REAP A HEAP OF BENEFITS
Composting is a lot easier than you may think. Organic material breaks down around us in nature all the time. Composting is just a method of speeding up the process.
Most compost bin designs are so simple they can be built in a few hours. Once you gather your yard waste and form it into a pile, the only time you'll spend is for occasional maintenance. Then sit back and let nature do the rest.
COMPOSTING EQUIPMENT
TOOLS: All you need are some basic gardening tools, like a pitchfork, a rake, and a shovel.
MATERIALS: Compost bins can be built with inexpensive materials like snow fencing, woven wire, or used cinder blocks and lumber.
SOIL
You don't need store-bought "soil activators" or potting soil to compost. One inch of soil from your yard or garden has all the ingredients needed to start the composting process.
Compost is ready to harvest when it is reduced to a crumbly, sweet smelling material called humus. If some pieces are not decomposed, you can sift those out and use them to start a new batch.
Compost improves soil structure, holds in moisture and plant nutrients, and promotes strong, healthy root systems for plant growth.
WHAT YOU CAN COMPOST
DO COMPOST
- grass clippings
- leaves
- weeds & garden debris
- small brush, twigs
- clean wood ash
- sawdust & wood chips
- egg shells
- coffee grounds
DO NOT COMPOST
- whole branches, logs
- pet or human waste
- charcoal briquette ash
- sawdust from treated wood
Above information was taken from the Home Composting brochure created by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
"I left this Earth three times and
found no other place to go.
Please take care of Spaceship Earth!"
Wally Schirra
Mercury Astronaut