Home Composting

HOME COMPOSTING A SIMPLE GUIDE TO REDUCE YOUR WASTE

By:Daniela e Liane

WHAT IS COMPOSTING?
Compost is organic material that can be used as a soil amendment or as a medium to grow plants. Mature compost is a stable material with a content called humus that is dark brown or black and has a soil-like, earthy smell.

IT IS CREATED BY:
combining organic wastes (e.g., yard trimmings, food wastes, manures)
adding agents (e.g., wood chips) as necessary to accelerate the breakdown of organic materials;
allowing the finished material to fully stabilize through a curing process.

Yard Waste

TYPES OF COMPOSTING
Natural composting or biological decomposition began with the first plants on earth and has been going on ever since. As vegetation falls to the ground, slowly decays, providing minerals and nutrients needed for plants, animals, and microorganisms .

TYPES OF COMPOSTING
Mature compost IS a complex organic material that has been transformed into a stable humus by microorganisms.
It gives plants an advantage in increased nutrients and water availability and reduces disease pressures .

DID YOU KNOW THAT COMPOST CAN…
Suppress plant diseases and pests.
Reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers.
Facilitate reforestation.

WHAT TO COMPOST
Animal manure
Clean paper
Coffee grounds and filters
Eggshells
Fireplace ashes
Fruits and vegetables
Hair and fur Yard trimmings
Houseplants
Leaves
Nut shells
newspapers
Tea bags
Wood chips
Wool rags
etc

WHAT NOT TO COMPOST
LEAVE OUT:
1. Black walnut tree leaves or twigs
2. Coal or charcoal ash plants : Might contain substances harmful to plants
3. Dairy products (e.g., butter, egg yolks, milk, sour cream, yogurt)
4. Fats, grease, lard, or oils
5. Meat or fish bones and scraps : Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies

6. Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter) : Might contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses harmful to humans
7. Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides : Might kill beneficial composting organisms
8. Diseased or insect-ridden plants : Diseases or insects might survive and be transferred back to other plants

A basic guide to composting
STEP 1 :
First select a spot to set up your bin. It should be out of the way but convenient to reach with plenty of room to work around. Some good places would be near your garden or in a back corner of the yard. It is also a good idea to choose a location close to a source of water.

STEP 2
Now for the recipe for compost:
micro-organisms that recycle leaves and other plant parts with a mix of brown stuff and green stuff. They also need air and water to live and work. Put all this together and in time you will have compost!

Recipe Ingredients
Air
Water
Brown stuff
Green stuff

Brown stuff is dead, dried plant parts like leaves and pine needles. Brown stuff is high in the element carbon.
Green stuff is fresh, living parts like grass clippings, kitchen vegetable scraps, weeds and other plants. Green stuff is high in the element nitrogen.

Don't Use
Don't use meat, milk products because pets and other animals may try to dig them up out of your compost bin.
Also don't use diseased garden plants. They can spread disease back into the garden later when you use the compost.

Step 3
This is the easiest way to build our compost bin in layers of ingredients:
Start with the brown stuff by spreading a layer of leaves or pine needles.

STEP 4
Next, for the green stuff , add a layer of grass clippings.
It is helpful to mix the layers up a little as you make them.

A basic guide to omposting
STEP 5
Sprinkle a shovelful of soil or compost to add microorganisms to the bin.

STEP 6
Each layer gets a good sprinkling of water to wet the ingredients. It is important to wet each layer as you build it. Repeat each of the layers until the bin is full.

STEP 7 - Finished Bin!
The microorganisms will go to work breaking down the ingredients into humus . If you want faster compost.
you can mix the ingredients every few weeks but this isn't necessary.

FINAL RESULT:
This is compost!
the dark, earthy-smelling stuff is rich in nutrients.
Plants love it!
Let's talk about how to use compost to help plants grow.
Handful of Compost

Use Compost as Mulch
You can use compost as a mulch around garden plants. Mulch protects the soil and shades out weed seeds.
Nutrients are washed out into the soil with each rain to feed the roots of plants.

TYPES OF BINS

Thanks for watching
The Portuguese team:
Prof. Rute Barroca
Daniela Bernardo
Liane Burger

Home Composting

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