I have just started a compost pile adjacent to my vegetable garden. I nailed chicken wire to an open rail fence to contain the material and have been piling grass clippings, leaves, kitchen scraps (no meat or fats) on the pile. Initially I included a bag of manure. I try to turn the pile about once every two weeks. Any suggestions to make it better?
Thanks from Darlene in Fort Worth, Texas.
It sounds like you're doing very well with your compost pile. I have a few
suggestions that will speed up the composting process.
1. The mix of green (high-nitrogen, such as grass clippings and kitchen scraps) and brown (high-carbon, such as dry leaves and straw) materials in the pile is important. You should have about 1/4 green, and 3/4 brown materials in the pile. Try to avoid putting weeds that have gone to seed in the compost pile. It may not heat up enough to kill the seeds. It is a good general gardening practice to pull weeds before they go to seed anyway.
2. The smaller and more chopped up your compost components are, the faster they will decompose.
3. Turning the pile more often will speed up the decomposition process. If you don't want to turn the pile more often, try poking holes into it to allow more oxygen into the center of the pile.
4. It is good that you have your compost pile in direct contact with the ground, so that earthworms can help you with the decomposition process.
5. To make your compost ultimately more "nutritious" for the plants and to stimulate bacterial growth for the decomposition process, try adding a sprinkling of rock phosphate, bonemeal, and bloodmeal to your pile.
6. To have a compost pile that heats up and decomposes quickly, it is generally recommended that the pile be 3 ft high, wide and deep. Smaller ones work though. Mine aren't usually large. They just take a little longer.
7. Be sure the compost pile is getting enough moisture, but not too much. It should be thoroughly damp, not dripping wet. Protect your compost pile from rain by covering it with plastic. That will prevent leaching out of the nutrients.