Stop throwing organic materials in the trash.
(Food scraps, leaves, garden debris, even most paper products).
Stop using fossil fuels and plastic bags to transport nutrients, water, and carbon to be buried in Other places.
Build a bin compost system in your yard. It can be as free and easy as wooden pallets. It can be made of reused materials you had lying around. You can purchase new materials if that is in your budget. You won’t regret investing a little time or money into installing a compost bin (or 2! or 3!).
If you’re lucky you might catch some wildlife enjoying your scraps.
You have probably heard of the three bin composting method. If you have the space, it is nice to have three separate stages for your compost
- A pile you add new material to
- A pile you don’t add to, but that is not yet finished
- A finished pile that is ready to be screened and used in the garden
However, for a small backyard garden, three bin systems often look like the set up above, with two unused bays taking up space. It takes A LOT of material from the kitchen and the garden to fill up even one bay. Things break down soon after you fill up the bin, and I’ve yet to see the third bay of “finished compost” get anywhere near full after 2 years now of using my at-home compost bin for a household of 5 people. One bin is enough for most home gardens and kitchen scraps.
Don’t add woody materials like sunflower stalks, raspberry canes, and twigs as they take a lot longer to break down, and will make pitchforking much less enjoyable when it comes time to move your pile.
I’m quite pleased with this compost system I recently made for a client who had old portions of their fence stored in hopes it could be used for a future project such as this.
I love working with people who want to reuse old materials. This often means having a place to store them, which is a luxury that some people renting or without large yards can’t afford. I love to help network with people who have materials and people who need them for projects.
Reach out if you have things like:
- Scrap metal roofing
- scrap wood in good condition
- cinderblocks
- old fencing
Got questions about composting? Come out to the Carilion Morningside Urban Farm on Community Nights to ask questions and see the bins in action (April thru October on Thursday nights).
One more close up of my turtle buddy.
