Compost Heap

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Maintaining A Compost Heap

A lot of gardeners will end up with large amounts of organic waste. Grass, leaves, dead plants. And a lot of gardeners spend money to get rid of those organic wastes. When they could have just as well transformed that into compost. And it makes a really good compost as well.
It can be used as a fertilizer which saves you money, because you don't have to buy anymore fertilizer. And when done correctly it will be nothing but benefits for your plants, and that's what we are all after, aren't we? Exactly! So next time you want to throw all of that organic waste away, don't! Instead turn it into a natural fertilizer for your yard.

How To Make A Compost Heap

The normal way to make compost is to dump everything in a pile in the back of your yard. This can bring some nasty images to mind and you may not want to think about leaving rotten garbage with the worst odor in the back of your garden. But if you maintain the compost heap correctly it will produce a wonderful compost without the nasty odors. When I first started a compost heap (which was to improve environmental health) I made a lot of mistakes. Like I prevented the pile from oxygen (which it REALLY needs!) and I kept it dry (which I shouldn't have). It all ended in a very non beneficial way and such a foul odor that the plants in my garden started holding their breaths!

When you choose a location for your compost heap, try to pick a spot with a larger amount of square footage. don't be tempted to but it all deep in the ground because it won't do you any good there and it won't get everything it needs. If you've got a shack or a shed of some kind, you can put borders on the roof and put the compost on top of the roof. i've seen it done a few times and it seems to work really well. And you're using a piece of land that you otherwise wouldn't have had! If you can't use the roof (or won't) then just spread the compost out over a larger square footage somewhere in the back of your garden.

Anything organic can be thrown on the compost heap. Stuff from in the kitchen, yard and garden like leaves, food that you couldn't finish, grass and you can even throw in newspapers. But keep it down to about one fifth of the pile (maximum) newspaper or the compost heap won't work very effectively. If you're using a barrel to put everything in it you'll find that it can fill up rather quickly in a matter of weeks. Getting compost isn't hard at all. But getting your garbage to compost is the hard part.
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When the heap has lots of bits of everything you should get the heap wet. The entire heap. This will encourage the entire compost-process. Also chop everything to pieces. Get every piece as small as you can. That way the materials will be composted a lot faster. Also keep aerating the pile as it starts to compost, keeping air in it is very beneficial for the decomposition of your compost heap.

If starting and maintaining a compost heap sounds like something you could and would like to do then you should start by finding a suitable location. That's basically the hardest thing about having a compost heap. Choosing the location with enough square footage that won't violate the rest of your garden. Even though you can erradicate the oder it sometimes has. Looking at it while you're walking through your beautiful garden isn't something to look forward to.