How to create and use compost in your garden

What is compost?
Compost is natural, once living, (non animal) material that decomposes to create a rich, dark brown, crumbly material that is important for nourishing plants and keeping soil healthy.

Why is composting important?
It is the best organic fertilizer, soil conditioner, and disease preventer. It is also a nice way to do our fair share for the environment. Using compost eliminates the need for chemical fertilizer and the production of compost puts your non-animal raw food scraps to great use.   Fun fact: A single teaspoon of compost, contains more living creatures, (micro-organisms) than there are people on earth!  You are also inoculating the soil; the compost fends off the bad bacteria and helps feed the plants.  Compost is the secret to why organic gardens thrive without chemical fertilizers.

How do you make compost?
You do not need a big, fancy bin to create compost. (Although, big, fancy bins made for composting work just fine.) A few yards of chicken wire will work just as well.  Form a circle of chicken wire that is 3 feet in diameter and 3 feet high – these dimensions create the correct amount of weight and mass to start the proper decomposition.

Start layering “brown” and “green” materials inside the chicken wire.  Brown ingredients include materials that have started to dry out, such as straw or shredded leaves and should be a 3-to-1 ratio to the green ingredients.  Green ingredients are fresher and not as dried-out as brown ingredients. Green ingredients can include grass clippings, banana peels, tea bags, coffee grounds, cut flowers, vegetable peels, fruit pulp from your juicer – even egg shells (the only animal-based ingredient that's OK for compost).

To aid in the decomposition, turn the pile periodically with a shovel and make sure that the pile never dries out.  You don’t want to water the pile to soak it, but it needs to maintain moisture.

How long does it take to make compost?
If you are a very enthusiastic compost maker and you turn the heap once a week, you should have compost in 2-3 months.  If you are more of the “compost happens” type and you choose not to turn it, you should have compost in 6 months.

Once your compost is complete, how much do you need to add to your garden?
Sprinkle half an inch of compost on top of existing plants and add compost to the soil when plants are transplanted.