How to Make Compost for Your Garden • Tutorial with Niki Jabbour

Hi, I'm Niki Jabbour and today I want to talk about composting. Learning how to compost allows you to produce a rich amendment for your soil and grow a healthier and more bountiful garden. In this video, I want to talk about the different types of compost bins and piles you can create, what you should add and what you shouldn't add, and offer some pro tips to make you a master composter. Let's get started.

What is Composting?

First off, what is composting? It's the process of recycling organic matter like kitchen and garden scraps and turning them into a finished product that looks a lot like soil, dark and crumbly.

Adding compost to your garden is a great way to enrich the soil as it slowly releases its nutrients over several months. It also improves soil structure, breaking up clay soils and helping sandy soils retain nutrients. Adding compost to your garden beds also improves their moisture holding capacity which means you don't have to water as often. And because it's full of life, adding compost introduces beneficial organisms to your soil.

Types of Compost Bins

There are many types of bins available for composting. If you have a small space or an urban garden, you can use enclosed bins made of wire or plastic or even buy or DIY a tumbling bin. With more room, you can build a two or three bin system using wooden planks, pavers and other materials. Or maybe you don't want a bin at all and just want to pile up all your organic materials into a heap. That also works.

Ideally, a compost pile should be between three cubic feet and five cubic feet. If it's too small, it won't heat up enough to decompose the materials quickly. If it's too large, it's hard to turn and care for.

Place the bin in a spot where it's convenient to add materials. It should be close to the house and close to the garden.

What to add to your Compost Bin

OK, now that we know more about the types and sizes of compost bins and piles, let's learn about what to add to your compost bin. There are two main groups of materials, carbon suppliers and nitrogen suppliers.

The carbon materials, often called brown materials, include fallen leaves, straw and shredded newspapers. They're dry and often brown in color.

The nitrogen suppliers, on the other hand, are added to the bin in a fresh state, which is why they're often called the green materials. They contain a lot of moisture and are quick to decompose. Common green materials include vegetable scraps, grass trimmings, spent vegetable plants, seaweed, coffee grounds and manures.

The ideal compost pile has two to three times as many carbon ingredients as nitrogen ingredients. This balance promotes microbial activity, which can speed up the decomposition process.

If you can, build the pile all at once, layering the materials. For example, when building a new compost heap or filling a bin, I start with sticks at the bottom to leave space for air.

Next, I add a six to eight inch layer of brown materials, like leaves or straw. This is followed by a two to three inch layer of green materials, like food scraps or garden debris. Repeat the layering until the bin is full.

Water each layer lightly as it's added to ensure consistent moisture throughout the pile.

I also like to add a few shovelfuls of garden soil or finished compost to the pile as it's built to introduce beneficial composting microorganisms.

What to Avoid

There are a few items that I don't add to my compost bins. These include table scraps like meat, bones and other fatty foods because they can attract pests.

I also don't add diseased materials for my vegetable garden or weeds with seed heads because most backyard bins don't heat up enough to kill the pathogens or the weed seeds.

Caring for Your Compost Bin

When it comes to caring for a compost pile, you can just leave it and let it break down in time. Or, if you wish to create a usable compost relatively quickly, turn the pile regularly and monitor the soil moisture.

Turning introduces oxygen, which is necessary for the microbes to thrive. It also reduces the risk of a bad odor, which is a sign the pile is fermenting, not decomposing. Turn the compost one to two times a week.

When you turn your compost pile, inspect the moisture level. It should be like a damp sponge, neither too wet nor too dry. If it seems dry, give it a water.

It typically takes three to six months for a backyard compost pile to break down into finished compost. And that depends on many factors, including the materials used, time of year, size of the pile, how often it's turned and more. When my compost looks and smells like soil, I know it's ready.

Making your own compost isn't difficult and it can be a hands-on or hands-off project. It's super satisfying to be able to feed my soil homemade compost and a great way to recycle the organic waste materials from my kitchen and garden. Happy composting!

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