Do not add meat or diary products to your compost
Q.) I’d like to start composting but not sure where to begin.
A.) Composting couldn’t be easier. The basics of compost are plant wastes (leaves, twigs, grass), and kitchen scraps (vegetable and salad waste) Eggshells are a great addition too. These provide the carbon and nitrogen necessary for the decomposition process to occur. A simple pile of the above ingredients will get you started. An ideal size for a compost pile is 4 ft. by 4 ft. You also need to see that the pile gets adequate moisture, like a damp sponge, and that oxygen is getting to the middle of the pile. You can accomplish this by turning the pile every week or so.
Q.) Is there anything I should not add to my compost pile?
A.) From the kitchen don’t add meat (including bones) or dairy products. These will attract unwanted pest to your pile, and they can harbor bacteria and disease. I stick to the fruits and veggies, as well as the salad waste.
From the yard and garden, don’t add any plant material that is diseased. Disease pathogens can survive the composting process, only to spread problems to another area of your garden. Destroy diseased plants or discard separately and remove from the garden as soon as possible. I also do not add weeds to my compost pile if there is any chance they may have seeds forming. Weed seeds can persist for many years, and can easily remain viable in your compost. The obvious result is more weeds by far, then you thought you were getting rid of. Lastly, I do not include twigs thicker than a pencil. These will break down eventually, although too slowly for my taste.
Q.) I want to make a compost pile but I don’t know what I can add. Can you help me?
A.) Definitely! Do you know that about 80% of household waste can be added to your compost pile? Most items from the kitchen, as well as paper products like copier and fax paper, newspapers, and paper towel and tissue rolls can go. Most paper products today including glossy sections of the newspaper are made with soy based dyes, which are harmless for composting. Add anything from your kitchen meals, except for meat and dairy products.
From the yard, anything that was growing at one time will be fine, except for diseased plants. Remove these ASAP, and discard them away from your garden and compost pile. I also don’t like weeds, or twigs larger then a pencil to go in my piles. They will both compost, but I don’t have the patience for the twigs and limbs to break down, and I don’t want weed seeds to persist in my garden because the weed seeds may have survived the composting process. However, I do compost the larger branches and limbs in another way. If you have room, find a place where you can pile these in a hidden area of your yard. They will eventually break down, and in the process, they make a great wildlife habitat for all sorts or birds, and animals.
About Joe Lamp'l
Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Follow Joe on Twitter
our compost pile has plenty of worms but also about a trillion rolly-pollys. is that ok? if not what should we do about it?
Absolutely they are OK and if fact, very helpful as part of the soil food web helping to break down the organic matter. Please consider them as essential as the earth worms!
Hi Joe,
I have a question and perhaps a tip to offer. First, I recently bought an Amazon Basics high security shredder for $99 when my old one finally chewed it’s last sheet. It is phenomenal, creating tiny (like 4mm) nuggets of future black gold, handles up to 12 sheets, and is much quieter than my old one.
But the kicker is this thing is so powerful it shreds cardboard like a champ! Compost pile #1 is now four feet tall, and a mix of lawn clippings (‘dusted’ in layers between carbon material), food waste, and lots of these tiny nuggets of future gold. And the decomposition is very fast, particularly because I keep it moist and turn it a little every few days. The intermediate pile is literally 6X6x4 now, and if I didn’t keep dusting it with clippings too it would be pretty close to finished compost. The stuff that comes up when I turn it is black, and our plants love it.
My only qualification on this shredder is that nowhere in the papers does it say it’s designed to handle carboard, so your mileage may vary and I doubt you will get any warranty coverage if it fails. I am comfy with the risk, but others should know.
Now my question. I know you say that it’s OK to shred glossy ad-type stuff, as well as even color newpaper, because the inks are typically soy based. But I am still a bit apprehensive and was wondering about heavy elements leaching if I shred, say, a USA Today or the Val-Pak mailer we get. Are you comfortable with those things, and would colored newpaper be safe for a vermicompost bin?
Many thanks Joe.
Hi Joe. I really enjoy your show. Thank you!
I would like to know if the home compost pile should be placed in the shade or the sun? Some articles I’ve read indicate a sunny area and others shade so I’m confused. And just in case the climate matters, I live in central Louisiana where it is hot and humid ten months of the year. Thank you! Susan
Hi Susan. It doesn’t matter. Compost happens because of 4 things: air, water, carbon (browns) and nitrogen (greens). It’s really that simple. I think part of the reason more people don’t compost is they feel like you, confused and don’t know where to start.
So find the best place for YOU. Where you know is convenient but out of the way. Then keep adding all that good stuff and turn your pile over (mix it up about once a week). When you do, spray it with water so it’s got the moisture level of a damp sponge. That’s it.
By the way, not sure if you’ve seen the episode we did on Backyard Composting but if not, do a search back on our site and you’ll get lots of great tips there to really simplify the process.
Good luck Susan!
Can I compost feathers from old pillows?
Good question Diane. Generally I would say yes. The caveat is that we don’t know where those feathers came from. However, if they were in pillows, one would assume they are free from any potential toxic chemicals. But the feathers could have been shipped from overseas and we don’t know as much about the safety issues there. Suffice it to say, if this is not going in a food garden, then absolutely yes. If compost is going in a food garden, then likely OK, but if you want to play it extra safe, then pass on the pillow feathers.
are wood ashes good for composting?
They’re OK in moderation Bill. But ash can adversely alter the soil pH if you use too much. I sometimes add a litte. But usually I avoid making this an ingredient to my compost. Instead, I distribute it through the woods with a light dusting as I walk. Too much all in one place should be avoided.
WHERE CAN I HAVE COMPOST DELIVERED BY A COMPANY IN THE MASS. FOR MY VEG. GARDEN? ARE THERE ANY IN MY STATE [ MASS OR R.I. ]
We put small woodchips in the hen house. When we clean the hen house we put them in a pile outside. Is this something we can till into our vegetable garden soil this spring or do the chips & droppings need to go into a compost pile for a season?
I have pet birds. Can the used papers from the bottom of their cages be added to the compost pile?
You can Joye if you MAKE SURE you have allowed enough time in the compost pile for it to cook off the pathogens from the bird cages. Having said that, the risk is not work the gain if you are going to use this compost in your food garden. But, if you are going to put this compost in your non-edible garden, no problem. If it were me, I’d use it for non-edibles only, just to be safe. Maybe you can have two compost piles. One for edibles and one for the rest. Great question though Joye and thanks for asking.