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Compost Frequently Asked Questions

Organic Gardening Simplified

Do I have to buy a compost bin?
Absolutely not. Nature has been making compost without bins since the origin of soil. You do not have to buy anything.

Introduction

Compost Bins

Ingredients (good and evil)

Further Info

INTRODUCTION

What is compost?

Compost is extra-rich fluffy dirt made of decomposed organic materials such as kitchen scraps and weeds. See our page: Compost Simplified.

What goes into compost?

Compost is made out of materials that used to be alive, such as kitchen scraps and weeds. Dirt and air also go into compost. Kitchen scraps include peels, vegetable trimmings, crushed egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds, and no-meat-no-sweet-no-grease leftovers. Usually the pile is made in layers of the different ingredients, because the different materials help each other decompose: a layer of yard trimmings, a layer of kitchen scraps, a layer of dirt, a layer of lawn trimmings, another layer of dirt, etc. Intersperse layers of
(a) dry vegetation
(b) soil
(c) green vegetation/kitchen waste.
Let the rain fall in, and in dry weather add enough water to keep the pile moist. You do not have to be exact about these layers; just pile on what you have, and work towards keeping a balance. Again, see our page: Compost Simplified for details.

Does it matter how I make compost?

As my expert-gardener mom used to say, "I don't know why people worry about how to make compost. Compost is going to happen. If you take organic materials (things that used to be alive) and mix them with dirt in a pile, and wait, they will turn into good rich soil. This is a basic law of Nature. You cannot stop compost from happening."

What is the recipe for balancing brown and green materials?

For the fastest breakdown and least smell, keep a balance of one part green materials to three parts brown materials. When you have about an inch-thick layer of kitchen scraps on your pile, add two or three inches of dirt/straw/dry weeds. Or just throw a shovel-full of brown materials on the pile whenever you empty your compost bowl.

Green materials = fresh grass clippings, kitchen scraps, green weeds and garden trimmings.
Brown materials = fallen leaves, dry weeds, shredded newspaper, nut shells, untreated wood chips or shavings, straw, and soil.

See the next question for more on layers.

What about layers?

The amount of time I spend worrying about layers is 0:00 seconds per year. Although most compost instructions tell you to make layers of alternating brown and green materials, never mind about that! Every day, empty your sink-side bowl of kitchen scraps onto the compost pile. When you do weeding, toss the weeds onto your pile. When you rake leaves, dump them on the pile (or make a separate pile for leaf mold). Once in a while, shovel some dirt onto the pile. Keeping a balance of different klinds of material is a good idea, but only abstractly. In real life, you put in what you have when you have it. In spring, you may put in many armloads of weeds. In fall, many armloads of leaves. As long as you are mixing SOMETHING in with your kitchen scraps, do not worry about layers.

How do I collect kitchen waste?

I keep an ordinary 2.5 quart mixing bowl near my kitchen garbage. I just put kitchen scraps into the compost bowl instead of into the garbage or garbage disposal. (In an ideal house, the garbage disposal would empty into the compost pile.) About once a day, I take the bowl out to the yard, empty it onto the compost pile, and then maybe throw some dirt on top of it. Near the compost pile, I have a pile of loose dirt. The only important feature of the compost-collecting container is that it be open to the air. A closed container will stink. Too many compost-collecting containers have lids. Just use an ordinary bowl.

Is the compost going to smell?

A good compost pile does not smell much. You can have it near your house and as close as ten feet from your patio area. In order not to smell bad, compost needs three things: dirt, brown yard waste (such as fallen leaves or dry weeds), and air. See recipe above. Microorganisms in dirt eat kitchen garbage scraps and break them down into compost. Without the microorganisms in dirt, compost just rots in a stinky way. With the dirt, the compost decomposes into beautiful earthy-smelling, fluffy dirt. Another essential ingredient of compost is brown yard waste, such as dried leaves or dried weeds. The third anti-stink ingredient is air. The kitchen garbage scraps need to be oxidized. If you want to make your compost really stink, try enclosing it in an air-tight plastic container. Ugh!

Do I have to turn the compost?

