Homemade compost is a vital ingredient of any sustainable garden, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach to making it. There are several types of composting worth exploring – each with its own pros and cons. If you have a good-sized garden, you can exploit various methods, but even gardeners with little to no outdoor space can practice some form of composting to cut down on food waste.
Whatever the method, there are some key principles when learning how to compost at home. You need to know what can be composted, as not just anything can go into the pile. Most kitchen scraps can be added, with some notable exceptions like meat, along with certain types of garden waste and other biodegradable materials. But you can’t just toss it on any old way, or the microbial magic won’t happen. You need to get the right balance of compost greens and browns, which are nitrogen-rich materials like food waste and grass clippings, and carbon-rich materials like paper and dried leaves.
Once you understand what ingredients to add to the pile, everything else will fall into place. You can use this knowledge to experiment with a range of composting types to make your own “black gold”.
Find the best composter to start making your own garden gold – from an in-ground worm composter to a state-of-the-art electric model that nurtures microbes.
Best Types of Composting
Each composting method has pros and cons, but all will eventually yield the most nutritious loamy soil improver imaginable. When choosing the best type of composting from these tried-and-trusted methods, consider the amount of available space, your budget, how long you’re willing to wait, and how much work you can put in.
Traditional Compost Bin or Pile
Learning how to start a compost bin or pile is an achievable goal for most gardeners, and requires just a little outdoor space. While it can be as simple as piling up food scraps and garden waste in the corner of the yard, adding a bin or enclosure is tidier and more effective.
Most gardeners choose to buy a bin, but learning how to make a compost bin is easy, with various possibilities to suit every ability level – from an attractive wood slat design to a compost trash can.
When choosing the best compost bin for your needs, consider size and compost accessibility. A width and depth of 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2m) is ideal, but 3 x 3 feet (90 x 90cm) is usable for a small garden. The ideal height is 3 to 4 feet (0.9-1.2m). You will need easy access to the compost to allow for turning and harvesting. This can be provided through a door, hatch, or open-fronted design.
But it’s not all about the bin – it’s what you put in it that matters. The general rule is to aim for a rough balance of two to three times as much brown material as green. How precise you are about this, and how much effort you put into maintenance, will affect how hot the pile gets – and thus how soon the compost is ready. Broadly speaking, there are two approaches to this: hot and cold composting.
Hot Composting
Hot composting prioritizes getting the right materials balance in the pile and keeping it moist and aerated. This will cause the pile to heat up, breaking down materials and killing many weed seeds and harmful pathogens. When done correctly, the method yields finished compost in as little as eight weeks.
It’s best to layer materials when adding them to the pile, similar to the lasagna composting method. The material should be shredded or cut into small pieces. Start with a layer of brown material, moisten it with water, then add a thinner layer of green and water again. Keep layering up until you have filled the bin at least halfway.
Check the temperature every day with a thermometer. The ideal compost temperature is about 130°F (55°C) – if the temperature gets too high or low, then turning compost will introduce oxygen and help to balance it. Some gardeners use a compost turner to make the process easier.
Cold Composting
Cold composting is a passive, add-as-you-go method that’s perfect for gardeners seeking a more hands-off approach. Simply add suitable materials to the pile as and when they are ready and leave them to decompose.
In this method, there are no strict rules about materials balance and turning, but it takes a lot longer than hot composting – a year or more – and the pile may not get hot enough to kill weed seeds or pathogens.
Both hot and cold composting are effective in the long run, but the more effort you put into maintaining the compost, the sooner it will be ready to use in the garden. With either approach, you can dispose of kitchen waste day-to-day by composting in a bag, kitchen caddy, or 5-gallon bucket, before adding it to the compost bin.
Vermicomposting
Take your composting to the next level with vermicomposting, which uses red wriggler worms to quickly break down the material in the pile. As a byproduct they also produce worm castings, which can be harvested to use as a super-nutritious fertilizer or turned into worm tea to gives plants a boost when watering. It’s more effort than traditional composting, but the rewards are great – producing top-quality compost in just six to eight weeks.
First, you need to learn how to make a worm bed in the garden, or buy or make DIY worm bins that can be used indoors or outdoors. Alternatively, an in-ground worm composter, such as the Vego design in the Gardening Know How Shop, is the perfect solution. Simply bury it in the ground, add compost worms and scraps, and let them get to work.
As well as kitchen scraps, worms need a layer of bedding material, such as shredded newspaper, straw, sawdust, or dry grass clippings. In contrast to traditional composting, worms need twice as much green material as brown. As living creatures, worms need more care and attention than with other methods. Follow guidelines about what to feed compost worms and avoid the pile getting too hot, or it could kill them.
In-Ground Composting
Why make compost in a bin, when you can do it directly in the earth? In-ground composting – also known as trench composting – involves burying organic waste in the soil and letting it decompose right where you want to use it. It’s simple, low-maintenance, attracts fewer pests, and allows for a wider range of compost ingredients, such as meat.
However, it’s not a workable long-term solution for most small yards, as you need space to dig compost trenches that aren’t directly next to existing plants. It’s ideal for larger gardens and for preparing bare areas for future planting, or for getting a vegetable garden ready for the next growing season (don’t add meat if you intend to plant vegetables). Waste buried in the fall should have broken down in time for spring planting.
The best method is to dig a hole or trench around 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61cm) deep, fill the bottom 6 inches (15cm) with waste, add water, and backfill the pit. The materials will decompose faster if they are moist, so don't be afraid to soak them with the hose before backfilling the pit. To minimize weeds and further enrich the soil, plant the area with a cover crop after backfilling in the fall, then turn it into the soil in the spring.
