How to Make Compost

It is important to have a proper ratio of brown materials (high in carbon) and green materials (high in nitrogen). Too much brown materials and the compost will take years to decompose. Too much green and your compost will become soggy and smelly. A 3:1 brown to green ratio is ideal (three parts brown to one part green).

Sample:
1 part fresh grass clippings
1 part dry leaves
1 part good soil

Green Ingredients (NITROGEN)	Brown Ingredients (CARBON)
Corncob stalks Paper Pine needles Sawdust or wood shavings Straw Dry leaves	Coffee grounds Eggshells Fruit and veggie peels Grass clippings Fresh leaves Fresh weeds

Each layer should be about 3 inches deep and repeated until composter is full.

What Composting Requires

Other than the materials placed in the composter to decompose there are two other important factors for good compost.

Oxygen:

To break down the compost more efficiently microorganisms need a lot of oxygen. At first your pile will have plenty of oxygen between the layers, however, as the microorganisms work they will use up the supply. It is important to replenish the oxygen or the microorganisms will become sluggish (see below for compost turning instructions).

Water:

Too much moisture could drown the microorganisms and too little could dehydrate them. It is important to maintain a proper balance of moisture in the compost. The compost should be as moist as a well wrung sponge. Water can be added until desired moisture is achieved.

Temperature:

Heat is a byproduct of decomposition and accelerates the composting process. The ideal temperature for decomposition is between 90 and 135 degrees Farenheit (32 to 57 Celsius). Whether it is due to cold climate or insufficient bacterial activity, when the temperature falls below 90 F, decomposition will slow, but not cease. To keep temperatures elevated, place your compost in a section of the garden to maximize solar heat. Choose a darker color for your composter bin or tumbling composter in order to maximize heat retention from the sun.

Compost Heap Turning:

The tumbling of a compost pile can help to speed up the compost pile from 3-8 months to 4-8 weeks.  Turning the heap regularly will:

1. Create new passageways for oxygen. Since each compost pile needs a periodic influx of oxygen, turning the heap will create new passageways for oxygen to keep the pile in an aerobic state.
2. Speed up the composting process by adding heat.
3. Eliminate odours and the matting of material.  A pile that emits odour probably has too much nitrogen (GREEN) materials and/or is too moist. It is also probably compressed under the weight of the excessive moisture in the green materials. Adding more carbon (BROWN) materials to balance out the greens is important, and  turning is critical to fluff up the organic material.

For a large compost pile, the proper way to turn the heap is to utilize a shovel to displace the material.  A compost turning tool can be used to turn a smaller heap in an upright composter.  However, small piles can also be created in tumbling composters, which have built-in mechanisms to turn the compost heap.

Tumbling Composters

For tumbling composters, it is recommended that once you fill your tumbler with material, leave it for a few days to allow the composting process to begin.  Thereafter, you should aim to turn it several times each day to ensure that the composting bacteria is afforded as much oxygen as possible and also to prevent any drying out around the edges.  A compost accelerator can also be added to your compost batches to shorten the composting lead time.