Turning Waste to Organic Fertilizer


Composting is basically the cheap way of transforming your organic wastes from your kitchen likewise those from your garden into a rich soil amendment known as Humus, a normally dark crumbly organic fertilizer but with nice earthly scent. Organic wastes that are appropriate in making compost include vegetables and fruit peelings, coffee grounds, unused paper, dried leaves, dried twigs, and grass clippings. Others like dairy or meat products and weed seeds should not be included.

Compost is basically the best way of getting rid of organic wastes and converting them naturally into soil nutrients that help improve soil structure and increasing the soil’s water holding capacity. It has been a long-standing method and has been commonly used in crop production for many years now.

Main factors to consider in making compost
There are five main factors to consider to making effective and efficient compost.

Food
The fifty-fifty rule is applied. Make a perfect mixture of materials that consists of ½ green (nitrogen-based material) and ½ brown (carbon-based material) by weight.

Air
The organisms that live inside the compost would definitely need air to survive. To provide proper aeration in your composite, turn or mix the pile 3-5 times every season by using either a garden hoe, shovel, or pitchfork.

Water
Keep it moist but not damp. Aside from air, the organisms living inside your compost would also need water. Make sure to pour in enough amounts of water otherwise you will cause the organisms to drown.

Surface area
Small can be best. Make sure to shred or cut up the organic wastes before placing into the compost bin. By doing this, you are increasing the surface area and speeding up occurrence of decomposition.

Bin size
Size or volume matters. An ideal bin would be between 3’ x 3’ x ’3 and 5’x 5’ x 5.’ Note that a bin that is too small cannot retain enough amount of heat, whereas a bin that is too large inhibits enough amount of air. Managing 2 or 3 medium-sized bins may actually be easier than managing a single large one.

How to compost
Following are some basic steps to making your compost.
Start your compost with a layer of organic wastes (e.g., fruit and vegetable peelings, leaves, coffee grounds, leaves, grass clippings). Continue adding of organic materials until you reach a six-inched layer, then cover with 3-6 inches mass of manure, soil, or finished compost.
Make sure to make alternate layers of organic matter and soil or manure until the pile is about 3 feet tall. Achieving this height for your compost is ideal to producing enough heat during decomposition.
You can use good compost activators (e.g., barnyard manure, bonemeal, alfalfa meal) to get the pile working and speed up decomposition.

Composting can be specifically beneficial to our soil environment. This method helps improve soil structure and in increasing the soil’s capacity to hold water. Also, composting encourages organisms such as earthworms and others whose activities help plants or vegetations to grow healthy and strong, an effect that is also beneficial to us, humans.