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In Today’s post, let’s learn step by step – easy composting for beginners at home from organic waste from kitchen. You will learn how to easily, quickly and successfully perform smell free, aerobic composting at home with some very useful tips and tricks.
In our previous posts we discussed on the fundamentals of composting including Types of Composting, the Carbon Nitrogen ratio and demonstrated the anaerobic or bokashi composting method step by step.
In today’s episode, let’s learn how to perfectly make compost at home in 5 easy steps:
Step 1: Choosing Your Container
There are many ways to compost. You can either use an open pile composting method or use a compost bin. Open pile composting or using a simple chicken mesh boundary is the simplest way to start, but it has its own disadvantages. The best way to compost at home is to use a compost bin. Bins have the advantage of being neat, keeping animals, rodents, and insects away, and preserving heat.
Types of Compost Bins
You can build your own DIY compost bin from some plastic buckets or even drums or barrels. You can even build a tumbling compost bin. Or you can just purchase these from a garden store or online. The size and type of bin you build or purchase will depend on how much compostable material you generate on a day-to-day basis.
Advantages of a Rotating Tumbler Bin
A rotating tumbler compost bin has many advantages, such as not needing to turn the compost pile for oxygenation manually; instead, you just give a few rotations once daily, which also speeds up the composting process. The twin drum has an advantage of providing a continuous supply of compost, like when one drum is full, you leave it for a few weeks for final maturation and then start adding materials to the second bin. Repeat this process to get a continuous supply of compost.
Purchase Tumbler Bins Here:
Step 2: Choosing the Location
For conventional pile composting, a sunny location and a flat surface on soil are better. For drum composting or if using a tumbling composter, this is not so crucial. However, keep it in a place that is open with good air circulation, and also keep in mind there is a liquid leak below the compost bins. This compost tea can be collected and makes a good liquid fertilizer for plants if used in adequate dilution.
Step 3: Adding Greens and Browns
This was discussed in detail in part 2 of our composting series. For greens and kitchen waste recycling, you can add them daily to your compost bin along with browns. If your daily collection is too little, you can store it in the refrigerator and then add it to your bin.
Greens (Nitrogen-Rich Materials)
Greens are nitrogen-rich and mostly wet materials like:
- Waste kitchen scraps like vegetable scraps, fruit scraps
- Fresh grass cuttings
- Animal manure (but not cat or dog poop)
- Bird or poultry droppings, feathers
- Fleshy plants and leaves, flowers
- Tea and coffee waste, egg shells
- Nail clippings, human and animal hair
Browns (Carbon-Rich Materials)
Browns are carbon-rich dry materials like:
- Dry fallen leaves, dried flowers, wood chips, twigs, straw
- Shredded paper, shredded cardboard or paper cartons
- Toilet paper rolls, used napkins or facial tissues, coffee filters, and tea bags
- Cotton, sawdust, pine needles, pencil shavings
- Dried grass clippings, peat moss, cocopeat or coconut fibers
- Used paper plates, nut shells, wine corks, toothpicks, paper cupcake liners
- Used match sticks, wood ash or ashes from the fireplace, coal
Green to Brown Ratio
As a general rule, a 1-to-1 ratio works well with the “add as you go” pile as well as for the batch pile and is safe for beginners. This will aid you in creating about a 50:1 C/N ratio, adequate enough to get a warm pile. This means, for every bowl of greens, you add one bowl of browns and a little bit of compost activator.
Step 4: Compost Starter or Accelerator or Activator
If you are starting for the first time or first batch, you need to add microorganisms to start the composting process. This can be either a commercial compost maker powder; but remember not to add the Bokashi bran powder, which is exclusively meant for anaerobic composting, as discussed and demonstrated in detail in episode 3 of this composting series. You can check that link in the description below.
Adding the Starter
You can add this powder, like 1 or 2 teaspoons or as recommended on your packet. Every time you add greens and browns, rotate the tumbler or turn your compost a few times for good oxygenation. If you have a half-finished compost or even fully finished compost, decomposed cow dung can be added as a starter. You can also add the finished compost from your Bokashi bucket into this aerobic compost bin.
Step 5: Maturation and Harvesting
When the bin is 70 to 80% full, stop adding further waste into it and leave it for 6 to 8 weeks for compost cooking and final maturation. Make sure you tumble the compost bin daily, or if you are using the compost pile method, turn the compost pile every other day for proper aeration. Otherwise, it will develop a foul smell and fail. If you are getting a sweeter, pleasant smell, then everything is going fine.
Final Steps
After 6 to 8 weeks or even more, you can collect your final compost and use this pure fertilizer for your plants. You can leave about 10% in the bin, which acts as an accelerator for the next batch. Finished compost will be dark, crumbly, and smell like earth.
Please Watch a detailed video demonstrating composting for beginners at home below:
