Our office has received quite a few calls from residents who would like to compost at home and want information about how to get started. Many people do not realize how easy composting can be and what a nice end product for the garden or flower bed they will produce.

In order to get started you will need to find a container and a place to put it. For some, a five gallon pail will work very well or any container up to a 55 gallon barrel can be used. You can also use chicken wire or fence material, or build a bin from wood. I use a large barrel and drilled about 50 holes in it with my half-inch drill bit. The holes should be drilled into the bottom and the sides to allow excess moisture to run out and air to get in. It is easy to move around if needed and I can move it closer to the house during the winter for convenience.

To start the compost, place a shovel or two of dirt from the flower bed or garden into the bottom. Never put meat or dairy products into the compost or you will attract rodents, maggots and bad odors. You need to keep your compost moist, but not dripping wet so make certain you can reach it with the garden hose but not too close to the house. In the summer months you will probably get some fruit flies that the birds may enjoy eating. Your container will compost food waste all year around but slows down considerably in the winter. If you are doing things right, there will be no odors.

Good compost materials include banana peels, apple skins and cores, egg shells, grape vines, end cuts from carrots, green beans and celery, coffee grounds and filters, spoiled fruits and vegetables that would have otherwise been thrown into the waste can. If you cut and grind everything up to smaller sizes it may compost faster, unless you cause compaction. It’s OK to cut up things like banana peels into smaller pieces, but making items too small cuts down on oxygen levels and slows the compost process. If you wish, don’t cut or reduce any item, just throw them into the container.

The composting process I am talking about here is called a “static” compost process and is the easiest and simplest method. My advice to people is that the project be simple and easy to use so that it becomes part of your everyday life and not a chore. My compost bin gets nearly filled to capacity during the winter months, but when the first thaw comes, it drops to about a third in size. I dump the material out on the garden twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring and till it into the soil. There may be fresh material on the top that has not completely composted so just scoop that back into the empty container to start the next batch. By adding handfuls of nutrients like green grass, brown leaves, garden stems, weeds pulled from around the house, vacuum cleaner bag material, spoiled juice mixes, rinds from watermelons, cantaloupe, and other fruits, shredded paper, hulls from nut trees and an endless list of other compostable items you should be able to reduce your garbage volume significantly.

As you build your compost pile, try to remember green and brown. Green and brown are nitrogen and carbon. We need a mix of both and you will notice slight changes in your pile depending upon whether you have a good mix or a poor one. Remember, browns are shredded paper, dried leaves, sawdust, coffee grounds and green is nitrogen like vegetables, grass, and fruits. Based on this last bit of information you should be able to name the three items we need to mix for a good compost process. Can you?

If you want to speed up the composting process you can turn or stir the pile every week. This will allow more oxygen into the mix and more heat will be generated. If you take the lazy man’s approach and just leave it alone, it will compost, but at a much slower rate. Your choice.

Are you ready to compost? You need carbon, nitrogen and water and you are ready to go!

Randy Tuchtenhagen is the Freeborn County solid waste officer.