All You Need To Know To Compost In Your Back Yard
8 photos
First, pick your compost bin. With an outdoor compost bin, you have a few more options than indoors. You can construct your own in various styles with wood (a bench or a more standard box, for example), buy a plastic bin or even a metal one. The amount of space you have available could very well influence your decision. The plastic or metal bins include a longer lifespan (wood deteriorates over time), assembly is easy/non-existent, they're relatively inexpensive. <br>This is the Garden Gourmet.
The Lower East Side Ecology Center has <a href="http://www.lesecologycenter.org/index.php/products/outdoorbins.html">two bins</a> available—the Garden Gourmet ($65) and the metal can ($23). The metal can is smaller (and uglier), but it's more difficult to harvest your compost. Bins are available at reduced prices from each <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/compost/edu_equip_order.shtml">NYC Compost Project</a> location. The metal can is the most rodent resistant of the bunch.
Once you have your bin selected, you have to find a place to put it. You can put it in either the sun or the shade and placing your new bin on the soil is better than concrete as it may stain the concrete. There's no need for worms since they'll likely find the bin themselves and other organisms will be doing a lot of the decomposing work. Just make sure it's in a convenient location that you can access regularly. <br>This compost bin has a nice brown layer on top.
Now that you're all set up, it's time to add your materials! The list of things you can/can't compost is the same as indoor composting, but basically you don't want to add any meat/fish/fats to your compost at all—this will attract unwanted pests! Start with your leaves/browns on the bottom and when you start adding your greens, just cover them up with another layer of browns. This will help eliminate odor, control flies and control moisture levels.
As your pile is working away, you'll need to check moisture levels. Keeping your browns-to-greens ratio even helps ensure the best moisture levels for your compost. Generally, adding water to the compost bin is unnecessary if you're adding food waste, like greens—this should add enough water.
If you find that your bin smells of sulfuric or ammoniac compounds (think rotten eggs or swamp) when you mix your compost pile, you can dry it out by uncovering the bin and letting the sun dry the contents out or by adding more browns! <br>A nice pile of leaves collected in the Fall is a great source of brown material for your compost bin.
You should also mix your compost pile regularly—once a week, which shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes at a time for smaller bins. But the more you mix, the more oxygen your're adding and the faster your pile will break down.
Once you're ready to harvest (as fast as three months or up to a year), you can do the same baggie test as you would use with the worm bin. Take compost from the bottom, place it in a bag for two days and then take a whiff! If it smells bad/like rotting, your compost needs more time. If it smells earthy, then your compost is done! What can you do with your finished compost? You can fertilize your indoor plants, mix it with potting soil or mix it with soil you're using outside.