How do you make compost and how long does it take?

Question

I want to make some for my yard, but I don't know how to. I want to know how long it takes, what to put in it, where to store/make it. If any of you have suggestions on how to sell it too, that would be great.

Answer 1

Get a 10 Gallon bucket, keep it in a sunny place, and take a dump in it. voila

Answer 2

You can compost your grass clippings, raw veggie waste, egg shells, leaves, etc. in a black plastic lawn bag. Only fill it about half full, water it until it is very damp but not runny, and seal it with a twist tie. Leave them in a sunny place in your yard, and flip them over every few days. If it seems to be taking too long, or everything is just turning to slime, open the bags for a day or two to let them dry out a bit, then seal it back up.

Another way to do it is get a plastic 5 gallon bucket with a lid and drill little (no bigger than 1/4 inch) holes all over it including the bottom. Fill it about 1/3 full of damp shredded newspaper and grass clippings. Buy yourself about a pound of red worms and put your kitchen waste in the bucket. The worms can eat half their weight a day in food and will make some of the best "soil" you can find. Worm castings are perfectly balanced fertilizers and will not burn your plants even if you pile it on.

And you can use the worms for fishing bait or just drop them in the garden with the castings and they will enrich the soil there too.

The big plastic storage tubs work good for this too if you want a bigger composting bin.

Answer 3

Take a piece of flexible fencing (chicken wire fence works as well as other types of lightweight fencing), make a circle out of it so that the top and bottom are open. You can put most any yard waste such as leaves, grass clippings, garden waste in this but try not to put large twigs or branches as they take too long to decompose. Also shredded newspaper (make sure the ink is soy ink) and UNCOOKED kitchen scraps such as potato peels, corn husks (be aware that corn cobs take quite a bit of time to decompose also), loose tea, coffee grinds. Do not put cooked food in the compost heap as this will attract animals that you don't want around. Hope this helps in your endeavor. It really depends on where you are how long it takes for this to happen. You will need to turn the compost every month or so and you do this by taking the wire fencing off and placing it close by and using a pitchfork to put it back in the fencing so basically what was on the bottom is now on the top.....

Answer 4

All of these excellent answers will give you great results. Put all of your compost material (no butter, oil, meat,fish or leftovers that contain them) into a round wire mesh container from a length of fencing material that has been connected. OR get four pallets from a shipping area: connect three by nailing them together and attache the fourth with hinges on one side and a hook latch on the other so you can swing the door open to mix or remove. Keep your compost moist (if you pick up a handful, you should be able to squeeze some moisture out of it--but not soggy.) The grass clippings (nitrogren) will get your mixture really cooking.

Answer 5

I compost on a small scale in my yard. You can buy a commercial composter, from several sources. My town sold them a few years ago, and I bought mine from them. You can put in almost any vegetable matter, and newspaper. I usually include paper from my shredder once in a while. Stay away from meat fats, dog and cat feces, and left over foods. You can put in coffee grounds, eggshells, fruit rinds. My composter is in a semi-shady place in the yard. The length of time depends upon conditions where you are, usually three to six weeks. You can find a lot of information on line.

Answer 6

Composting is a great idea and the process can take as little as 3 weeks. This requires that you are turning and working the compost a lot. Grab your pitch fork and head here:

http://journeytoforever.org/compost.html

Then, head here:

http://www.mastercomposter.com/

Answer 7

I start my compost in the fall when the leaves fall from the trees. I rake them around my tree.(I have one on one side of my back yard). Through the winter I turn them and add egg shells every week(I save from breakfast thru the week) banana peel, cabbage, potato skins, get the picture? Keep it watered every so often, by spring I have composted dirt.

Answer 8

you build a mixture of greens (like fresh cut grass), and browns (like newspaper) to attain a carbon/nitrogen mixture in the proper proportions that will generate microbial activity producing heat, and eventually compost.

Aeration and proper moisture amounts are critical for the microbes to be able to thrive.

It can attain compost status in a very short time with diligent care, or it can take a long time if left unattended (like in nature).