Justsaver

Why start a Backyard Compost?

Infinite Organic Futile Soil: $30/cubic yard. For a 50 x 20 foot garden @ 9 inches deep would cost you $800.

Home Grown Backyard Veggies: depends ~ $30/month + infinite health benefits

Not needing the compost garbage service: $10/month

Helping Mother Earth: Priceless

Starts adding up doesn’t it? Interested now?

Here’s how to start a backyard compost of your own.

Not sold yet? Here’s an explanation of how composting helps your garden.

LA Dept. of Public Works - The compost produced by backyard composting is an excellent soil conditioner. It enhances the structure of soil by binding soil particles together. This improves aeration and helps soil to retain water and nutrients. Compost also improves drainage in clay soils and water retention in sandy soils. Compost improves the buffering capacity of the soil and minimizes adverse effects to plants due to extreme shifts in soil pH. Adding compost to soil also attracts earthworms, which aerate the soil and add additional nutrients to the soil. Compost can store nutrients and release them slowly for use by surrounding plants. Although highly beneficial for soil, most composts are not considered fertilizers because they lack the amount of nitrogen necessary to be classed a fertilizer.

First of all, build a composting bin or buy one. Which you choose depends on how skilled you are at construction and how you value your time. Personally, I built mine just to see if I could do it.

When you gather material to put into your compost bin, keep them in two piles. There are two types on material you can put into the compost. Green material and brown material.

Green Materials
Fruit and vegetable scraps
Coffee grounds and filters
Tea leaves and bags
Grass clippings
Garden trimmings
Green leaves
Livestock manure

Brown Materials
Nut shells
Stale bread
Straw and hay
Dry grass and leaves
Shredded paper
Wood chips and sawdust
Shredded yard wastes
Pine and fir needles

Keep these green and brown material in seperate piles. Then when you want to start loading the compost bin, use 50% green material and 50% brown material. Add water and mix the materials every 7 days. Compost will be ready when it has a dark brown color and is crumbly. Also it should have the smell of freshly turned earth. That’s it! Enjoy all the money that you will save and Mother Earth will thank you for it too!

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