Starting the Compost:

Composting is indeed a very admirable practice to adopt in your garden. Not only will you be able to recycle your household waste as food for the compost but you will also be able to save money on chemical fertilizers and save the environment from harm due to their use. In this page you will be able to locate wholesale composting equipment and discounted retailers. However, to start using compost you must make your own compost in your backyard. Here then are a few of the most important basic compost gardening tips to get you started.

Three Things to Remember

Regardless of your level of expertise in compost gardening, there are three general rules to live by as a gardener. First, you have to chop the compost plant and food materials as well as break the wood and animal manure into smaller parts before piling on the compost bin. This step will make the decomposition process go faster than usual.

Second, you should mix in carbon-rich material with nitrogen-rich components to achieve a balance of nutrients in the compost. Carbon-rich materials are the dry and brown kinds like wood while nitrogen-rich materials are the moist and green types like fruit and vegetable peelings.

Third, you must add water to the compost as it piles up as well as keep the compost damp. However, you should drain the compost to eliminate excess water since you are aiming for a wrung-out sponge type of wetness level.

These basic compost gardening tips should stand you in good stead. Just keep coming back to them and you ought to be alright.

You can compost virtually anything in your house with the exception of glass, metal and some types of wood. To be more specific, you can include in the compost pile dry browns, sawdust and straw, chopped pruning, shredded paper and cardboard, paper towels and tissues, pine needles, dry leaves and weeds, coffee grounds and teabags, moist greens and garden refuse, fruit and vegetable trimmings and peelings as well as food wastes, animal manures, and even grass clippings. However, you must only use food wastes when you are using rodent-proof compost bins and buckets with holes no bigger than ¼ inch.

If there are things to compost, then there are also things better recycled in other ways. These materials include meat and bones, dog and cat feces, dairy products and greasy foods, diseased and invasive plants as well as unchopped wood. All these materials will only delay the composting process, provide for bad smells and invite unwanted pests like rodents to your yard.

You can start on a small basis just so you can achieve success on your first try, thus, providing for more encouragement to take on bigger compost bins.

• In a heap, layer chopped yard wastes as these accumulate over time.
• Water the pile as necessary to keep the compost heap moist like a wrung-out sponge.
• In about 12-18 months, the bottom and center of the compost pile will have turned dark and crumbly, which means that it is now ready.
• Sift the layers and use the ready compost. As for the un-composted material, use it to start a new batch.

These compost gardening tips are great for beginners. Often, it can be a matter of trial and error but therein lies the fun of organic gardening.