How to Compost at Home

One Man’s Trash Is Another Garden’s Treasure
By Kaaden Dull

Have you ever wanted your own pile of rotting dirt? Then you’re in luck, my friend! Composting is a great way to fertilize your garden and reduce your overall household waste and carbon footprint. It also keeps the soil healthy through better water retention, improved structure and boosted microbial activity. And it’s as simple as knowing what to toss in the pile and turning it every once in a while. Does the pile sound enticing yet?

Where’s Your Pile?

DIY Compost Bin

If you’re one of our “DIY all the time” folks, then making your own compost bin is probably the way to go for you. Get a garbage can with a lid and drill 6 to 9 rows of half-inch holes on each side. This will promote air circulation and drainage and make better compost. Your bin should be somewhere convenient so you actually use it. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the sun or shade so you can set up wherever’s easiest to access in your garden!

Outdoor Compost Piles

Think outside the box! Your compost pile can simply be on the ground. If that random space between the shed and the fence is just sitting there, go ahead and make it useful. Aim to have your pile be 4 feet wide, 4 feet long and 4 feet deep. This size retains heat that’ll help break down your scraps but it won’t be too big to manage. Also make sure you pull on any of our men’s work boots or women’s work boots to keep your feet out of the pile – unless you like decomposing dirt between your toes, I guess…

Small Space/Apartment Composting

If you live in a place that doesn’t have a yard but still want to reduce your organic waste, there are a couple ways you can go about it. One of which is a worm composter bin. You can find these little composting pets at your local bait shop. Make sure you ask for red wigglers as these worms tend to compost your scraps best – just don’t add meat, dairy or citrus peels. Keeping a good balance of carbon products, like newspapers and cardboard, is necessary to keep the balance as well. The worms like to be kept at room temperature so make sure this bin stays indoors – otherwise you’ll be sending your composting partners across the rainbow bridge.

There’s also bokashi composting, which seems almost too good to be true. You can add all your organic scraps – including meat and dairy – to this big bucket and pack it down. Add the activator mix that’s full of microbes and they’ll speed up your composting. No need to balance carbon and nitrogen.

A tip for mucking around: Suit up in some heavy duty work pants! Our work pants for men and our work pants for women come in any style for any composting task.

Community Compost Options

If there’s a community garden in your area, this could be a great option for your composting ventures. These spaces often have compost plots you can add to. So grab some men’s work gloves or women’s work gloves depending on your preference, make some new gardening friends and score some delicious produce along the way.

Into the Pile

What Can and Can’t Go in the Compost

Can!

There are lots of things to compost! But let's make sure they’re the right things. There are two types of materials in compost: green materials and brown materials. Green materials are fresh, wet plant materials – think fruit and veggie scraps, eggshells, grass clippings, coffee grounds, tea bags. Brown materials are dry, carbon-rich materials with no life in them, such as dead leaves, wood chips, straw, chopped-up twigs, dryer lint, paper towels or napkins. Keeping a ratio of 3 parts brown to 1 part green is the most efficient recipe for composting. Layering wet and dry materials is a good way to build it up – like a good earth lasagna.

Can’t!

Some scraps are good for no one. Unless you have an indoor compost that explicitly says you can put certain materials in, avoid these: pet waste, meat scraps, whole eggs, bones, dairy, fat, leftovers, oils, or diseased plant material and weeds. These items will slow decomposition and cause your compost to stink. Meat and dairy can also attract rats or other scavengers into your pile and garden.

Important to note! Some products that are labeled as “compostable” are not meant for home composting. Those products, such as bioplastic cups, compostable cutlery and straws, bioplastic trash and grocery bags, and waxy or plastic-lined coffee cups, will do better in industrial compost settings.

Stewarding Your Pile

The main thing you need to concern yourself with is turning over your compost. Mixing the pile once or twice a month adds air to the layers at the bottom, allowing it to decompose faster. You can use a pitchfork or compost aerator if you’re feeling fancy. The temperature of your compost is also important – keeping within the range of 110 to 145 degrees Fahrenheit will kill any lingering diseases that have stowed themselves away. However, too hot and you’ll kill your microbe employees. Add some more nitrogen-based scraps, like coffee grounds and paper filters, if you need to turn up the heat!

How to Use It?

The first step is to wait. Then wait some more. And then wait after that. Compost takes about 3 to 4 months to actually compost – and if you’re trying to start it in the colder months it’ll take a little longer. You’ll know when it’s ready when the junk you put in doesn’t look anything like what’s coming out. It should be dark crumbly brown and smell very earthy. Once you’re there, you can mix it into your garden beds and planters. You can even put mulch on top if you feel like dressing it up.

So suit up in your favorite Duluth gear and get composting!

Additional tip: Compost bin too full for veggie scraps? Put them in an “odds-and-ends” bag in your freezer! Once the bag fills up, you can boil them down into a broth for soups, stews and other cooking for extra flavor.