Back Yard Composting
All you need to get started is a little bit of space, a bin, and a
basic understanding of the composting process. It's that simple!
Ingredients for a compost pile
Choose bin & location
Build your compost pile
Greens & Browns
Compost remedies
Use your compost
- Food — Fruit and vegetable scraps and anything growing in
your yard is potential food for compost critters.
(see chart below)
- Air — Since all life needs a certain amount of air to
survive, stir or turn your pile with a pitchfork regularly to
keep air in the pile for compost critters and to keep your pile
odor-free.
- Temperature — The hotter the pile, the faster the
composting. Your pile will heat up to approximately 90° – 140°F
and cool down as it is composting.
- Water — The compost critters work best if the pile is damp
as a wrung-out sponge. In our dry climate, it means watering the
pile with a hose and turning it to even out the moisture.
- Particle Size — Chop materials into one to two inch pieces
for faster composting, so compost critters have more surface
area to attack.
- Volume — Build your pile to the ideal size of 3´ x 3´ x 3´
(27 cu. ft.) Smaller piles will have trouble holding the heat,
and piles larger than 5´ x 5´ x 5´ (125 cu. ft.) can collapse on
themselves, cutting off the air to the compost critters at the
center. These proportions are of importance only if your goal is
fast composting. Slower composting requires no exact
proportions.
- Compost critters — Once your ingredients are added to the
compost bin, compost critters such as worms, bugs, fungi,
bacteria, and other microorganisms will find their way into the
bin to start the composting process. They work hard to break
down organic matter into compost.
There are many different systems and bins that will work for
composting. Options include: an open pile, a bin that you build
yourself, or a bin that you buy.
If possible, locate your bin:
1) In a shady area to help keep it from drying out
2) Directly on the soil or grass, so compost critters have
access to your pile
3) Near the kitchen and garden hose, so you have easy access
for adding food waste, watering and turning
back to top
A successful compost pile provides food for the compost
critters (worms, bugs, fungi, bacteria, and other
microorganisms) to break down. This food must be a balance of
“green” (often wet) and “brown” (often dry materials). See chart
below.
Start your pile by adding a 4-6” layer of greens, then add a
4-6” layer of browns. Add water and mix. Continue to alternate
layers of green and brown materials, followed by watering and
mixing the pile. Keep the pile moist as a wrung out sponge.
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