If you love making your kitchen a more sustainable place, self-composting may be an exciting opportunity for you. Backyards can be a great place to turn the scraps from your table into nutrient-rich soil that can then feed your garden and bring about a new bounty of vegetables, fruits, or flowers.
However, backyard composting takes care and attention, so here are a few things to consider before you dive in.
Outdoor composting requires a certain amount of space. The City of Seattle recommends a 3x3 foot bin for yard waste and a 2x4x1.5 foot bin for the food waste of a two to four person household. You’ll also want to put your compost away from the house in a flat and shady location.
If you don’t have outdoor space, as is often the case with apartment renters, there are special bins you can buy to make compost indoors. Worms and microbes help compost food scraps through two methods of composting: aerobic and vermicomposting. You can learn more about how to set up indoor composting from Bob Vila.
When composting, you’ll want to include three ingredients: green ingredients, brown ingredients, and water. Green ingredients are grass clippings, fruit and vegetable waste, and coffee grounds. Brown ingredients are twigs, dead leaves, and branches. Having equal parts green and brown ingredients provides a healthy mix of carbon and nitrogen, the Environmental Protection Agency reports.
Remember that not everything from your kitchen can be composted. While you can include things like vegetable and fruit scraps and soiled paper, you can’t include meat, dairy, or any other animal products, as these can attract rodents and cause disease. Keep a list handy of what materials can or cannot be used, or learn more from the City of Seattle.
As you add your new, dry materials to the pile, also add water to keep it moist. Some people place tarps on top of the pile to maintain moisture.
Having food in your backyard may attract critters you don’t want near your home, such as rats or mice eager for a snack. You can address this by using a rodent-proof bin to compost your food scraps, or by burying your food scraps under at least 10 inches of soil. Avoid composting meats or dairy products that are more likely to attract rats and mice.
Compost can be ready anytime from a few months to a few years. Be on the lookout for a dark colored mixture and an earthy smell. Spread your fresh compost across your plants and reap the benefits of this natural, earth-friendly fertilizer!
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