| Composting happens no matter how you make | | | | vegetables to enjoy. |
| your compost pile or how much attention you | | | | If you have access to some straw bales, this can |
| give to it. There are almost as many ways to | | | | spark another way to make compost easily. Make |
| make a compost pile as there are gardeners. | | | | a simple bin to hold the compost ingredients by |
| Each person has their own way of doing it, but all | | | | stacking the straw bales two high into a 3-sided |
| will work and give you rich fertile compost to add | | | | enclosure. You will probably need about 10 bales. |
| to your gardens. Here are some simple ways to | | | | The bales will not only hold the material, but will |
| create your own fertile and rich soil-enriching | | | | help retain heat and moisture as the compost |
| compost. | | | | starts working. Make loose layers of both brown |
| One way is to just throw everything onto a pile. | | | | and green ingredients, and every so often add a |
| No container, no bins, just a heap. Ingredients to | | | | layer of soil. In a couple of years, the straw bales |
| include are all yard wastes, including weeds, | | | | will be partly decomposed, and will be ingredients |
| garden plants, dry leaves and grass clippings. Then | | | | in your new straw bale bin, made with fresh new |
| add kitchen scraps such as fruit and vegetable | | | | bales. |
| peelings, crushed egg shells and even used paper | | | | Whatever your choice of composting methods, |
| towels, but not fats, meat scraps or dairy | | | | the ingredients for your compost pile need to be |
| products. Now, just wait. Compost will start | | | | the right mix. Always combine fresh green |
| forming, first at the bottom of the pile. As the | | | | nitrogen rich materials, dried carbon rich materials |
| ingredients decompose, the microorganisms and | | | | and garden soil. The green materials can include |
| worms will migrate upwards toward new food, | | | | grass clippings, kitchen scraps, garden waste and |
| and compost will continue forming from the | | | | even weeds that have not gone to seed. The |
| bottom up. | | | | brown materials are generally tougher dry |
| Another way that works well right inside the | | | | materials like dried leaves, sawdust, straw, |
| garden is sometimes referred to as shovel | | | | newspaper and even chopped up stalks of corn |
| compost. This works well with small amounts of | | | | or other dry stalks. By adding some garden soil, |
| kitchen waste. Simply choose any spot where | | | | manure or partly decomposed compost, you will |
| you would like to enrich the soil, and dig a hole. | | | | be introducing the microorganisms and worms |
| Dump kitchen scraps into the hole and cover | | | | that do the work. |
| them with soil, chopping with the shovel to mix | | | | Build your compost with balanced amounts of |
| the soil and scraps. The organic matter will | | | | these three types of materials and soon you will |
| become compost, with no extra work on your | | | | be using your own rich black compost to feed |
| part at all! You can do this in your garden beds | | | | anything your garden grows. |
| also, and next year have a richer soil for your | | | | |