No. I almost never turn mine, except to fork the spread-out edges back onto the top. If you do turn yours, use a garden fork; it goes into the pile more easily than a shovel. A pitch fork is too fragile, you need a solid garden fork. A turned pile does decompose faster, but what is the rush?

Are there two kinds of compost?

Yes, hot compost and relaxed compost. Hot compost can get quite hot to the touch, and decomposes quickly. Relaxed compost gets warm but not too hot for worms to live in it. Hot compost is more difficult to make: you need a bin or pile at least one cubic yard (that is, at least three feet long on each side) and you need to be careful to add three parts of dry-brown ingredients, such as dried weeds or leaves, for each part of green ingredients. See recipe above. Also, fresh manure usually makes a compost pile hot. Choose hot compost if you do not mind adding manure, and if you are in a hurry. Relaxed compost is easier. You can leave out the manure, and just add stuff as you have it.

What is compost good for?

Compost is good for improving any garden soil or potting medium. Compost is nature-made dirt. It has a fluffy consistency which is is good for root growth. It is full of nutrients that plants need to grow. Composting will help your garden.

Can I use compost for potted plants?

Yes. I trowel compost from my done pile straight into my pots. I fill the pot with compost. Pure compost is my potting mix.

Should I put compost on my lawn?

Gardeners usually do not put compost on top of established lawns because that would be like piling dirt on your lawn, but compost dug into the ground before you plant a lawn is a good idea.

Should I compost if beginning a garden for the first time?

Yes, do make a compost pile if beginning a garden for the first time; you will have better results. See next question.

How long does it take to get compost?

A compost pile usually takes at least three months to break down. A relaxed pile may take six months. You may need to buy compost if you are ready to start gardening and your compost is not ready.

COMPOST BINS

Do I have to buy a compost bin?

Absolutely not. Nature has been making compost without bins since the origin of soil. You do not have to buy anything except a shovel to be an organic gardener.

Can I just pile the compost on the ground?

Oh yes, that is what I do. After all, it is a compost pile. I just have compost areas in my garden; I pile my compost there. I have three piles:

New Pile -- where I put compost ingredients
Resting Pile -- which I leave alone for a few months
Ready Pile -- where I get compost for my garden

Anything I am putting into the compost, I add to the New Pile. I let the Resting Pile sit for a few months. When the Resting Pile is ready to use--it mostly looks like dirt--it becomes the Ready Pile; The New Pile becomes the Resting Pile, left alone while it decomposes, and I start a New Pile.

All of my piles are a quick easy walk from the kitchen. In reality, I only have two areas; I start the New Pile right next to the Ready Pile. After more than four decades of doing this, I have the timing down so that I usually have a pile of compost ready.

If you need to isolate your compost from your dog or other creatures, you might want to enclose it with a wire mesh fence such as this one.

The Sassos, a famous gardening couple in Saratoga, California, have a hallway-sized area where they pile refuse from their numerous herb gardens. They start a pile at one end of the area. When the pile is three feet deep, they start a new pile right next to the first, and so forth, working their way down to the end of the area. As the first end becomes ready, they take the finished compost away to put on the garden.

I want to make a compost bin. Can you recommend a design?

As I said above, I just pile mine on the ground, but I have seen some very nice bins. Good bins feature the same idea: the over-all bin is separated into three side-by-side bins. You fill the first bin with compostable stuff, then let it sit and decompose while you fill up the second bin. By the time the second bin is full, the first is probably ready to use, and you start filling up the third while the second decomposes. Once you get going, you have three bins: one with nice fluffy done compost to use now, one in the process of decomposing, and one in the process of being filled up. Each bin is a cube at least three feet on each side. The bins are constructed out of lumber or discarded wooden palettes. Palettes can be connected to each other with nails or with wire wound around the joints. Some people cover the top of their bins, some don't. The back and sides and dividing walls are made out of wood with spaces in between for air, or wood frames with wire mesh. The fronts are made out of removable slats, for when you want to shovel the compost out, or just left open. See the video at lazycompost.com/index.shtml Here is an attempt to show what a three-bin composter looks like from the top:

Top view
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Another option that works well is to but two or three of these. They cost around $40 each.

