Composting For Dummies

Back-to-basics gardening that will benefit the earth and your wallet! Want to use ordinary waste to create an extraordinary garden? Composting lets you turn household food waste, yard clippings, and more into free compost and mulch that's chock-full of nutrients. From building and working with traditional compost bins to starting an indoor worm-composting operation, Composting For Dummies makes these often intimidating projects easy, fun, and accessible for anyone! Digging into compost basics — get a handle on the benefits of composting and the tools you'll need to get started Choosing the best method and location — find the best composting method and location that's right for you, whether it's above ground, in a hole, in a container or bin, or even right in your kitchen Building your pile — learn which ingredients can go into your compost pile, what stays out, and how to mix it all up in the right proportions Stepping beyond traditional composting — get the lowdown on vermicomposting (letting worms eat your garbage), growing green manures to compost later, and sheet composting in the same spot you plan to plant Open the book and find: A step-by-step guide to composting The right gear and tools for the job Tips on constructing your own composting containers and bins Materials you can safely compost (and those to avoid) Cover crops to improve your soil now and compost later Recommendations for using your finished compost What worms contribute to your compost Troubleshooting advice if your compost pile isn't cooperating Learn to: Turn household food waste, yard clippings, and more into nutrient-rich compost Build and maintain your own compost bin Use worms to aid in composting, both indoors and out Give your vegetable and flower gardens a boost of energy

