Did you know?

Composting improves soil’s ability to retain water, which may help you save money on the water bill!

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Aerobic Bacteria vs. Anaerobic Bacteria

Composting can be a carefully curated cast of characters. True, it’s easy enough to pile your leftover fruit and veggie kitchen scraps in with lawn clippings and leaves to create a basic compost. That will yield results—eventually. But if you’re interested in attaining some DIY soil a little more quickly, or curious to know more, here are some of the key characters you’ll want to become familiar with in order to direct the best production.

The Cast of Characters

• Compost Heroes: Aerobic Bacteria

  These little powerhouses are the star of the show. They need oxygen (aerobic) to help break down all the matter you put in your compost bin. To create nutrient-rich matter in a timely manner, you need the right environment to encourage a healthy population of these good guys.

• The Baddies: Anaerobic Bacteria

  These guys steal the scene when the pile has gotten compacted and has little to no air flow. Because they thrive in an airless environment (anaerobic), they have the power to overwhelm the population of the aerobic bacteria. A burgeoning population of anaerobic bacteria can bring composting to a near standstill.

• Browns: Carbonaceous Matter

  Carbon-rich matter, or browns as they’re also known, are like the carbs in the diet of those good-guy bacteria. Think of browns like the colors they often are: dried grass cuttings, dried leaves, sawdust and shredded newspaper.

• Greens: Nitrogen-Rich Matter

  Those hero bacteria also need to consume protein—enter the nitrogen-rich matter, or greens. These are your kitchen scraps from fruits and veggies, as well as things like coffee grounds (and your coffee filters, though technically, they are a brown) and green grass clippings.

• Water

  Water stars as herself in this mellow-drama. You’ll need the right amount of moisture to ensure your good-guy bacteria neither drown nor dehydrate.

• Pitchfork

  This character enters to stir things up when the plot … uh, compost thickens.

Use Your Nose

Properly tended, compost does not smell! Rather, it does not smell bad—it should smell rich and earthy. Here are some troubleshooting tips if your compost develops an unsavory scent. An ammonia odor means you have too much nitrogen-rich, green matter. Adding some browns to the pile, like shredded newspaper, dried leaves or straw, and giving it a swirl with the pitchfork should help immensely. Also, compost that has been layered, but not turned recently can emit this eye-watering aroma. Smells like sulfurous rotting eggs? If the pile is too damp or has become too compacted the result is a distinctive undesirable odor. If it’s been layered too tightly, simply turning the pile may alleviate the odorific problem. If it’s too wet, adding some carbonaceous materials and turning the pile will help give our compost heroes, the aerobic bacteria, a chance to breathe and thrive.

Happy Ending

Our bacterial heroes require a proper ratio of green/nitrogen-rich to brown/carbonaceous matter or N:C. This proportion can be anywhere from 50:50 to 20:80 depending on environmental conditions and how quickly you want your pile to become useable. Additionally, they are living organisms and require a balance of air and water which you’ll achieve by turning the pile (aeration) and occasionally watering it if it becomes too dry. Ultimately, your compost pile should look like dirt when it’s done, with an earthy smell (not like decayed, rotted food) and you shouldn’t be able to recognize any of the matter you added to it earlier.

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Did you know?

The rapid composting method, also known as the Berkeley Method, can effectively create compost in as little as 14 days!

Did you know there is a difference between soil and dirt? Soil is nutrient-rich because it contains microorganisms, decaying organic matter, earthworms and other helpful insects. Dirt lacks all of those nourishing and living things. Even earthworms will not thrive in dirt—composting to the rescue! You can turn your dirt into soil with these composting steps.

What is Compost?

Compost is a mixture of decaying organic material that helps to fertilize soil. At its simplest form, you can easily make compost by taking your vegetable-based kitchen scraps and yard waste like leaves and grass, putting them in a pile, and letting nature decompose it into nutrient-rich fertilizer for your house plants, garden or plants in your yard.

1. Pile vs. Bin

Decide whether you’re a super-DIYer and want to build a place for a compost pile in your yard or you’d rather use a bin. There are loads of simple plans for containing a compost pile online as well as various types of compost bins. Choose whichever best suits you.

2. Placement

You’ll want to find a spot in your yard to place your composting bin or pile. Ideally, this spot is not too sunny and easy to access from your kitchen. (The easier it is, the more apt you’ll be to continue your new composting routine!)

3. Save up Stuff

You’ve got your bin or pile space all situated and ready to go, now’s the time to rake your yard for dried leaves to use as the base of your pile. You’ll also want to start saving kitchen scraps of veggies and fruits. (Remember, no animal products can make their way into your compost pile!)

4. Layering

Ideally, you’ll want to have about three times as much dried matter to the wetter fruit and veggie scraps from your kitchen. Put down the dried matter first, then add your kitchen scraps on top. Add a layer of soil and a little water to moisten and there you have it—your beginning compost pile!

5. Turning

You’ll need to turn your compost from time to time. Also, if it is dry, give it a little water. If it smells, it has too much water, add some crushed leaves (not more kitchen scraps), turn it and that should do the trick! If it’s really dry, it needs to be turned and watered, or add more fruit and vegetable scraps.

6. Ready to Use

You’ll know your compost is ready to use when it looks like dark rich soil. Add it to your houseplants or garden—they’ll love you and so will the environment! Tip: Crushing or shredding your dried yard leaves and cutting your kitchen scraps into smaller pieces will help your compost turn into usable compost more quickly.

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Did you know?

Crushed egg shells are the only exception to the no-animal products rule in composting. Including them in your compost pile adds calcium—an important nutrient in helping plants build cell walls!

The Why

Nourishing to your plants, the environment and even your own wellbeing, composting is a pretty easy and straightforward endeavor. The EPA reports food and yard waste make up 20–30% of what we throw away. When those food and yard scraps make their way into the landfill, they break down anaerobically (without oxygen) and release methane. The less of this greenhouse gas we are able to produce, the better for the environment. Knowing you’re making a difference by utilizing those scraps to feed your plants and help the environment is good for you too!

Compost Video

Video Description: Creating & maintaining a compost pile is easy, here’s the 411 on how you can get started!

What If You Don’t Garden?

Even if you don’t garden in what you might think of as the traditional sense by growing your own fruits and vegetables, you might have a yard full of plants that could benefit from the extra nutrients in your DIY soil. Even without a yard, there are still plenty of things to do with your compost. If you have houseplants, they’ll benefit from the extra nutrients. Local schools may have garden programs and would welcome compost, likewise for community or urban gardens in your neighborhood. If you like the idea of composting but don’t have space to dedicate to it, look for a curbside composting service in your area. These kinds of services usually provide the bins and all the education you’ll need to get composting quickly!

How to Get Started Composting

You can learn how to start composting in our article Composting: How-to Basics. You’ll find even more details and helpful tips in our article Composting Cast of Characters.

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Did you know?

Methane gas is 30 times more potent than CO₂ (carbon dioxide), another greenhouse gas.