Can I make the compost in a closed container?

No, no, no no, no. That's what makes compost stink--the lack of air. See Is the compost going to smell?. Many readers have written to me with this question; there seems to be an idea going around that enclosing compost in a plastic bin will contain the odor. But a good compost pile with air and dirt hardly smells at all, while an enclosed plastic container, when you open it to put in garbage, smells like dead monsters.

I really want to buy a bin. What do you recommend?

If you must buy a bin, buy one that is open to the air, made of wire mesh or something like that. But I still say you can just pile your compost on the ground. I guess a bin does have the advantage of being a little neater. Maybe whether or not to buy a bin depends on whether or not your compost area is visible from the rest of your yard, and whether or not you think a compost pile is attractive. See the video at lazycompost.com/index.shtml for a way to make an easy compost bin from a puppy fence.

INGREDIENTS

Can I put dog doo into the compost?

No. Dog doo (or doo from any meat eating animal such as rat or pig) contains pathogens that never decompose. Do NOT put dog doo in your compost. You can bury it under non-fruit-bearing trees, such as pine trees. Dog doo will decompose into dirt, and that dirt will be fertilizer; you just do not want to get it into your fruits or vegetables, and you do not want to be handling it, because microorganisms such as hookworms can get into your body through your skin. Do not put it in the flower bed either--you will be digging there. In other words, do put dog doo into the ground where it can decompose, but do not put it into your nice compost pile or in the garden. Put dog doo where you will not be digging in it and where you are not growing food.

Are grass clippings good in compost?

Yes, but not in one big mass. Grass clippings make excellent compost, but they tend to clump together and exclude air. Sprinkle them in shallow layers on your compost. If you have a small compost pile, make the grass-clipping layers two inches or less thick. In a big compost pile, grass layers can be three inches thick. Intersperse the grass layers with layers of dirt or kitchen waste. I just let my grass clippings fall behind the mower, to decompose and turn into nitrogen rich fertilizer. If I am expecting company, I rake up the clippings into a pile near the lawn. Eventually, they decompose. CAUTION: lawns are often treated with Weed and Feed or other broad-leaf weed killers. These poisons persist; they could kill your vegetable plants if the poison is in your compost. Therefore, use only your own unpoisoned lawn clippings (if you have a gardening service, find out what they use).

Are leaves good in compost?

Yes, leaves make great compost, but they do decompose slowly. A few thin layers of leaves help let air into your pile, and dried-brown leaves help keep your compost smelling OK. If you have a large number of leaves, you might want to make a separate pile just for leaves, and maybe lawn clippings. Let the pile decompose into leaf mold, nature's way of making new soil under trees. It may take years (the process is a somewhat different from the compost process, and slower). Patience. The result is a great soil amendment.

I have a pile of decomposing leaves, but mostly I rake my leaves from where they fall to under fruit trees, for a thick mulch. Some gardeners disagree with me and say you have to let them decompose first, then use them as mulch. I sweep the leaves on my deck onto the adjacent compost pile.

See 3-things-to-do-with-your-leaves

FURTHER INFO

How much compost will I get?

Oh, disappointing news: you only get about a third or a quarter of the amount of stuff you put on the pile. Compost BREAKS DOWN material--it gets smaller. Just add as much material as you can while you are making the compost.

When should I start a new pile?

When your pile is near 3 feet high, or when much of it has turned into compost. I rake the undecomposed stuff off of the top and onto a new pile, then turn over (with a shovel or garden fork) the almost-ready compost underneath.

Why would I want to make compost?

To help Mother Nature replenish the earth. Earth is another word for dirt. Our planet is the only known planet lucky enough to have dirt. Dirt is made out of things that used to be alive, mixed with bits of minerals. Nature breaks down formerly-living materials to make earth. You can help. You can be a part of the natural cycle of life on earth.
To improve your garden; compost makes the best possible garden soil; it is rich in humus (for better soil texture and water retention) rich in nutrients (for better growth) and fluffy (for better root growth).
To save money by not having to buy compost.
Organic gardening goes way beyond the growing of healthy food. By using compost, you improve the quality of your soil for anything you grow.

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