What is composting?

Composting is a natural process that is used to recycle organic materials like vegetable scraps and leaves into rich soil nutrients known as compost. The rich soil nutrients in compost boost soil microbes to aid healthy plant growth. Due to its rich soil changes, gardeners have nicknamed it black gold. This is because ready compost resembles dark brown soil that is crumbly and smells like forest floor. Through composting, you return nutrients to the soil, and their life cycle continues.

How to make compost

A compost pile takes care of itself. Therefore, if you build it right, it will change your growing expectations. Here is how to do it right.

Get a compost bin: there are two types of compost bins; rotating and stationary bins. You can choose either. All you need is a place to hold the ingredients together so that the bacteria can break down plants matter for effective results. However, in both cases, the content must often be turned to mix the decaying matter and provide oxygen. Stationary bins must be well ventilated and located in a sunny location. Rotating bins offer frequent oxygen infusions and heat retention to speed up the process.

Mix the ingredients right: there are different types of compost piles. A low maintenance pile contains a combination of brown and green plant matter and a little moisture to keep the beneficial bacteria active. Brown matter can be derived from wood chips, dry leaves, and shredded newspapers while the green matter is derived from grass clippings and kitchen wastes. Dairy products, meat, and fish are ideal for outdoor compost bins because they attract pests such as; dogs, raccoons, and mice. When using a simple container as the compost bin, place woody stems and small branches at the bottom for airflow. Additionally, each time you add green matter ensures that you add brown matter as well to maintain balance. Add materials regularly to provide foods for the bacteria as well as provide enough insulation to maintain warmth. Always turn the compost pile with a pitchfork once a week.

Benefits of composting

• Composting reduces garbage in your home meaning that, you will pay less garbage bills if any. This is ideal for people who pay extra to dispose of compostable waste materials.

• Compost builds the soil’s structure. It binds soil particles to provide good soil structure that contains air pores, nutrients, and moisture. It improves porosity and drainage in clay soils. It alters soil structure to prevent erosion. Also, it makes any soil workable.

• Well formulated compost contains a good balance of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous among other beneficial microorganisms. This means that you boost your soil structure without using artificial inputs like fertilizers.

• Healthy organic soils produced nutritional vegetables and fruits. Therefore, you also save money that you could have used to buy vegetables and fruits.

• Compost triggers water retention in soils. This translates to less watering and lower water bills.

Compost is the best ingredient for building soil fertility. Thus, if everyone focused on composting their garden and kitchen waste, the world would be cleaner and more productive.