A few weekends ago, I attended the Home Gardeners School sponsored by Rutgers New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station (NJEAS). The day long program was presented by the Office of continuing Professional Education. It was a wonderful, fun, and educational day with a mix of gardening talent – professional to us mere amateurs.
One of my favorite classes was on Backyard Composting. Now, I’m a recycler from way back. When I first got married, newspaper and cans and such had to be carted away to the recycling center. So every couple of weeks, my husband and I would load up the car and schlep all the garbage to the facility. I didn’t mind. I could see how much we were keeping out of the landfills. We still recycle everything we can today. Only now I’m lucky enough to live in a town that has curbside pick up for just about: cans, plastics, cardboard, newspapers and office paper.
When we bought our house, one of the first things we did was start a compost heap. Gardening wasn’t my forte at the time (heck, I’m still learning!), but I did know that compost was great for soil and it helped reduce garbage.
And composting is easy. Here are a few tips and links to get you composting
- So many things from your kitchen and home can be composted: vegetative food scraps, egg shells, lint, hair, shredded newspaper, coffee grinds, etc. There are some things to stay away from: meats, fats, oils, dairy products and poisonous or diseased plants. All makes sense, right?
- Carbon and nitrogen need to be in balance. That means making sure you have a mix of greens and browns. If you’ve just tossed on some kitchen goods, toss on a layer of dried leaves. This will hold in the moisture and keep things in balance.
- Chop up leaves, banana peels, whatever is going in to the compost bin to help speed up the process.
- Compost should be damp, like a rung out sponge. Too dry and the materials won’t deteriorate. Too wet and it stinks.
- Grass clippings are great for compost – but not too much! Even better, “Grasscycle” – just leave short clippings on the lawn. They deteriorate quickly and provide mulch and moisture for the lawn.
It may take a full season for your garbage to turn to rich, warm dirt, but as Alton Brown says, “Your patience will be rewarded.” Once you have some of that gardening gold, it will be a wonderful additive to your soil. To find out more about composting, check the links below and make dirt!
NJEAS Gardening & Landscaping Publications
Composting Basics
Backyard Composting Basics from Garden.com
Lots of Composting Tips & Tricks at HGTV
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