If you’ve been yearning to start composting – this is the year to do it! Composting mimics nature’s recycling plan, only it does so on super-warp speed when done right.
A compost pile starts out as a diverse pile of “waste.” The easiest compost systems are simply left alone to decompose into rich, smelling garden amendment, while others require a little elbow grease. Two important ingredients to any composting system are aeration and moisture.
Sometimes heat can make sure that you get a composted soil that is rich with beneficial fungi, beneficial bacteria, and earthworms, as well as the enzymes and acids these life-forms release as they multiply. These soil nutrients can turn a half-dead garden plot into a Garden of Eden bursting with bumper crops.
Not only does adding organic composted soil to your garden help its water-retaining capacity, it also helps to build the immune system of your plants – making your favorite trees, vegetables, flowers, and fruit better able to respond to the challenges presented by a thriving ecosystem – including pesky insects and diseases.
It also removes trash that the municipal collection agencies would normally have to retrieve, and which would go to waste. Yard trimmings, such as leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, and brush, make up over 20% of a typical household’s solid waste.
Here are 7 great compost bins that are easy to set up today to start using your ‘waste’ to create your own nutrient-rich ‘black-gold’ soil to add to your gardens.
1. Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting recruits the help of worms to help aerate and prepare the soil for re-use. You’ll need to start by creating a worm bin. You can purchase one at a local gardening shop, online, or even make your own. Unlike regular garden earthworms, which just burrow in the soil, red wiggler worms (Eisenia fetida) act as nature’s recyclers, helping to decompose organic matter.
You can put onion skins, coffee grinds, carrot tops, and apple cores in your compost bin for red wigglers to decompose into great compost. Almost all organic kitchen scraps are good fodder for wigglers, as well as leaves and grass clippings from your yard.
2. Japanese Bokashi Composting
Although not traditionally used in the United States, Bokashi is an ancient practice of fermenting food waste by covering it with a mix of microorganisms that suppress odors and eventually creates rich, healthy organic compost. One of the many benefits of Bokashi is that when food scraps from your kitchen break down, they don’t smell. Unlike in other composting methods, you can even throw in scraps of meat and dairy products instead of just vegetable and fruit remains.
Japanese farmers have always covered food scraps in their rich, regional soil, which contains microorganisms that ferments the food. After a few weeks, they bury the waste. Two or three weeks later, it yields some amazing soil. No petrochemicals needed.
3. Rot-Resistant Cedar & Chicken Wire
Many people are hesitant to build a composting system because they are unsure of what materials to use. This is understandable, because some wood composting bins can rot when exposed to the weather. After all, the contents inside the bin are going to rot – but you don’t want the container to decompose as well.
Using chicken wire and cedar planks – your compost bin can create great soil and also stand the test of time. For various do-it-yourself plans using these simple materials, have a look here.
4. Grass-Clippings, Fall Leaves, and Wood Chip Composting
Composting involves using a variety of ingredients so that you have a healthy balance of organic ingredients. When considering compostable materials, you need to pay attention