Friday, December 22, 2006

Composting Pile Tips

Compost Pile Tips



Composting is fun. Watching vegetable scraps and lawn clippings turn into rich, dark compost for the garden can be very rewarding. You'll enrich the soil in your garden beds. You will help keep valuable organic matter out of the overflowing landfills. And you will see what wonders it does for your garden plants. Your plants will be much healthier by adding compost to your soil. Below are a few composting tips to help you get started.


  • As a rule, the smaller the items are that you add to your compost bin, the quicker they will break down.

  • Be creative when finding items to put into your compost bin. Everything from cardboard to egg shells are welcome to the organisms working in your active compost pile.

  • The average size compost pile is about 3 feet by 3 feet. This makes the compost pile easier to work with and gives it enough mass for things to heat up.

  • Compost piles need to be aerated often. Make sure you dig deep into the pile and mix everything thoroughly, especially when adding new items to the pile.

  • You want to keep your active compost pile moist but not overly wet. If your pile starts smelling, you can bet it is too wet. If it is, aerate the pile and make sure no moisture gets into it until the moisture content is lowered. But don't let the compost pile get too dry either.

  • Compost can be made by just piling everything up in a pile, but a compost bin helps to keep the pile all together and working more efficiently.





composting tips



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