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GARBAGE SKOWS
Plain Vanilla Composting
This is the straightforward composting method that we all know. It involves designating a 25 sq. ft. (or smaller) area in your garden for a compost pit. It shouldn’t get any larger than that because then it’ll be difficult aerating the pile.
Layer organic material according to this order: the browns at the bottom, followed by greens, then topped by soil. thhis type of compost takes about 3-4 months.
Trench Composting
This composting method involves digging a trench about 3 ft deep and burying kitchen scraps and vegetable waste in it.
Cover each new layer with soil. When the trench is full, wait a couple of months before sowing or planting as you would in a regular garden bed.
You can start trench composting around fall to take advantage of the compost in the spring planting season.
3-Bin Composting
Follow the same layering in Plain Vanilla Composting but this time, just keep on adding materials on a bin and when it’s full, fill up the next and then the next. The 30:1 browns-to-greens ratio is a very important component of this method as you could end up with a rotted, smelly pile that’ll be useless in your garden. This composting method takes about 3 years to mature because you dont really do anything.
Worm Composting
Otherwise known as vermicomposting, this composting method yields the most fertile soil improver ever.
You can’t use your garden variety earthworm. For worm composting, you’ll need what you call red wiggler earthworms or redworms. They’re also called tiger worms. They also often hide in mature compost heaps or manure piles but you can also order them from the Internet.
Use boxes, plastic bins or crates to house your worms. Vegetables and similar kitchen scraps come with a lot of moisture so make sure that your worm bins have adequate drainage. If moisture collects, the worms can drown.
Quick Composting
If you don’t want to wait 3 years you can try this quick composting method. Though it brings the fastest results, it’s also the most labor intensive.
Use the same ratios of layering materials but before building your pile, shred all organic materials into small pieces. Make sure that you also turn the compost heap as regularly as twice a week so that it’s always hot, speeding up the breakdown of materials.
Anaerobic Composting
A no-sweat composting method, Anaerobic organisms are necessary to break down organic material. You won’t need to turn the pile but it won’t take 3 years to get compost ready.
What you do is place your layers of browns, greens and soil in heavy-duty black garbage bags, tied very tight, or well-sealed compost bins and let them sit in a cool place in your garden. Leave alone for 6 months, which is the time it takes for compost to mature.
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