Through out time, composting has always been the preferred way of fertilizing gardens. Learning how to compost can be one of the best ways to save money on fertilizer. And you as well can eliminate waste that end up in landfills. You will know the compost is ready when it becomes dark and crumbly and the organic matter can not decompose any further. Compost will replenish lost nutrients in the soil, improve the plants, eliminate the use of chemical fertilizer, retain water better, and improve bad soil.

So what are the steps required to make your own compost? One simple way to remember how to make it can be like this, separate the material into two categories, browns and greens, mix two parts browns to one part greens.

The compost pile contains many micro organisms that will break down the organic matter and turn it into compost. For the micro organisms to do there job, you will need two parts of material that contains carbon, such as dry leaves, hay among many more other organic matter. Next one part green material which contains lots of nitrogen will be mixed with the brown material, material like grass clippings is one such material that is very rich in nitrogen, soon after you will have natural fertilizer that will contain lots of nutrients, these two materials once mixed will heat up the pile and make compost fast.

List Of The Brown Material To Add In The Pile:

Dried grass, leaves, branches and twigs that have been shredded, straw, newspaper

List Of The Green Material To Add In The Pile:

Grass, fruits and vegetables, green leaves, hedge trimmings, coffee grinds, tea bags

Material You Do NOT Want To Use:

Plants and weeds that have been treated with chemicals, plants with disease, weeds that carry seeds, pet feces, grains or breads, oil, grease|Plants with disease, dairy products, meat or fish, pet feces, cooking oil or grease, weeds carrying seeds.

The Best Compost Pile Size:

To make compost fast, composting will be completed quicker the smaller the material is. To cut tree branches and twigs smaller, use garden shears. Use a chipper shredder or lawn mower to shred leafs into smaller pieces.

The size of the pile should be about three to four feet in diameter, and about three feet high for faster composting. Why would the size of the compost pile matter? Because this is a great way to make the pile produce allot of heat and speed up the composting process. This is a good size to heat up the compost and it will be ready for use faster.

The Importance Of Air And Water

Like every living thing, water and air is required. In order for the micro organisms to live and strive, they will need air and water. Supply the composting material with water. Getting it wet as a wrung out sponge is ideal. You can give the material air by turning the pile, as well as making sure there is vent holes on your bin.