Even a composting neophyte can create top-notch compost with the right recipe. Half art and half science is composting, just as cooking is. Awareness of these basic factors will help you getting started.
Just as high quality ingredients are demanded by a chef, the best ingredients are also important for successful composting. Tea bags, coffee filters, grass clippings, leaves, plant stalks, hedge trimmings, old potting soil, twigs, and vegetable scraps are considered as good materials for composting. Bad composting materials include: diseased plants, weeds with seed heads, invasive weeds, pet feces, dead animals, bread and grains, meat or fish parts, dairy products, grease, cooking oil, or oily foods.
Microorganisms, water, air, organic materials, and a small quantity of nitrogen are needed to prepare compost. Organic material is what you are trying to decompose. Organic material is broken down by microorganisms which are tiny forms of plant or animal life. Adequate microorganisms are supplied by a small amount of garden soil or manure. Offering an encouraging environment for the microorganisms to produce your compost are the air, nitrogen, and water. With a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer, enough nitrogen can be added to the compost and this can be purchased at nurseries or hardware stores. Air is the one ingredient which you can't have too much of. Too much nitrogen can kill microbes; too much water causes insufficient air in the pile.
If there's more area for the microorganisms to feed off, then the decomposing of materials would be faster. Chopping your organic materials with a machete, or using a shredder or lawnmower to shred materials will help them break down faster.
The compost pile will then be your oven. Compost piles catch heat created by the activity of millions of microorganisms. The minimum size for hot, fast composting is a 3-foot by 3-foot by 3-foot. But piles wider or taller than 5 feet don't permit enough air to reach the microorganisms at the center.
Working their hardest when the materials have about the moistness of a sponge wrung out and as many air passages are your compost pile's microorganisms. The air in the pile is usually consumed faster than the moisture, so the pile should be turned or mixed up now and then to add more air; this maintains high temperatures and controls odor. To turn the materials, use a rake, pitchfork, or other garden tool.
About the author: Judith Cooper is an expert in cabin living and decorating. Looking for simple cabin beds for the guest bedrooms or a stately Aspen log bedroom suite for the master? These heirloom-quality log cabin furniture comes in many shapes, sizes and styles from simple clean peeled logs to rustic logs full of burls, gnarls and beetle tracks, to match any cabin d©cor.
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