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Composting For Beginners

Do you want to begin composting at home but just don’t know where to start? Composting is one of the easiest things you could do, and it is also an incredible way to reduce the waste within your community – and it is good in your garden!

Don’t make composting more complicated than it needs to be. All you need to focus on is three easy questions: Where? What? And How?

Where-

Finding out where you should compost is probably the biggest roadblock when starting on this journey. You do not need a lot of space for this project, and if you have space for a container, you can use a small one that rotates. If you have a bigger space, you can always fence off a piece of land and make your pile there. To get a good compost you are going to want to turn the materials pretty regularly.

What-

Always remember when trying to figure out what to compost – if it comes from nature, it may be returned to nature. Produce waste, grass clippings, leaves, etc. are great for composting. Other materials that can be thrown into your compost pile are egg shells, espresso grounds, torn up newspaper, and brown paper bags. Magazines or anything with glossy advertisements do not compost well, so stay away from those. Paper from a paper shredder is great for compost and breaks down quickly too.

Do not add anything to your compost that is animal based – no dairy or meat. If you add yard clippings, try your best to not add weeds to your compost pile either – there is usually seeds that come along with them which will pass through your compost and develop into a future weed problem in the garden.

How-

The how is the easiest things about  composting. You pretty much can put all of your organic materials in the pile or bin and just let it go to work. You are going to want to turn the compost a few times a week by either rotating your bin or manually turning it with a compost fork. This mixes together the new material with the compost that’s started to decompose. Add a little water to keep it moist, but not soggy. Once your bin or pile is filled, or at capacity, it’s time to stop adding new material. This is when the magic happens – and you let the organic material that’s in the pile to finish composting. Some people have two composting piles or bins going, so when one is finished composting, the other one is ready to begin. When you remove the finished compost and find there are some large clumps of material that is not fully composted, just add those pieces to your next pile.

Composting is very simple but also extremely beneficial to the environment and your garden. By composting your waste at home, you are doing a great service to the earth and you’re reducing how much waste goes into landfills.

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