A compost bin may be an alternative to blowing hard-earned money on overpriced groceries like fresh fruits and vegetables. Put that backyard patch of dirt to use by providing years of sustainable living, fun-filled gardening, and delicious, organic homegrown food. If you've got a small area of soil at your home or garden that's just sitting there unused, you can easily build a backyard compost bin that will turn ordinary refuse like leaves, tea, uneaten fruits and vegetables into a low-cost, environmentally friendly source of fertilizer and mulch. You can then use these soil additives to grow your own delicious, organic fruits and vegetables in your home garden that will save you a pile of money in the kitchen.
Build Your Own Compost Bin
If you want to learn how to compost, the following information will provide you with a lot of tips on building a homemade compost bin. The benefits of composting are immense. But first we need clarification on what exactly composting is. According to the State of California's official definition, composting occurs when decomposing vegetables, leaves, twigs, or grass are added to an existing soil for improvement. These soil amendments often include sand for aeration or mulch or even steer manure. Commercial products like Miracle Grow however are different from good compost. These turbo plant foods simply help your plant once it starts growing. You first have to start out with good dirt, which becomes great once compost is added. So, with a lot of sun exposure, a ready supply of compost from your homemade composting bin, some unused soil, and plant seed, you're well on your way to growing wonderful organic fruits and vegetables.
1. How to build a compost bin.
When I was a kid, my dad grew corn, zucchini, tomatoes, cantaloupe, cucumbers, oranges, lemons and many others. Backyard farming in Orange, California was really fun. Friends and neighbors would constantly comment on how sweet our oranges and melons tasted. One main reason: compost. But instead of building a backyard compost bin, he would simply pile up uneaten food in a trashcan. It smelled awful and flies were everywhere.
An easy and unobtrusive compost bin can be built using chicken wire and gardening cloth. Instructions for making a wire-mesh holding composting unit can be downloaded here: Now, once you get your own compost bin made, you can throw in just about anything organic including weeds and lawn trimmings and let worms do their work. And sustainable backyard composting can also help with environmental protection. Recycling your uneaten food means less trash buried at our various county landfills which also means less space being needed to take care of public waste.
2. What to put in your homemade compost bin.
Your compost pile will need three things- air, water, and food. Great compost smells 'woody' because of the steaming heat generated by the interaction of sun's energy, air, and water on the compost's food. Ideal composting food for your compost bin consists of equal parts nitrogen and carbon. Fruits and vegetables are organics high in nitrogen whereas wood and grass clippings, items that tend to become brown as they decay, are excellent sources for carbon. Both of these ingredients have to be moistened with correct amounts of water, but not too much, to start the gradual process of decay. Once these organics have a source of oxygen (i.e. Air) voila! Decomposition magic begins to take its course and before you know it, a great compost pile is waiting for use in your very own home vegetable and fruit garden.
3. How to tell if your compost pile is ready.
During the fermentation process, you should regularly add 'food' to your compost bin. How? Again, equal parts green stuff (like grass clippings) and left over fruits and veggies will significantly enhance your compost bin's effectiveness. Now, while feeding your compost pile, use a shovel or pitchfork to aerate the compost. This organic compost will be at its peak when you see or feel steam coming its center. Then simply mix some of fresh compost to your backyard soil and you should be well underway to a wonderful home garden.
Tagged: Compost Bin, Gardening, Mulch, Organic, Plant Food
Published on September 25, 2011 at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)
