|
|
|
|
|
|
Composting - Helpful Hints |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recycling Department
2nd Floor Mayfield Annex
625 Walnut Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402
423-209-6480
FAX 423-209-6481
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
>> |
|
|
|
|
| Why consider backyard composting? |
Composting is nature’s way of recycling kitchen and yard waste into a dark,
earth-smelling soil conditioner.
Using this humus in your garden, flowerbeds or around trees and shrubs will
improve both the soil and the plants growing in it. |
| What materials can be composted? |
|
Leaves, lawn clipping, old hay, sawdust, straw, cornstalks, plants and plant
parts from vegetable gardens or flower beds can all be composted, other
things that can also be composted are cool ashes, eggshells, coffee grounds
and filters, fruit and vegetable scraps, newspaper, paper towels and napkins,
cardboard rolls from paper towels and toilet tissue. No deceased material
should be used in the compost pile or materials that have been sprayed with
weed killers. |
| Composting ………Easy as 1,2,3,!!!!!
|
-
Start the heap with about six inches of the coarsest raw organic material
you have, such as chopped brush. This allows air circulation in the bottom
of the pile.
-
Moisten with water; sprinkle with lime and cover with one-inch of garden
soil or manure.
-
Additional layers of plant material alternated with layers of soil or
manure can be added until the pile reaches the desired height. The
temperature in your compost pile will probably reach 140 to 160 degrees
F. within a week and begin to "settle." These are signs that your heap is
working well or "cooking".
|
| Kitchen scraps |
|
Kitchen scraps are ideal for your compost pile. Keep a covered bucket
or food container near the kitchen sink. Put in all vegetable scraps, fruit
remains. Breads, pastas, grains, coffee grounds and tea bags. Eggshells,
unless broken into small pieces, will take longer to break down, as well
as corncobs. It’s best to leave out meat, fish and bones to avoid the potential
of attracting unwanted animals, by shredding foods into small pieces, a
faster decomposition will occur. You can add wet paper towels and napkins
to the bucket.
|
| Additions |
|
Paper towels and paper
towel tubes, shredded paper, cardboard packaging and fireplace ashes can
also be added to your compost. It is best to recycle all the paper you can
with your local recycling program and then compost the non-recyclable and
soiled paper. |
| You can slow it but you can’t stop it.
|
If you ignore every tip and suggestion, your compost pile will shrink
and decompose over time. With a few basic techniques, your pile will decompose
a little faster. But no matter what you do, you cannot fail because compost
happens.
Caution is advised in composting the following plant
materials
When adding weeds, a hot compost pile of 140-150
degrees should be maintained for several days or 120 degrees for a longer
period to destroy the seeds. Pernicious weeds such as Bermuda grass and
oxalis may not be killed during composting and can re-sprout after the composting
is harvested. To avoid this, put them in a black plastic bag. And leave
it in the sun for several weeks, then chop the plants up place them in the
bin. |
Plants infected with a severe insect attack where eggs
could be preserved, or where the insects themselves could survive in spite
of the compost’s heat, should not be added.
Poisonous plants, such as oleander,
hemlock and castor bean can harm soil and should only be added in small quantities.
Ivy and succulents should be shredded or chopped up before composting,
or they may re-grow when the compost is used. If they do start to take root
and re-grow in your compost pile. Pull them out, solar dry them for a few
days, and then reload them onto the pile.
Fibrous plants like magnolia leaves
take a long time to break down; they compost better if they are chopped
up. |
| Plants and trees listed below are best composted
separately or added in small quantities: |
Caution is advised
with plants which have acids toxic to other plants and soil life. Such as
eucalyptus, bay laurel, walnut, juniper, acacia, and cypress.
Having a few
of these leaves in your compost pile will not harm the quality of your finished
compost, but a significant percentage will deter healthy plant growth.
Watch
out for plants which may be too acidic or contain substances that interfere
with the decomposition process, such as pine needles. Use no more than 10%
pine needles in your compost pile. Special compost piles are often made
of acidic materials, such as pine needles and leaves. This type of compost
will lower the soil’s PH and stimulate the acid loving plants like strawberries,
camellias, azaleas and gardenias. |
| Rodents, flies and odors |
In the
unlikely event that your pile does attract rodents, stop adding food scraps,
turn the pile and check with your hardware store for animal repellents.
As a preventative measure to avoid this, leave out meat scraps, fats and
cooking oils, sprinkling cayenne pepper liberally around the compost pile
should discourage rodents if they are a problem.
Small fruit flies are often
attracted to food scraps placed on the very top of a pile. Do not "dump
and run" when adding food scraps, instead bury them 6-12 inches below the
surface, or cover them with leaves, straw, woody materials or garden soil.
Another
concern is odor generation which is generally caused by having mostly "green"
and too little "browns" or by having large clumps of green inside a well-balance
green and brown pile, your solution is to generously add brown materials
such as leaves, straw, woody materials or dry grass. Thoroughly blending
your batch with a pitchfork also helps. |
| Hints for successful composting
|
-
Composting is a biological process. Bacteria are usually the first
to break down plant material, follow shortly by fungal and protozoan.
After a while, centipedes, millipedes, beetles and earthworms do their
parts. The more surface area the microorganisms have to work on, the
faster the materials decompose.
-
During the composting process, the compost pile should be turned
at least once. About 6 weeks after the pile is started.
-
A large compost pile will insulate itself and hold the heat better
than a smaller one. While piles larger than 5ft. cubed sometimes have
problems getting enough air, slowing down the composting process.
-
The material should be kept moist for the best results.
-
Compost is ready to use when it is dark brown, crumbly and earthy
smelling. Working a heaping handful into each square foot of turned
soil for gardening or use as mulch around trees and shrubs.
-
Some compositors place the finished compost into 2 or 3-inch high
piles for a few days, to allow any sow bugs, earwigs, etc. a chance
to migrate back to the unfinished compost pile and continue their work.
-
Another ideas to start a new pile in the late fall and cover your
first pile with a sheet of plastic, straw or other material. This allows
the compost to season until early spring when you’re ready to use it.
-
Once your compost is finished, you may wish to sift it to further
refine your working medium. This assists the growing process of root
vegetables, but is not required.
|
| How do I begin composting? |
|
Compost piles can be made with or without bins. Some people just
rake their yard trimmings into a pile and ignore them. In about two years,
the materials will have transformed itself into a rich soil amendment to
use in gardening and landscaping
|
| What are the advantages of bin composting?
|
|
A bin helps keep the pile orderly and makes it heat up
and decompose more rapidly. Bins for yard wastes can be constructed of wire,
cinder blocks, pallets or wood. A food waste composter is easily be made
form a trash can. Other types of bins include worm bins commercially produced
plastic and wooden bins, and trenches.People with a lot of time and raw
material sometimes create turning bins, a series of 3 or more bins that
allows compost to be made in a short time by turning the material on a regular
schedule. |
|
Source: Easy Backyard Composting sponsored by Chattanooga
Audubon Society and Hickory Valley Garden Club.
|
|
|