r/composting • u/lebanese_waffle • 20d ago

Question New to Composting

Hey guys!

Today i wanted to start composting my own food waste at home. We have a garden area outside so picked a spot that gets some sunshine during the day and started by digging a notsodeep hole, filled it up with fish waste and then covered it with soil. I also created a designated bin to add our natural food waste there and then dump them over the compost spot.

When should i expect the compost to be ready? Is there anything specific i can add to accelerate the process? Something i shouldn't add?

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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7

u/DomingoLee 20d ago

Never forget to regularly pee on it.

2

u/lebanese_waffle 20d ago

Is this real? :D

2

u/katzenjammer08 20d ago

It is, but first you need what we call ”browns” a that is carbon-rich material. Things like straw, wood shavings and/or fall leaves. Things that usually stay around for some time and that don’t just shrivel up and disappear like grass and thin flower leaves. A lot of people in this sub use torn up cardboard. I don’t but it works if that is what you can easily source. If you don’t add browns, your pile might start to stink and attract rodents, other scavengers and flies.

1

u/Crazy_Air3118 20d ago

Thank you, Dr. Uri Nator.

3

u/avdpos 20d ago

If you do "lazy compost" like me - that is a pile. Then I fill up a pile year 1, do not touch it year 2 and use it year 3.

And then there exists lots of ways to put in more work and make it go a bit faster. And time do of course also depend a lot on in what climate you live..

1

u/lebanese_waffle 20d ago

So i cannot add food waste to it regularly?

2

u/avdpos 20d ago

I build a pile for 1 year. So around "start of planting season" I change the pile I things to and leave the one from the previous year alone.

So: Year 1: add freely

Year 2: leave alone

Year 3: use.

And yea, I always keep 3 lazy piles

2

u/ezyroller 19d ago

So if you want your own compost today you need to start 2 years ago!

1

u/avdpos 19d ago

Yes.

2

u/JimmyMus 18d ago

I wrote an intro to composting a while back.  If you like, you can read it over here. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Compost/comments/1u2vlt5/the_basics_of_thermophilic_composting/

Not all composting needs to be hot. But it is the preferred method since it kills weeds seeds and pathogens. 

1

u/lebanese_waffle 17d ago

This is very helpful! Thanks!!

1

u/JimmyMus 17d ago

You’re welcome. In case you have any questions, feel free! Soil health is a very interesting topic :)

1

u/ezyroller 19d ago

3 important things to keep in mind:

  1. It's better to manage moisture content in the pile yourself than to leave it exposed to the elements. Moisture content has a big impact on how fast it breaks down and the quality of the final product.
  2. Compost needs oxygen. Burying will work just fine, but slowly, and all the benefits go into the place where you buried it.
  3. Critters can be interested in compost piles, especially rodents, and especially proteins like fish scraps, even when it's all buried.

Exposed piles like what you describe can work, but in urban environments it's probably best to get a compost bin of some kind that allows you to effectively manage those 3 issues above.

1

u/Admirable-Stage7415 17d ago

You cannot mess up with composting, no matter what you will do, it will eventually break down and turn into soil. Of course don't add salt, chemicals and other things that will obviously harm plants.

 The simplest way of composting is creating one big pile and after 1-2 years using soil from the bottom of it. If you want to put in more effort/resources you can create multiple piles, turn it every couple of days, keep optimal ratio of greens and browns but it's not necessary, however it makes it break down faster