Curious about Compost?

Using compost or making compost is one of the simplest ways to help the environment sustain.

Why compost?

Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow, it is a natural fertilizer, and it reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. It helps to enrich soil by retaining moisture, suppressing plant diseases and pests, all while encouraging the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create a nutrient full medium called humus. Food waste is mostly compostable and this waste accounts for 30% of our trash. I argue that it’s not trash, food scraps have value as compost.

How to compost

There are three ingredients for compost.

• Greens (vegetables, food scraps, coffee grounds, grass clippings, etc).
• Brown (leaves, wood chips, twigs).
• Water.

First you find a shady, dry spot, for your pile of compost. You mix green and brown ingredients in equal proportions and then water the pile thoroughly. As you add green material to the mix, bury them with around 10” of brown material. The pile can be continuously composted like this for years, harvesting the bottom rich brown layer of fresh compost on the bottom of the pile.

Here are some great resources for getting started composting.

• https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home#benefits
• Cornell Waste Management Institute's Small Scale Composting
• Find a Composter
• U.S. Department of Agriculture Backyard Composting Tip Sheet

The information from this post was sourced from epa.gov