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Compost Piles for Beginners
by Ben Joseph
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Overview
Compost is a powerful natural fertilizer that you can use to improve the health of your garden plants. Creating a compost pile allows you to convert organic waste from house and garden into nutrient rich compost. If you are a beginner at composting, you can start with a small pile which will take around six months to completely turn to compost.
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Creating a Compost Bin
Compost piles do not need bins to work, but a compost bin will keep the compost from spreading in wind and rain. You can purchase bins at some gardening supply stores, or build a simple square bin on your own. To build your own bin, you will need four sheets of plastic or metal to use as the walls of the bin. Do not use wood, because the chemical reactions in the compost bin will decompose the wood. Each sheet should be approximately 4 feet by 4 feet long. This will make the bin large enough to stimulate decomposition, but small enough that you can easily manage your pile. Place the sheets a few inches deep in the ground for support, and nail or bolt them to each other at the corners.
An alternative to creating a bin is to dig a hole in the ground for your compost pile. Use the same dimensions as the bin. Before digging, check with your local utility company to ensure that no plumbing or electricity cables run through your intended compost area.
After you have constructed a bin or dug a hole, purchase a compost thermometer and place in in the middle of the compost area. The chemical reactions causing decomposition should raise the temperature to between 110 and 160 degrees F. You can use the thermometer to check whether decomposition is occurring.
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Layering Compost
There are three main elements added to a compost pile in order to create fast decomposition: organic waste, fertilizer, and soil. Your compost pile will be most effective if you alternate layers of each of these materials.
For the first layer, add organic waste. This is the bulk of what forms the compost, and should be added in a layers about four times larger than the fertilizer and soil layers. You can use food remains from your home, cuttings from your garden, mown grass, and leaves for this layer.
Add fertilizer for the second layer. The best fertilizer to use is animal manure. Use manure from chickens and cows to get the healthiest compost. Pig manure and manure from household pets generally contains diseases which may not be destroyed in composting. If you do not have manure available, you can purchase a composting fertilizer from a garden supply store.
For the final layer, add soil. Most soils will work, but avoid soils that have been sprayed with insecticides.
After layering the compost pile, add water until the pile becomes damp. Each month, use a pitchfork to mix the compost pile. Re-dampen the pile as needed.
If your thermometer ever reads under 110 degrees Fahrenheit, add more water to speed up the chemical reactions. If it ever reads over 160 degrees Fahrenheit, mix the pile to increase air flow.
You can continue to add to the compost pile after decomposition begins to take place, but you will need to mix and water the pile with each addition.
