I’ve been wanting to start composting for a long time now, but it always seemed so difficult to me. After reading tons of stuff online and in gardening books on how to compost, I was thoroughly confused. When it came to achieving “the perfect nitrogen to carbon ratio”, I was lost. Did it have to be so complicated?

Finally, I’ve come to an understanding of how to compost that I can deal with! Here is an easy explanation of how to get your compost pile going:

1. Location: Find a place close to your garden to start your compost pile. I’d suggest a place you can reach with your garden hose, since you’ll be needing to water your pile.

2. Structure: There are several different structures you can use to contain your compost, ranging from expensive models you can purchase, to a simple homemade box, to simply throwing everything into a pile on the ground. Do a little researching and decide which kind would be right for you. Check out these FREE Printable Instructions on Building Your Own Compost Bin- lots of great ideas and tips!

Whatever your structure is, if it’s on the ground it needs to be straight on the dirt. This will allow worms to enter the pile, along with other organisms that you will need to help with the decomposition.

3. Ingredients: This is the part that always caused my procrastination, but honestly the following method is simple enough for even me!

You need two basic groups of materials: Greens and Browns.

Greens: Kitchen scraps*, fresh lawn clippings, garden waste, shrub trimmings, and livestock manure.

*Kitchen scraps you can compost are: fruits, veggies, coffee grounds, tea bags, and egg shells.

Browns: Wood chips, small sticks, bark, leaves, newspaper (any paper really), untreated cardboard, sawdust, straw, pine needles, and corn stalks.

4. Method: Here it is, don’t worry so much about obtaining a perfect C:N ratio. If you use the ingredients listed above, it’s going to decompose and become good compost. Just try not to pile up mostly Green or Brown to the exclusion of the other. Keep it pretty balanced.

• Start your compost pile with layers. The first layer should be small sticks or mulch, something Brown that will allow air to circulate around the bottom of the pile.

• Cover your sticks with a think layer of soil. You need the microorganisms in it as a starter to begin the breaking down process.

• Next add some greens. Not too thick though, just a couple of inches worth. If it’s too thick it will only get slimy and gross and not circulate the air well.

I made this mistake right off the bat. My dad had just mowed his huge yard and I asked if I could have the grass clippings for my compost. My husband loaded up two pick up truckloads full for me. My thinking was, the more the better! Well, piling up two truckloads of grass clippings into a huge heap and stomping it down into the bin isn’t going to decompose into compost any time soon! (This is a good way to get a sludgy mess.) I’ve had to shovel out all of the grass and begin again with layers.

• Top it off with another thin layer of soil. Repeat these layers. Once you have your first four layers, simply continue in this order: Brown, Soil, Green, Soil.

• You’ll need to water your pile to keep it slightly moist. Don’t soak it though or it will get gross. Just give it a little wetting when you see it drying out.

Now, you can just leave the pile as it is to decompose, or you can turn it over to speed up the process. To turn it over you can use a pitch fork to kinda mix up the contents of your pile, or you can totally flip everything over into another pile, so that the bottom layers are now on top.

I’ve just started my compost pile, so it isn’t even close to being usable yet, but I am excited at the idea of having some great stuff to spread on my garden next spring! And finally I am confident enough to try.

Here are a couple of resources that I found extremely helpful:

Mother Earth News: Compost Made Easy

YouTube: How To Make Compost

Hopefully this has helped you to have a better understanding of how to compost, without all of the technical chemistry of it!

If you’ve been composting for a while and have any tips to add to this, I’d be grateful for any advice you can share! Happy Composting!