All this garbage that people are trying to get rid of can be
a better supplement for your garden than any fertilizer or chemical. If you
properly facilitate the decomposition of all of the garbage, it will alter
chemically until it is in such a state that it can be nothing but beneficial
nutrition for other plants. Therefore you can turn all the stuff you would have
thrown away into top grade fertilizer for your garden.
Usually compost is maintained in a pile somewhere in your
backyard. Usually the thought of a compost heap brings disturbing images to
ones mind; heaps of rotten garbage emitting a horrid odor. However, if you maintain
it correctly you’ll be able to produce great compost without producing an
offensive odor.
When I first began my compost pile in an effort to improve
environmental health, I made several major errors. These included preventing
the pile from the oxygen it truly needed, and keeping it to dry.
When you are choosing your spot where you will be putting
all of these materials, you should aim for a higher square footage. Having a
really deep pile of compost is not a good idea, because generally the deeper
sections won’t be exposed to anything that is required for the process to work.
It is better to spread it all out over a large area.
A compost heap can consist of any organic garbage from your
yard, garden or kitchen. This includes leaves, grass, any leftover food that
won’t be eaten, or newspaper (no more than a fifth of your pile should consist
of newspaper, due to it having a harder time composting with the rest of the
materials). Usually if you have a barrel devoted to storing all of these
things, it will fill up within several weeks. It is quite easy to obtain
compost, but the hard part truly comes in getting it to compost.
After you have begun to get a large assortment of materials
in your compost heap, you should moisten the whole pile. This encourages the
process of composting. Also chop every element of the pile into the smallest
pieces possible. As the materials start to compress and meld together as they
decompose, frequently head outside and aerate the pile. You can use a shovel to
mix it all up, or an aeration tool to poke dozens of tiny holes into it. Doing
this will increase the oxygen flow to each part of the pile, and oxygen is
required for any decomposition to take place.
If maintaining a compost pile sounds like something that
would interest you, start considering the different placement options. The
hardest part about maintaining a pile is choosing a spot that provides enough
square footage without intruding on the rest of your yard or garden.
While
usually you can prevent the horrible odors that most people associate with
compost heaps, it’s still not a pleasant thing to have to look at whenever you
go for a walk in your garden.
