What do I need to know to start an outdoor compost pile?
Higher nitrogen to carbon ratios make for faster composting, especially for someone just starting out. A high percentage of grass clippings will give you a hot pile with rich compost in weeks. It does take a little more effort to stay with the turning, but the quick results are gratifying to a first timer. (by the way, grass is filled with carbon, it just has a high nitrogen content). A hot pile also kills weed seeds. Anyway, an all grass pile would be too wet and sticky. I am just advocating a high nitrogen pile. You still need browns and stuff for texture and balance. Compost made in a high nitrogen pile is quick, strong like fertilizer and a tea made from such compost is especially nourishing. A tumbler, like this, makes it easy and this one even makes tea for you.
It’s all pretty much covered here. I agree that you should get a container. I have one similar to this. It has four stackable sections, which is very convenient. As the materials break down, they reduce in volume. It’s much easier to remove the finished compost if you can remove the top couple stacks. One thing not mentioned here yet: There’s ‘hot’ composting and ‘cold’ composting. Cold composting is basically just piling stuff up and leaving it to decompose in its own time. Takes a long time and is very dull. Hot composting involves little microorganisms who are so incredibly excited about their job that they heat the pile up to 130 or 140 degrees, which a) makes stuff decompose faster and b) kills weed seeds, diseases that might be presents in veggie/fruit plants you added to the pile, and other microbes that could be harmful. A
As for leaves, leave out the brown leaves in the fall. They are a special composting project and will slow down a regular pile. Not true. Carboniferous material (dry leaves, chopped straw “brown” stuff) is needed because the microorganisms that break compost down need carbon as well as nitrogen (it’s what they eat, and the products they produce are water, carbon dioxide, heat, and humus). Without carbon, the chemical processes that make up these products can’t happen. A 30:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio in your starting pile will give you about 8:1 finished compost, because 2/3 of the carbon is released to the atomsphere, and the rest is building blocks for nutrients your plants need. (8:1 is the target, because it’s the ratio at which natural soil systems operate.) It’s also important to have brown waste to maintain good texture: if it’s all wet, heavy, nitrogenous material, the microorganisms will not be able to get oxygen, and your pile will go anaerobic. Anaerobic decompostion is not o
There are lots and lots of guides on the Internet, including this which I used a lot when I got started last year. It’s thorough and has great lists of what should go in/what shouldn’t go in/how to keep the compost puttering along on the road to great-looking and great-smelling dirt. Since they sell equipment, they tend to overemphasize how much stuff you need — I just use a pitchfork and the occasional dousing from a garden hose. Bins really help with the aesthetics, though, and may be called for to keep critters out if you’re going to be recycling a lot of grain-based food (bread, rice, etc). And if family members are really worried about smell (and you’re really committed to composting food, which is more complicated than straight-up yard waste), I’ve heard great things about NatureMill composters. Bokashi composters are cheaper initia
