Creating compost is an easy procedure where the organic matter is converted into rich soil for your vegetable garden. Follow these easy steps to create your own compost and supplement your vegetable garden:
What Can I Compost?
Any organic matter can be turned to compost. This includes all your fruits and vegetable wastes, cooked or uncooked grains, tea bags; products made from flour, coffee grounds and crushed shells of egg. In short, any type of living thing can be turned to compost.
However, there are certain things that should be avoided for forming compost. These include waste of meat and fish, dairy products, animal bi-products and woody plants. These waste product takes a lot of time to decompose, attracts fruit flies, maggots and other scavenging animals, thus make your compost-bin smell bad.
Where to Start Making a Compost?
There are several bins available in market for composting process. Nonetheless, it is not obligatory to create compost in a bin as you can just build a heap and keep it covered. But, compost bins or containers look neater and are easily manageable. Your compost bin should be covered with a lid and completely insulated with straw or cardboard. It should be located in sunlight or partially-shaded place; and away from water resources.
The best way to create compost is to make layers of the organic wastes while adding it into your compost bin. Collect enough organic waste materials and make a layer of at least 6 inches in the compost bin. Also, try to create the next layer of different material to the last layer. This would accelerate the process of decay, and you will have your compost ready very quickly.
Ideal Ratio of Green and Brown Material
You will require two vital ingredients for making compost including Green Material and Brown Material.
Green Material: Green materials are nitrogen rich ingredients that rot quickly. These are generally peelings of vegetables, fruit cores, coffee grounds, green pruning, tea bags, and animal/poultry manure.
Brown Material: Brown materials are carbon rich ingredients that take time to decay. Some of the ingredients that fall in this category are shredded paper, cereal boxes, newspaper, wood shavings; saw dust, straw and small branches of tree. An ideal compost mix contains approximately 50% green material and 50% brown material.
Maintaining Correct Level of Moisture
Compost also requires right amount of water for decaying. Thus, it is significant to maintain the level of moisture in your compost. It should have an ideal moisture level to keep the compost heap hot.
The excess level of moisture makes the compost smelly and wet. Too less moisture level decreases the decay rate and prevents the pile from heating up. If your compost pile becomes hot in the middle, it indicates that the moisture level in the compost is right. You can control your composting by adding more brown material if your compost is wet; and adding more green material when your compost is dry.
Mix Your Compost
You may also want to shovel your pile at least once a week to get things moving. Turing the pile exposes the fresh compost towards the outside and speeds up the process by increasing the anaerobic activities of the beneficial organisms.
Using Your Compost
If you follow the above steps of composting by adding right amount of organic wastes, providing ideal moisture; and turning your compost regularly, you will have your compost ready within two months. You can now use your finished compost in your vegetable garden. You can use it generously as the surface mulch on the soil where you are going to start plantation.
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