 At the KC Flower, Lawn and Garden show, I learned a lot from folks who already knew how to compost. |
 Scores of thousands of kids got their first clue about organic recycling from The Composters Project.
Mixing green moist matter and dry brown matter is the key and this lesson will help you through the process. The goal is a harvest of rich black compost that will put vitality into your garden plants.
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 This shows my screen, and gloves. The sticks and uncomposted material won’t go through the screen and get returned to a working pile.
The year typically starts with the fall season because that’s when the bulk of the material is generated. Before Kansas City banned the landfilling of leaves, they constituted 40% of the fall trash.
In most years here in the Midwest there will be grass growing well into the fall. I try to let the grass get tall enough that the leaves fall into the grass blades.
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 This mix of greens and browns are nearly perfect for making compost. Add water as you build the pile. |
 My mower is a perfect shredder, chopping the leaves and grass and mixing them in my bagger |
 I fill my wheelbarrow and take it to the compost bin
Once it’s in the pile and well watered, get ready for the rapid heating and decomposition that follows. |
 The pile will shrink by more than half as the bacteria eat the ingredients and give off carbon dioxide. The light, fluffy density before will increase to a more soil-like texture and appearance afterwards.
You can leave this fall pile to mature over the winter or keep it active by turning and adding more ingredients. Either way you’ll be well on the way to having compost by spring. If you’re going to let it be for the winter, consider covering the pile with plastic to keep it from soaking and freezing solid.
I like to stockpile leaves over the winter so that I have some in the spring when things green up. I don’t have many big trees on my lot so I cruise the streets looking for bags of clean leaves. Then I scoop them up and take them home. (I’m a leaf thief.) |
 These bags will go into the pile to balance the grass clippings of summer.
In the spring, examine the pile to see what time and the composting critters have accomplished. The richer materials are at the bottom. If it doesn’t look like what it used to be, it’s well along in the process. Throughout the spring and summer add green and browns together. Weeds from the garden make a great “green” in addition to grass clippings. |
 Try to harvest the weeds before they form viable seeds.
Mix them into the pile or just cover them with dry brown materials to hold in their moisture. Add water as the pile dries out throughout the hot days of summer. |
 By fall you’ll have great stuff to add to your garden or flower beds.
Whether you buy compost from the local organic recycler or make your own, composting is truly rewarding. |
 This pile goes directly on the garden.
For $16 I can get a generous cubic yard of compost from the local Resource Recovery Park. It has lots of sticks in it and I sometimes worry about pesticide residues, but for building great soil and changing the clay yard to a wonderful garden, you can’t beat it.
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 The goal is this: rich soil with lots of life in it and healthy plants that benefit from that life. |
