Compost basics

The ultimate recycling magic - composting Making compost is the ultimate in recycling magic. With little effort and virtually no expense, you can transform vegetable and fruit peelings, grass clippings and garden waste into dark, rich, crumbly compost.Along with improving soil texture and providing nutrients to plants, compost conserves water and helps control soil erosion. It also results in less waste going to landfill sites. According to Susan Antler, executive director of the Compost Council of Canada, if everyone-industry, restaurants and private citizens-across the country composted, we could reduce the amount of garbage destined for our landfills by half. Highly versatile, compost can be dug into the garden, or used as a top dressing or as a mulch; it also adds valuable nutrients when transplanting. There is no mystery to making good compost. A compost pile mimics the process nature uses to break down organic matter by combining nitrogen (found in kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, green grass clippings, fresh plant trimmings and weeds, and manure) and carbon (such as dry, brown plant material like dead leaves, grass or plants, wood products and paper) with air and water.Simply heap all the ingredients together in an open pile, add water and turn it regularly with a shovel. Enclosed bins, which promote faster decomposition and dis­courage rodents, are best, particularly in urban areas (many municipalities or com­post education centres sell bins at reduced rates). You can also make your own com­poster out of scrap wood. To discourage rodents but maintain air circulation, line it with wire mesh (ensure the openings are no greater than one to two centimetres). Put your compost pile in an easily accessible area near a water source, but away from sheds, dense shrubs or bird feeders. Ensure the ground is level and provides good drainage. A partly sunny exposure is helpful but not essential. (For how to layer your compost pile, see “In Good Order,” next page.) Composting do's and don'ts; green bin programs Turn the pile weekly and water as needed. The mixture should feel like a wrung-out sponge to the touch. If you can squeeze water from a handful of material, it's too wet. Finished compost should be dark brown, loose and crumbly (not powdery), with no weeds, and it should have a sweet, earthy smell. It's generally ready to use between four months and two years from when it was started. Why such a wide gap in time? Because compost piles are forgiving. Even when you neglect it, don't get the ratios quite right or make your pile a little too big or small, the materials always eventually break down-like magic.GOING GREENSome Canadian cities have implemented green bin programs that allow residents who have curbside collection to put out organics (fruit and vegetable scraps, paper towels, coffee grinds, for example) for separate collection along with garbage and recycling. The material is diverted from landfills and is instead turned into reusable compost. Halifax and Edmonton have green bin-type programs, as has Toronto and some of its suburbs. “In the same way the blue box program has swept the nation, I see the green box program as the way of the future,” says Geoff Rathbone, director of policy and planning, waste management services, City of Toronto. “Certainly in the next few years, I expect the entire Golden Horseshoe area of Ontario to be on board.” And he believes the program will spread as cities look for ways to cope with overflowing landfills.DOS and DON'TSDo chop compost materials into small pieces, which break down faster.Do cover food waste with soil or dry leaves to discourage flies.Do cover compost piles in winter and prolonged periods of heavy rain.Do not add meat, bones, grease, pet waste, diseased plant materials or lawn clippings that have been sprayed with chemicals.Do not compost rhubarb leaves-they contain chemicals that may be toxic to organisms in the soil if the leaves haven't fully decomposed before you use the compost.Do not add invasive plants or weeds with persistent root systems or seeds (weeds in flower are fine). Various composting problems and solutions IN GOOD ORDERStart your compost pile by laying down about 15 centimetres of rough plant material, such as stalks or twigs, to encourage air flow into the pile. Add a nitrogen layer of kitchen scraps and/or fresh plant trimmings, followed by a carbon layer of dry, brown plant material. Layers should be between five and 15 centimetres deep (see “Size Matters” below). One layer each of nitrogens and carbons is adequate to start; follow with a 2.5- to five-centimetre layer of garden soil or finished compost. Repeat with alternating nitrogen and carbon layers as kitchen waste and trimmings become available, but always end with a carbon layer on top to discourage flies and rodents. Aim for a pile that's between one cubic metre and 3.5 cubic metres in size.SIZE MATTERSSize Matters Should a compost layer be five or 15 centimetres deep? It depends on the season, region and the size of particles and type of materials in each layer. The goal is to promote the speedy breakdown of ingredients. So it follows that thinner layers are more efficient in cold regions and weather; and are also appropriate when the ingredients are chunky. Nitrogen-rich layers (especially those with fresh grass clippings) heat up quickly, so they can be thicker than carbon layers, which take longer to decompose.PROBLEMS SOLUTIONSCompost piles sometimes need a kick-start in spring to get them working efficiently again. And, depending on the weather, they might need adjusting during the growing season, too. PROBLEMSOLUTION Bad odour (not enough air circulation or pile too wet) Turn pile; add coarse, dry material such as straw and shredded leaves Too dry Mix in a few handfuls of soil and some moist kitchen scraps or coffee grounds; water pile, cover and let sit. Check weekly; if it's still too dry, repeat Too wet Turn pile and add dry materials such as straw, dry leaves (not fresh), sawdust, even lint from the dryer. Keep it uncovered (except in periods of prolonged heavy rain) and check weekly. Apply the touch test: a handful of material should be as moist as a wrung-out sponge Too cold or too weedy To heat things up (which helps to kill weed seeds), add some high-nitrogen materials such as kitchen scraps, fresh grass clippings or manure Failure to decompose If there are layers of fresh leaves or grass clippings, break them up by mixing in straw, hay (but no hay seeds) or dry leaves. If large chunks are not decomposing, sift pile through a screen or use a soil shredder. The resulting fine material can be used as the base for a new compost heap Damp and warm in the middle but dry elsewhere Pile is too small; collect more material and mix it in. Or turn the heap more frequently Damp and sweet-smelling but will not heat up Needs more nitrogen; mix in fresh grass clippings or fresh manure Pest infestations (dogs, rodents, insects such as flies, bees, wasps and ants) Improper food scraps added; don't add meat, fats, bones or pet waste. Cover food scraps with soil or other carbon materials; turn pile weekly