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 1 What You’re Not to Read 2 Foolish Assumptions 2 How This Book is Organized 3 Part I: Composting Basics 3 Part II: Selecting a Home and Method for Your Compost 3 Part III: Compost Happens 3 Part IV: Expanding Your Compost Horizons 3 Part V: The Part of Tens 4 Icons Used in This Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4 Part I: Composting Basics 5 Chapter 1: Digging into Compost 7 Welcome to the World of Compost 7 What compost is 7 What tools and equipment you need 8 How composting works 8 You Can Do It! Home Composting Made Easy 9 Some like it hot! 9 Cool customers 9 Reaping the Rewards of Composting 10 A healthier, more prolific garden 10 A healthier community and planet 11 Chapter 2: Tools of the Trade 15 Protecting Yourself from the Elements: Safety Gear 15 Getting a good pair of gloves 15 Shielding your eyes 16 Donning a dust mask 17 Blocking harmful rays with a hat and sunscreen 17 Choosing the Right Tools and Equipment for the Job 18 Mixing things up with a pitchfork or compost fork 18 Digging in with a soil fork 18 Getting the lowdown on shovels and spades 19 Investing in a good-quality hose 20 Moving compost in buckets or tarps 21 Hauling compost with wheelbarrows or garden carts 21 Additional Gadgets and Tools for the Enthusiastic Composter 22 Testing your compost’s temperature 23 Aerating your compost 23 Considering chopping tools 23 Tool-Buying Tips 25 How does it feel? 25 How’s it made? 25 Showing Your Tools Some TLC 26 Giving everything a quick cleaning 27 Maintaining wooden handles 27 Chapter 3: The Decomposition Process 29 Decomp 101: How Rotting Works 29 Going to pieces: The physical breakup 30 Freeing the nutrients: The chemical breakdown 30 Maintaining balance through the food web 30 Who’s Doing the Hard Work? 32 Counting on chemical decomposers 32 Profiting from physical decomposers 34 Creating a Productive Work Environment 38 Rationing the carbons and nitrogens 38 Sizing down particles 39 Managing moisture and air 39 Tuning the temperature 41 Part II: Selecting a Home and Method for Your Compost 45 Chapter 4: Composting Aboveground or Underground: No Bin Required 47 Composting Without a Container 47 An Issue of Air: Aerobic versus Anaerobic Composting 49 Aerobic composting: Keeping everything aboveground 49 Anaerobic decomposition: Working without air underground 51 Creating a Pile Aboveground 52 Where to site the pile 53 Aboveground composting in a few simple steps 53 When your compost will be ready to use 54 Digging a Hole (Pit or Trench Composting) 55 Where to site the hole 55 Pit composting in a few simple steps 55 When your compost will be ready to use 57 Keeping Your Binless Compost Critter-Free 58 Chapter 5: Working with Compost Containers 59 Composting in a Container (Or Two or Three) 59 When using containers is best 60 Sorting out your composting style 61 Checking Out Your Options 62 Taking a turn with tumblers 62 Bins of all types 64 Kitchen composters 67 Keeping Wildlife Out of Your Container 71 Eliminating enticing ingredients 72 Using bin characteristics to exclude creatures 72 Bugs, ants, and flies, oh my! 73 Shopping for a Composter: A Buyer’s Guide 74 Chapter 6: Erecting Your Own Compost Containers 77 Transforming Recycled Items into Inexpensive Containers 78 Wood shipping pallets 78 Recycled garbage can 80 Building Bins with Wire, Bales, or Wood 81 Hardware cloth circular wire bin 82 Poultry wire circular bin 85 Straw-bale bin 86 Wood and wire three-bin composter 90 Part III: Compost Happens 95 Chapter 7: Selecting Your Ingredients 97 Getting Down with Browns: Carbon-Rich Ingredients 97 Dry leaves 98 Woody plant trimmings 99 Paper products 100 Straw 100 Pine needles 101 Sawdust 101 Greening It Up: Nitrogen-Rich Ingredients 101 Kitchen scraps 102 Grass clippings 102 Leafy plant trimmings, spent flowers, herbs, and vegetables 103 Weeds — foliage only! 103 Livestock manure 104 Pet bedding 105 Feathers 105 Hair and fur 105 Hay 106 Using the Right Ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen Ingredients 106 Knowing which Materials to Avoid 108 Getting Your Hands on Compostable Materials 110 Stockpiling your own organic matter 110 Rounding up free organic matter 111 Chapter 8: Mixing Up a Batch: A Step-by-Step Guide 113 Deciding on Location 113 Choosing a convenient site 114 Climate considerations 115 Creating Your Pile 116 Finding the pile size that’s just right 116 To chop or not to chop: Adding small or large chunks 117 Aerating made easy 118 Piling on the layers — and watering as you work 119 Tending to the Compost Pile 120 Turning your compost pile 122 Adding water 122 When is It Finished — And Why Does It Matter? 123 Surveying Different Approaches to Making Compost 124 Basic compost for laid-back gardeners 124 Speedier compost 125 Compost for Type-A personalities 126 A fine three-bin compost 129 Compost smoothie, anyone? 130 Chapter 9: Using Your Finished Compost 131 Enriching Vegetable and Flower Beds 131 Knowing how often to add compost to garden beds 132 Figuring out how much compost is enough on beds 133 Using Compost to Mulch Landscape Plants and Trees 134 Top-Dressing Lawns 136 Screening Compost for Containers 138 Making a compost screen 138 Screening small and large amounts of compost 140 Using screened compost in container plantings 140 Finding Other Uses for Finished Compost 141 Brewing (and using) compost tea 141 Growing plants directly on the pile 143 Combining Homemade with Store-Bought Compost 143 Purchasing bags of compost 144 Buying in bulk 145 Part IV: Expanding Your Compost Horizons 147 Chapter 10: Working with Worms 149 Vermicomposting in a Nutshell 150 Meet the Squirmy Stars of the Show 151 Composting worm species 151 Obtaining composting worms 151 Hooking Up the Housing and Bedding 152 How much room do your worms need? 152 Building your own worm abode 153 Opting for a manufactured worm bin 155 Making the bed 156 Introducing worms to their new home 157 Chow Time! Feeding Your Worms 157 What’s on the menu 157 To chop or not to chop (again) 158 Maintaining Your Worms’ Comfort Zone 158 Light 159 Temperature 159 Moisture 159 Breathing room 159 pH levels 160 Tackling Problems with Your Worm Bin 160 Odor 161 Mites 161 Dying worms 161 What Worms Contribute to Your Compost: The Casting Call 162 Harvesting vermicompost 162 Using vermicompost 165 Chapter 11: Adding Cover Crops and Green Manures 167 Recognizing the Value of Cover Crops and Green Manures 167 Preventing erosion 168 Adding organic matter 168 Reducing soil compaction 169 Improving tilth 169 Creating and adding nitrogen 169 Feeding beneficial insects 169 Inhibiting weed growth 170 Surveying Your Cover Crop Choices 170 Legumes 171 Grasses 171 Other cover crops 172 Planting and Turning Over Cover Crops 172 Sowing seasons 172 Mixing your mature cover crop into the soil 173 To till or not to till 175 Chapter 12: Composting in Sheets 177 Sheet Composting: Read All About It 177 Pros and cons 177 Where and when to lay sheets of compost 179 Getting down to ingredients 179 Sheet Composting and Gardening in One Step 180 Building garden soil 181 Planting in sheet compost beds 182 Planting next year’s garden 182 Part V: The Part of Tens 183 Chapter 13: Ten Answers to Common Questions about Compost 185 What is Compost, Really? 185 What Are Browns and Greens? 185 Can I Compost All My Kitchen Scraps? What about Pet Waste? 186 Do I Have to Purchase a Container to Compost? 186 Do I Have to Turn Compost Regularly? 186 How Long before Organic Matter Becomes Compost? 187 How Do I Know When My Compost is Ready to Use? 187 Can’t I Just Send My Yard and Household Waste to a Landfill to Decompose? 188 Can I Compost in Winter? 188 Can I Use Compost instead of Fertilizer? 188 Chapter 14: Ten Tips for Troubleshooting Compost 189 Slow Decomposition 189 Hovering Swarms of Teeny Flies 190 Fat, White Grubs 190 Dead Vermicomposting Worms 191 Lots of Bugs Crawling About 191 Ammonia Odor 191 Rotten Egg Odor 191 Slurry-Like Compost 192 Eek! A Mouse in the Compost 192 Animals Scattering Compost 192 Index 193

About the Author :
Cathy Cromell is a Regional Reporter for the National Gardening Association. She is a certified Master Gardener, Master Composter, and Master Entomologist. The National Gardening Association is the leading garden-based educational nonprofit organization in the United States.