of weeks. Turning incorporates oxygen into the pile, which is essential for decomposition. However, don’t turn the pile during the winter, as the pile needs warmth during cold weather.

Add water to the pile if necessary. The compost pile should be damp but never drenched.

Can You Compost Wood Chips? Alternate Ideas for Wood Chips

If composting wood chips takes too long, you can always use the chips as a ground cover. The wood will staunch the growth of weeds, control erosion, and improve soil quality as it breaks down gradually. You can also use wood chips as animal bedding or to build up a raised bed.

Compost is one of those free gardening items that you can make yourself. All you have to do is follow a few rules regarding what to put in your compost, as well as temperature and moisture levels. Kitchen scraps are always a winner, but you may wonder, "can I compost straw?" Using straw in compost is a great way to increase carbon and keep a balanced compost pile. 

Using up organic odds and ends in a compost pile will result in some lovely, rich medium. It is a great way to reduce waste and return nutrients back to your soil. Can you compost straw? It is the basis of mushroom compost and will also turn your mixture into a nicely textured soil. 

Can I Compost Straw?

Most of us are aware of the basics of compost making, but can you compost straw? You need a nice balance of nitrogen and carbon for a sweet smelling, dark, loosely textured finished product. Nitrogen comes from vegetative items such as lettuce, beans, and kale. It also comes from fruits like tomatoes or peaches. You can add to compost with toilet paper rolls, Q-tips, newspaper, and other dry items. Straw is also in this "brown" category. It will release carbon for a healthy compost situation. Making compost from straw alone is not recommended, as it will not break down quickly enough without nitrogen and can result in a moldy mess. 

Tips on Compost and Straw

If you have pets, you may have soiled straw from the animal's bedding. It is okay to use this if the animal is an herbivore. The waste on the straw will break down in a well maintained compost pile. But compost and straw together should be avoided if the animal eats meat products. These can contain pathogens that the heat of the compost may not be able to break down. Once you have finished compost, let it cure for a couple of months before using it, as compost with a high degree of manure is often too hot for plants. 

Managing Straw in Compost

A good rule of thumb for compost composition is 3 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. That can come in the form of straw, paper, sawdust, and dried leaves. It is best to keep all pieces small for quicker break down. When using straw, mix it in well so it doesn't blow around. Make sure you turn the pile frequently and add moisture if it is running dry. Put your compost in a sunny location so it keeps nice and warm. Adding a layer of garden soil can speed up the process by introducing beneficial organisms. In a few months, with good management, your straw and other components will become dark, delicious compost.