How to make compost

Composting is a traditional method of recyling the organic material like kitchen scraps, wood, lawn clipping, weeds (although not recommended in small kitchen garden), but can be used in large scale composting, seaweed, ashes, straw and animal manure.

in my opinion it is the best method of using the garden and kitchen waste and giving back to the nature. Composting methods can be of different type and in different parts of the world different composting methods are used.

In this blog i will discuss making compost in an easier way for the kitchen garden:-

1. Choose any open area in your garden depending upon the size of garden from 1 sq mt to 5 sq mt. It can be sheltered from the rain or open , it does not make difference because for big feilds the compost maker are always in open.
2. if you are choosing a compost bin open from the bottom, you should choose flat surface, avoid concrete so that the earthworm can make way into the bin.
3. Choose a compost bin size depending upon your requiremnt. in market there are compost bin available from 100 lt -600 lt, but the average is 500lt which is sufficient for a small home garden.
4. Compsot bin comes in differnt shapes like square, rectangle, round; different material like plastic and wood. in my opinion if the plastic is uv stabilised it will have a life span of ten years but if wood is available, it is best to go with wood because it has more long life and more sturdy.
5. compost bin avialable in market are of two types. once comes in already made and some come in kitset. Some of the compost bin available in market as a kitset can be assembled and are easy to carry. one added advantage with them is that you can easily adjust the height of these compost bin.

1. Break up the soil where you are putting the compost bin to improve aeration and drainage. Avoid using the material thicker than 5mm in diameter and cut the bulky material. Air and moisture are essential for composting. add a little bit of water to moisten the composting material.
2. Now start building up the compost in layers making sure to add all the material you  need to compost. there is a big list of composting material like grass, lawn clipping, vegetable peels, fruit peels, plant material, shrubs, herbs etc. Try to avoid all the milk products as they attract rodents.
3. sprinkle each layer with blood and bone or compost activator (Compost maker by watkins brand easily available in retail stores)
4. Adding lime to each layer will help to keep the compst sweet smelling, speeding up the composting process. it also regulates the pH of the compost increasing the earthworm and microbial activities.
5. You can also add one layer of soil to it. Repeat the process till the compost bin is full.
6. After two weeks the composting material will cool down. Turn the compost over to increase the aeration and speed up the composting process.
7. Depending on the temperature and time of year the compost can take two to five months to break down. Use the compost only when it has already cooled down and does not have heat in it. To cool down the compost you can take it out and leave it outside if you have some spare space to do it.
8. Compost should be crumbly, dark brown to black in colour, with pleasant earthy must smell. You can use compost for roses, vegetables and ornament plants.
9. Always use disease free materilas for composting. Also avoid weeds like dock seed heads, dandelion roots, couch and other perennial weeds.

 The picture above gives self explainatory image of the earth maker. Personaly i like this compost maker for the old people and women as it is very easy to work around.