All of us would like to use the best materials in order to have rich quality compost. Therefore, keeping that in mind this article has been written to guide you in utilizing your household composting materials, not all just the ones that are good to make the best compost. Making your own compost at home is definitely an eco-friendly habit allowing you to reduce the overfills in our landfills. A couple of years ago I had read an article that spoke about how almost 60% of our household trash consists of compostable wastes. Now imagine if we recycle these compostable wastes and make nutrient-rich compost, we would be feeding our plants good food as well as reducing the build-up in our landfills.
The process of composting is the decomposition of all organic materials. At the end of the decomposition, the substance that we get is known as compost. All gardens benefit from adding compost to the soil because compost offers plenty of nutrients to the plants that they require improving-
- The physical characteristics of the soil
- The capacity of the soil to retain nutrients and water
- Increases aeration of the soil
Let’s look at the various materials that you could utilize from your home to make nutrient-rich compost.
Kitchen scraps as the Best Compost
Kitchen scraps you will have in plenty, and they also make up of rich materials that include vegetable and fruit trimmings, eggshells, coffee filters, coffee grounds, leftover food, and more. All these items are excellent for your compost. I always recommend to keep away from animal products that include dairy products, meat or fat trimmings, and even grease, this is because these items do not break down quickly and in addition, they also attract pests and rodents. After a certain point of time, these materials begin to release terrible odor especially while they decompose.
Dry leaves as the Best Compost
I’m sure you would have plenty of them especially during fall and instead of just dumping them out you can now add them to your pile of compost. Many leaves tend to decompose quickly and thoroughly especially if they are shredded before you can add them to the heap. Now in case you do not own a shredder then you can run them over with a lawnmower, you must make sure that the leaves are broken down before you adding to the pile.
Grass clippings as the Best Compost
They have high contents of nitrogen, and they are excellent for compost. You can try and mix fresh, green grass with the soil in order to create a compacting when it settles, preventing the flow of air and reduces the process.
Manure as the Best Compost
Horse, cow, and chicken manure are excellent sources of nitrogen. Dog and cat feces must be avoided mostly because they consist of organisms known to spread diseases.
Sawdust as the Best Compost
If you have a sawmill around you, you would find sawdust in plenty. I always recommend considering composting the sawdust prior to the addition of it into the garden mostly because it will tie up all the nitrogen into the soil during decomposition.
All these materials that I have mentioned above are extremely rich and very useful for your compost. And always remember for decomposition to happen you must have a couple of elements and conditions that include; nitrogen, water, air, microorganisms, and organic materials.
Well, that’s all for this article guys and I hope it was helpful, giving you more clarity on using the best organic materials for your compost. Happy composting!