My Composting System

I compost! You compost! We all compost! How do you compost?

Because I have a large property, I use simple piles instead of the black compost bins. I don't even bother with building a container out of wood or chicken wire - I'm too lazy! My piles are hidden between a row of evergreens and the shed near the back of the yard.

I use a 2-pile system.

On the right pile is where I place my 2008 compostables (leaf waste, garden clippings, veggie kitchen waste, and so on). I keep throwing things on top of the pile and try to alternate between green and brown material. I will continue to use the right pile until spring of 2009. After then, I will leave this pile alone and let it cook next summer. In the winter, I still compost and access my piles with a path in the snow. The local wildlife really appreciates munching on my kitchen scraps in the dead of winter. The pile on the right will likely grow to about 8 feet high and just as wide.

The left pile is my 2007 pile. I let this pile cook all summer long and now it's ready to spread around the gardens. It shrunk down to about a foot or two high by four feet wide and I used the pitchfork to stir it maybe once or twice during the summer.

Ideally, a composting system should be in full sun and kept moist. However, even though my piles only receive a couple of hours of sunlight per day, I still get the end result - It just takes a little more time.

Some things simply won't decompose! Egg shell, peach pit, and plant tag.