By Jill Chase

If you garden at all, you probably know the power of compost. If your soil is too sandy and free draining—compost is the answer. If your soil is heavy clay—compost is the answer. Basically every garden can be improved by compost, but not enough people use it, much less make it. 

Most of us drive to a garden center and pick up a plastic bag of compost that was delivered to that garden center by truck, and then we drive home again. Meanwhile we drive our kitchen and yard waste to the dump, where it gets picked up and delivered to an expensive landfill.

This is nuts. Food waste is the largest component of landfills, and over 40 percent of it comes from homes. Once in the landfill, it produces 11 percent of the world’s greenhouse gasses. This is an easily solved equation: the nutrients never need to leave your property. Homemade compost is the answer.

Compost is garden alchemy, turning food scraps to nutrients, yard waste to black gold. But don’t be afraid, this is achievable magic. You don’t have to have a wand or have gone to Hogwarts to be a master at creating compost. 

First, let me dispel a couple of myths. Compost made properly does not smell, and it does not attract bears or other animals. Also, compost doesn’t have to be done one specific way. It is not a one size fits all situation. Let me tell you about three different composting methods I have going on; one of them is bound to fit you. 

My main compost pile, for the bulk of my garden waste, is a three-sided wooden structure four feet tall and deep and eight feet wide, open on the front and top. I build the pile in the autumn when the leaves come down, turn it in the spring, and it’s ready to use by the end of summer. 

My second is a compost tumbler. This makes a much smaller amount of compost at a time and might be right if you have a small garden and kitchen scraps. The tumbler is basically a barrel on its side on rollers. It’s small enough for you to give it a little roll when the mood strikes, which oxygenates it and speeds up the process. 

My third composting method is my vermicomposting (worm farming) box, which I keep in the basement. The worms compost my kitchen scraps year round so I don’t have to schlep stuff out in the snow to my regular compost pile. A vermicomposting system is easily obtained online, compact, and perfect for someone who mainly has kitchen scraps. The result is luscious, dark, fresh-smelling worm castings that can go back out into the garden or be used for house plants.

The recipe is simple, no matter which method: a ratio of 25 parts carbon (brown) to one part nitrogen (green). (See sidebar for examples.)

If you make layers of green and brown and keep it a little moist (rain will usually suffice), the bacteria, fungi and wee bugs will do the magic. At times you may notice that the material is heating up, This is normal and an indication of which bacterial stage is at work. Oxygen can be added by turning a pile or rolling the tumbler once in a while. The smaller the pieces of plant material, the faster it will turn to compost, so mowing over fall leaves is a great idea. Don’t add anything you know to be invasive.

It need not be any more complicated than that, but if you want to develop a closer relationship with your soil and its microorganisms, I recommend reading “Let it Rot,” by Stu Campbell. 

A healthy soil is a living, breathing thing, and more compost is the answer.

Carbon material (brown)
Dry leaves
Saw dust
Straw 
Wood ashes (in moderation)
Shredded paper (avoid colored and glossy papers)
Buckweat, cocoa or rice hulls
Spent hops (brewery waste)

Nitrogen materials (green)
Vegetable peels and stalks
Grass clippings 
Green leaves and garden waste
Coffee grounds
Coffee grounds
Banana peels
Seaweed
Apple cores
Flowers
Tea leaves
Chicken poo (or waste from any other vegetarian animal)
Basically any raw kitchen scraps that don’t contain added fat or meat