How to Compost for Dummies
It took me over 8 months to figure out how to get my compost to break down well and not smell like moldy, rotten food. "It's just a phase," I told myself while I scrubbed the smell off my arms. Now, it's one of my favorite hobbies: from collecting scraps after cooking to scouring the block for more leaves, composting has become an activity that gets me outdoors and helps me understand the cyclical nature of organic material.
Prep:
Columbus had a rebate deal where I could send in my receipt for a compost bin and they sent me $50 back (through the Soil and Water Conservation bureau). I'd definitely recommend using their program to save money! If you don't have outdoor space (or well ventilated outdoor space) it might be easier to join a local composting program like The Compost Exchange.
This is the bin I have. I set it up on a small slab of concrete on the side of my house. I definitely recommend having a hard, flat surface below; rainwater/tea/coffee/mush may leak out a bit, so it's nice to have a surface you can see and spray off with a hose periodically.
Materials:
The key with compost is a balance between greens & browns, which is a balance between carbon and nitrogen. Greens = food waste, browns = leaves, newspaper, cardboard, etc. I typically have too much green stuff, so I use toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, printer paper, my neighbor's leaves to balance it out. DON'T use weeds! They'll just break down into the compost and when you use it in the yard/garden the weeds will spread.
Make sure you remove stickers from fruit & veggies! There are some compostable things that don't break down well in a backyard compost bin, so be a bit wary of things like bamboo toothbrushes and certain plastics that say "compostable." I've noticed avocado pits and eggshells take the longest to break down so far.
*A more detailed list of compostable (and not so compostable) materials is below*
Mixing it up:
Spin that puppy every time you add more to it! When I'm feeling too lazy to deliver scraps to the bin I just collect the leftover pieces in a bowl or a small craft bin and then take them out 2x/week. I spin him around and let him sit. I don't add water because my pile is usually super moist from the fruits/veggies/loose leaf tea/coffee grounds.
It will probably smell icky at first– I add handfuls of dirt to absorb up the smell. Also, bugs will pop up out of nowhere, which is SUPER cool. They're breaking things down so if you see big worms and stuff just say what's up. Maggots/flies aren't as great—when I see them I add more dry stuff.
Soil!
To break compost down quickly, it needs to be warm. I've noticed Sept-Nov is a sweet spot where mine breaks down at a good pace. Eventually, I have to hold off on adding scraps into the bin so the current pile can get to the point where it becomes soil. It starts to smell clean, which always amazes me.
Once it's at this point I give it ~1 week to settle and then I scoop it into a 5 gallon pail. At that point, you can spread it on your lawn, use it in a garden, or do whatever! I don't add it to many houseplants because it's better for enriching soil deeper down. If I'm repotting anything I'll mix it in; I just don't pat it on top of a succulent.