Make a Compost PileWhen a plant dies it begins to decompose back into its basic elements adding valuable nutrients to the soil in the process. As a home gardener you can take advantage of this natural occurrence and actually hurry it along by controlling the conditions. By composting your yard waste you can recoup valuable organic material and add it back into your lawn and garden. You're also doing your share to keep yard waste out of the already crowded landfills. Studies have found that leaves, grass and pruning waste take many years to decompose when they were encased in plastic garbage bags and buried in a landfill. The same material can be composted into mulch and used to nurture your plants and lawn. The best yard waste for a compost pile is an equal combination of one half dry leaves and one half dry grass clippings. Hedge trimmings can also be added. It's important that the leaves and grass clippings are dry and finely shredded either by running them over several times with a lawn mower or by shredding them in a yard shredder. You can also add food scraps like egg shells and coffee grinds but avoid meat and greasy food with fat which prevents the material from breaking down. A compost bin at least 3 feet high, by 3 feet wide, by 3 feet deep is a good size for a starter. This size provides enough room for a good size pile of compost and space where it can be mixed. Build your bin directly on the soil in either a sunny or shady area. Add water to the bin so the material feels like a damp sponge. Use a garden fork to mix the material thoroughly (this can be heavy work) so it is damp throughout. Do this every couple of days. If it rains cover the compost pile so it doesn't become saturated with water and leach out all the nutrients into the soil beneath the pile. In 2-3 days the pile will begin to heat up and you may even see steam rising from the pile. This is good and signals that the bacteria is at work decomposing the material. Your compost should reach about 160 degrees or so in its center. You can use a metal coat hanger to probe the center of your pile to get an idea of how hot it is. Straighten out the hanger so it is a rod and push it into the center of the pile. Let it sit in the pile for a few minutes and then pull the rod out. It should feel warm to the touch if your pile is really cooking hot. In the summer be careful because the wire can get too hot to touch. In about three weeks the material should appear to be dark and crumbly and smell earthy. If it begins to smell unpleasant it needs to be turned over more frequently to get more oxygen beneath the surface. You can build a compost bin using concrete blocks for the sides turned so their open holes don't allow the compost material to fall out. You can also use shade fencing which is thin wooden boards bound into several rows of wire. The material is sold in rolls and used to break the wind of sun and snow for shrubs and delicate plantings. A very simple compost bin can be made out of a piece of heavy hardware cloth which is wire mesh. The mesh is 3 feet wide so a 10 foot piece can be used. Form the wire mesh into a cylinder by tying the ends of the wire together with heavy twine. Then place the cylinder on end and fill it with your compost mixture. To mix it up just lift the wire off the pile and set it next to the pile. Then shovel the pile back into the bin. You can also purchase ready-made compost bins at most home and garden centers which are made from recycled plastics or rot-resistant woods. written by Gene and Katie Hamilton
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