Learn Composting
Twelve chapters that fit a composting system to your household: the space you have, the scraps and leaves you make, and the attention you can give it. A freezer bag and a drop-off site, a worm bin under the sink, a closed bin in a small yard or a hot pile you turn each week, with the science kept to what each decision needs.
Describe your place and your scraps. Say where a system could sit, how much attention you will give it, and what you will put in. Every green box in this manual, the methods table and your plan will then speak to your household. It stays in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Find what you need
Open the manual at the chapter that fits what is in front of you.
- Starting from nothing
- Quick start: the first weekDescribe your place and your scrapsChoose your systemWhat goes in
- Which method suits my place
- Methods comparedChoose your systemThe hot pileWorm bins
- I live in an apartment or have no yard
- Kitchen and collectionWorm binsBokashi and buryingAsk who decides before putting anything outside
- I have a pile of leaves, grass or outside hay
- Leaves, grass and yardThe slow pileTest hay, straw or manure for herbicide
- Something smells or something is eating it
- TroubleshootingTroubleshooting (table)Rats, raccoons and bears
- Is it done, and what do I do with it
- Finished compostThe germination testHarvest and test sheets
How to use this manual
Open this manual at the chapter you need; nothing here has to be read in order. Every chapter opens with Start here, the few steps that are the minimum for a first pass, and a Go deeper switch hides the optional depth until you want it. Fill in setup once and the green boxes in every chapter speak to your household. Where one chapter assumes another, it says so at the foot of the page.
What each chapter has:
- Start here: the three to five steps that are the minimum for a first pass, fitted to your setup. Sections marked Go deeper are optional, and a switch on each chapter hides them.
- Understand: the concept and the judgment behind it, explained from fundamentals outward.
- See it: a worked example, and free demonstrations chosen so you see it done well before you try it.
- Practice: an exercise you can run with what you have, usually producing something you keep.
- Your system: a green box that translates the chapter to the system you described in setup.
- Check your work: criteria, a worked example, common mistakes, and what is still unresolved.
- A short knowledge check and a scenario with feedback on each path.
Mark it up as you read. Beside every heading there is a flag to bookmark the section and a Note button; select any passage to highlight it or attach a note. Everything you mark collects on My notes & bookmarks, grouped by chapter and printable, saved only in this browser and carried in your compost notebook export.
Contents
Choosing and siting
- Choosing a composting system for your space, materials and timeCompare drop-off, worm bins, bokashi, bins and hot piles by the space, scraps and attention you have, then write one method and the reason on a system plan.
- Where to put a compost bin, and which bin keeps pests outAsk who decides, choose a site with a checklist, and pick or build a bin that suits your space and keeps rats, raccoons and bears out of your compost.
Materials and collection
- What to compost: greens, browns and what stays outSort your scraps and yard materials into greens and browns, log one week of scraps in gallons, and write the stays-out list for your composting method.
- Collecting food scraps: the kitchen container, drop-off and curbsideSet up a kitchen scrap container that does not smell or breed fruit flies, and learn to find and use a food scrap drop-off or curbside program near you.
- Composting leaves, grass and yard trimmings, and the herbicide checkStockpile leaves as browns, decide where grass clippings go, and test outside hay, straw, manure and clippings for herbicides that survive composting.
Methods
- Cold composting: add, cover and waitRun a bin by adding scraps, covering them with browns and checking moisture by squeeze, with a winter plan and a browns supply sized for the year.
- Hot composting: building a batch that heatsDecide whether hot composting fits your week, then build a batch of about a cubic yard, log its temperature and turn it by the thermometer reading.
- Worm composting: setting up and feeding a worm binDecide whether a worm bin fits your space, then size it from your logged scraps, add bedding and red wiggler worms, and feed it small amounts to start.
- Bokashi, trench composting and in-ground digestersLearn how bokashi, trench composting and in-ground digesters work, what each accepts, and how long to wait before planting where you buried scraps.
Keeping it going
- Compost troubleshooting: smells, pests, heat and moistureFind your symptom in a table, make one change, log it and check again in a week, for smelly piles, cold piles, flies, pests, worm bins and bokashi buckets.
- When compost is finished and how to use itRecognize finished compost by its signs, run a germination test, cure and screen it, and use it as mulch, in beds or in containers with the right cautions.
- Your composting system: the season review and the compost notebookReview your composting system after its first stretch, adjust it for the seasons, put the year's tasks on a calendar and export your compost notebook.
Common questions
How do I start composting at home?
Start with what you make and where it could go, not with a bin. Log one week of food scraps, list the dry leaves, paper and cardboard you can get, and find out whether your city collects food scraps or runs a drop-off. Then choose one method and write it on a plan. Choose your system and What goes in do this, and the quick start puts the first week on one page.
Can I compost in an apartment?
Yes, in several ways. A freezer container emptied at a drop-off site or into a curbside program needs no equipment beyond the container. A worm bin or a bokashi bucket can sit under a sink or in a closet. Kitchen and collection, Worm bins and Bokashi and burying cover each, and Site and bin covers asking your landlord or building before you put anything outside.
What can and can't go in a compost bin?
It depends on the method. Most backyard guidance keeps meat, fish, dairy, oils, pet waste and diseased plants out of a pile, and adds fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, dry leaves and plain cardboard. Bokashi buckets and some programs take more. What goes in and the materials table give one default per item and the method it applies to.
How do I keep rats out of my compost bin?
Keep meat, dairy and grease out, bury or cover every addition of food with browns, and use an enclosed bin with no gaps over 1/4 inch and a hardware cloth floor. Construction reduces access; it does not promise that no rats will come. Site and bin covers bins and wildlife, and Troubleshooting covers a bin that already has pests.
Why does my compost smell?
A rotten-egg or sour smell usually means the pile is too wet or packed down; an ammonia smell usually means too much nitrogen-rich material. Both are common starting points, not certain causes. Mix in dry, bulky browns, keep rain off, and check again in a week. Troubleshooting and the troubleshooting table go symptom by symptom.
How long does it take to make compost?
Sources range from about six weeks for a hot pile that is turned often to a year or more for a pile left alone, and finished compost then needs weeks of curing. Your pile may take longer than any figure. Finished compost teaches the signs and a germination test, which settle when it is ready better than a date does.
Is a compost tumbler better than a bin?
Neither is better for every household. A tumbler is sealed, fits small spaces and is harder for animals to open, but holds a small volume and may not heat in winter. A bin holds more and costs less. Site and bin compares bin types and The slow pile covers running a tumbler.
How do I start a worm bin?
Use red wiggler worms, a bin about one square foot of surface for each pound of food scraps you add a week, damp shredded bedding and small feedings buried under the bedding. Start with less food than the worms could eat. Worm bins sizes the bin from your scrap log and walks through the first week.
Can I compost compostable bags and plates at home?
Not safely assumed. EPA lists compostable bags and food service ware among the items to avoid in backyard piles, and the certification marks that test for home bins are limited to certain products. Check your drop-off program's rules before using any liner. What goes in and Kitchen and collection cover labels and liners.
How do I know when compost is ready to use?
Finished compost is dark and crumbly, smells like soil, shows no recognizable food and no longer heats after mixing. A germination test with radish or cress seeds adds a check on whether it is mature enough to use around plants. Finished compost walks through both.