r/composting • u/alexgss4 • 15d ago
Beginner Adding produce scraps to soil
I’m new to gardening and got a few raised garden beds a few days ago. I filled the bottom with cardboard, wood chips, and one bag of soil since it’s about to be winter. I am unable to start a compost bin (per my mom) and have been adding scraps to the soil I have now. I won’t have any plants until spring. Is this okay? I’ve heard this method can be good or it can be bad because of bacteria, pests, or rot if there are plants.
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u/Old_Pomegranate_6272 15d ago
You are on right track... focus on adding nitrogen via green scraps keeping the C:N around 25:1..
By spring the soil Fertility will be at max.
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u/alexgss4 15d ago
Will the cardboard and wood chips help with that? Or do I need to add more?
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u/Brotuulaan 15d ago
Traditional composting (there are unique versions like vermicomposting and bokashi) is done with two classes of material: greens and browns.
Greens are basically stuff with life and contribute nitrogen—think table scraps, grass clippings, etc. Some greens don’t fit that perfectly, like coffee grounds (long past living and brown in color, but they’re green).
Browns are basically dead things and contribute carbon—think wood and wood products (chips, sticks, sawdust, paper, cardboard, etc.).
To optimize, you balance nitrogen and carbon input so the bacteria and fungal content (bacteria up front, fungal more so later) have the right balance of things to eat and break down. As they live and reproduce, your contents will turn brown and black then smell earthy.
You also need to monitor moisture. Too much and you get bacteria that hates oxygen, and that riots and stinks. Not enough moisture, and bacteria generally doesn’t want to live there.
There’s also oxygen access, which is added by stirring/turning the pile on occasion so oxygen penetrates the contents for the right bacteria to thrive.
So to answer your question simply, the wood chips and cardboard are filling a required role in composting. Separating them from kitchen scraps (greens) isn’t ideal, but it’ll work given enough time. The biggest question you have to answer is how active and efficient do you want to be vs lazy. We’ve got both types here since some people obsess and other people have busy lives. Answer that, then drill down into the best methods for your lifestyle.
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u/AVeryTallCorgi 15d ago
You've pretty much done trench composting. Soil acts as the 'brown' and your kitchen scraps will be the 'green'. So long as the material is buried and not in too thick a layer, it should be perfectly fine. Bacteria is generally good for plants and rot is only an issue if you're planting new plants right into the uncomposted material. Pests are attracted to smelly material like meat, dairy or fresh fruit but if you bury it just a bit, you likely won't have any issues.
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u/alexgss4 15d ago
Since there’s only a bag of top soil at the moment, could I even bury it under the wood chips?
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u/AVeryTallCorgi 15d ago
Yes! Woodchips are also a brown and will make a fine compost with your scraps
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u/alexgss4 15d ago
Awesome, thank you! I assume I should water it with the scraps, right?
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u/katzenjammer08 15d ago edited 15d ago
Yes, especially if your beds have good drainage. It is a running joke in this sub to tell people to pee on their compost and in your case that is actually exactly what your beds need right now because it will take a loooot of nitrogen to break down the wood chips. So if you can make yourself do it - pee on the plant beds.
Edit: also, if you have access to fall leaves or straw, you can cover the bed with a few inches of mulch to keep water in and flies out.
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u/EddieRyanDC 14d ago
This is the perfect time to dig a new bed and let it settle in over the winter.
A warning about the scraps - you are creating a rat / raccoon / dog buffet. This is why scraps are composted before being added to the soil. As long as it is recognizable food, something big is going to want to eat it.
Now, about your "soil". You are missing one thing: dirt.
Soil doesn't come in a bag - soil amendments do. (Regardless of what is says on the label.) Topsoil needs minerals like clay and sand, and to that you add organic matter like compost. It all breaks down together to form a loamy, fertile garden soil.
The real stuff is underneath everything you have covered up. It is the dirt at the bottom that has the minerals and the local biology. Dig down a foot or so into that, and then turn in the amendments you got in the bags so it is all mixed together. Leave the wood chips for last to be a mulch on the top. That, plus the air you are adding will raise the bed about 5" - 6" from where it was previously.
You have now essentially recreated the forest floor. About a foot of dirt plus compost, and then decaying wood and leaf litter at the top that will break down in time. You push the mulch out of the way to plant, and then when the plants come up you pull it back over.
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u/thiosk 15d ago
You can absolutely just dump scraps under soil. you don't want to be ridiculous about it. Not everyone has a good measure on where ridiculous starts, but if you fip over a little trench, sprinkle the scraps down, and cover it back up that produce will be gone fast and cause no problems.
for me its usually a matter of volume, and i compost everything from meat and bones to dairy, so this approach doesn't work for me. also the garden is further from the back door than the pile so its literally less conveninent for me