Electric Composting
The latest innovation in the composting world, electric composters are countertop appliances that break down kitchen scraps – including meat and small bones – in a matter of hours, using heat and aeration to dry out the material. They are ideal indoor composting solutions, although the product name is a little misleading, as the finished product is not yet “compost”. Rather, it is crumbly, dehydrated food waste that must be cured in the garden or on an existing compost pile before being used to plant.
The best electric composters, such as the Reencle Home Composter, available in the Gardening Know How Shop, introduce microbes to the process, to speed up decomposition. The appliance also breaks down the waste at a slightly lower temperature than other models, which avoids killing the beneficial compost bacteria. Once the food waste is broken down, it can be used immediately as mulch. If intended for planting, it first needs to be cured for about three weeks by being buried in unplanted soil or added to the compost bin.
Bokashi Composting
Waiting for waste to decompose isn’t the only way to compost. The Japanese method of Bokashi composting relies on fermentation to break down food waste, producing finished compost in just one or two months. You don’t need much to start – just a couple of buckets with tight-fitting lids and drainage taps, and a packet of bokashi bran, which contains microorganisms to kickstart fermentation. Specially designed kits can be purchased fairly cheaply.
After each meal, add food scraps, including meat, dairy, and bones, to the bucket and sprinkle a layer of bran over the top. Keep layering it up until the bin is full, then compress the waste down to minimize air gaps, and seal the lid. The contents will ferment in two to three weeks.
During the fermentation process, the bucket needs to be drained using the tap, and this liquid is a potent fertilizer that must be diluted before being applied to plants. The resulting picked food waste needs to be buried in unplanted soil or added to a compost bin to cure for a further two to four weeks before being used for planting.
Drunken Compost
Though a light-hearted term, drunken composting has serious speed benefits, using beer (plus a little sugar and ammonia) to produce finished compost in as little as two weeks. In a bucket, mix one tall can of any beer and mix with 8 ounces (250ml) of ammonia, and either a can of soda or 3 tablespoons of sugar mixed with 12 ounces (355ml) of water. Use a hose spray bottle to apply the solution onto a compost pile with a ratio of 1:3 greens to browns, mix it in with a fork, then sit back and wait.
Leaf Mold
Leaf mold is prized by many gardening experts for its soil conditioning properties, including improved soil structure, water retention, and aeration. It also helps suppress weeds and support a thriving ecosystem within the soil. It’s one of the easiest types of compost to make, using leaves from the fall cleanup.
To make leaf mold, rake the leaves and put them into large garbage bags. Tie the tops tightly, and poke holes in the bags to allow air circulation. Store the bags in a sheltered spot out of direct sunlight, and they will break down in around a year. You can shorten this process to just a few months – in time for spring planting – if you shred the leaves before bagging.
The finished soft, crumbly compost makes a wonderful addition to garden beds, or can be used as free mulch.
Compost Tea
So, you’ve made your compost. How about turning some of it into a powerful liquid fertilizer? Compost tea is made by steeping or brewing compost in water before applying it to the garden to boost plant health and soil vitality. It can be used as a soil drench or a foliar spray.
There are two main ways to make compost tea: passive steeping and aerated brewing. The passive method simply involves placing compost in a porous bag and soaking it in water (ideally rainwater) for about two weeks, with occasional stirring. Then the bag is taken out, and the water is used in the garden. Aim for a 5:1 ratio of water to compost.
Aerated compost tea is a faster process that involves oxygenating the mix with an air pump while adding nutrient boosters such as kelp or fish hydrolysate. This method speeds up microbial growth, so that the tea is ready to use in just a few days.
Choosing Between Different Types of Composting
When choosing the best type of composting for you, several considerations will help guide your choice:
- Space: A traditional hot or cold composting pile takes up a lot of space in the garden, while others can be done indoors – such as electric composting.
- Budget: You can make a compost pile in the corner of the garden without spending a penny, but certain methods require a financial outlay to buy the equipment.
- Speed: How long are you prepared to wait? Slow composting methods can take a year or more, while others produce plantable compost in just a few weeks.
- Maintenance: Some methods require regular checks and maintenance to ensure the compost is developing properly, while cold and in-ground composting are almost completely hands-off. In particular, vermicomposting requires closer attention to ensure the worms are thriving, while a hot compost heap needs to be nurtured at a consistent temperature.
- Climate: The best composting method may be affected by your local climate. For instance, cold composting will take a long time to be effective in cold regions, while vermicomposting experiences more challenges in both hot and cold climates. Indoor solutions like electric composting or bokashi are ideal winter composting shortcuts.
- Problems: Traditional piles are more prone to common compost problems, such as bad smells and attracting pests. If you don't want to have to deal with these issues, then choose a method where the waste is sealed, such as electric or bokashi composting.
If you try a composting solution that doesn't work for you, then don't be discouraged – try another option more compatible with your lifestyle and space. Soon you will be proudly harvesting your homemade organic compost and seeing the rewards of enriching your soil, with bigger, healthier plants, and more flowers and vegetables.
More Inspiration
- Learn 8 clever ways to speed up composting. These easy solutions will help you grow an organic garden in record time.
- For more ideas to help you create a more eco-friendly garden, visit our Sustainability Shop.
- Discover 12 common composting mistakes that will ruin your stash – and how to fix them.
- Sign up for the Gardening Know How newsletter for a regular dose of gardening advice and inspiration.
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