Making and Managing your Compost
- Intro
- How to Begin and What to Add
- Making and Managing your Compost
- Troubleshooting and Composting in Alaska
- When is My Compost Finished, How Can I use it, Additional Resources
Once
you know what you can and cannot add to a compost
pile you can begin collecting scraps from your yard
or kitchen. During warmer temperatures you can
begin piling up your lawn clippings and brown materials
next to the compost pile until you are ready to add
them. As was mentioned before it might also
be helpful to build a bin with a few extra compartments
to store these materials or construct two other bins. If
you do not use all of your leaves and lawn clippings
they can be stored over the winter, some decomposition
will take place, but not a significant amount. In
your kitchen you can keep a small container or bucket
nearby to collect kitchen wastes and add it to your
pile periodically. It might be helpful to keep
a cover over the container so it won’t attract
fruit flies. Remember to always cover your added
kitchen wastes with 8” of other material so
you don’t attract critters.
Decide how active you want to be with your compost pile. If you’re eager to produce as much compost as possible you may want to manage your pile more closely, if your goal is to merely dispose of yard waste you can take a more passive approach.
Passive Approach:
For a passive approach add grass clippings, leaves,
and kitchen scraps, the pile will begin to shrink
quickly as the materials compress and decompose. Wait
a year or two before checking the bottom of the bin
for finished compost. When it’s ready,
shovel the bottom section into a wheelbarrow and add
it to your garden beds. Continue to add greens
and browns to have a good supply of finished compost. After
the first few years, most simple piles produce a few
cubic feet of finished compost yearly.
Active Approach:
For a higher managed approach if you use all the techniques of managing the pile you can get finished compost in 3 to 4 weeks. These techniques could include how you collect materials, whether you chop them up, and how you mix them together. Achieving a good balance of carbon and nitrogen is also important and can be easier if you build the pile all at once. You can add new materials as they become available on an ongoing basis to your already established pile. Some other techniques include:
AIR
Make sure that there are plenty of air passageways
into your compost pile 
by breaking up or mixing
in any ingredients that might mat down and exclude
air like green grass clippings or wet leaves. You
can also turn the pile to get air into it, which
means completely breaking it apart with a spade
or garden fork and then piling it back together
in a more fluffed up condition. Try to move
the material originally from the outside of the
pile to the inside of the pile, this will promote
aeration and uniform decomposition.
WATER
Ideally your pile should be as moist as a wrung out
sponge. If it is drier your composting might
be slowed, if it is a great deal wetter air will
not be able to get to the pile again slowing the
process and possibly causing odor problems. During
wet weather a tarp may help keep rain off and in
drier climates it may be necessary to water your
pile occasionally to maintain proper moisture. It
may also be helpful to moisten your dry ingredients
like straw or dried leaves before adding them. However,
be careful not to add soggy materials to your pile
like wet grass clippings.
TEMPERATURE
Temperature indicates the activity of the decomposition
process. Feel the pile if it is warm or hot
everything is fine. If it is the same temperature
as the outside air the microbial activity has slowed
and you need to add more nitrogen rich materials
or green materials. You can also use a compost
thermometer. Decomposition occurs most efficiently
when the temperature inside the pile is between
104 degrees F and 131 degrees F. It is best
to turn the pile when the temperature is below 104
degrees F or above 131 degrees F. Temperatures
above 131 degrees F can kill the decomposing microbes.
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