kitchen renovation ideas calgary
[music] most people think composting is as simple as throwing all food andgarden waste into a container and leaving it there for a couple ofyears. while you will get compost that way, you can produce much better compost andget it much more quickly if you follow these simple guidelinesfor the perfect recipe. there are 4 ingredients for good compost: greens, browns, air, and moisture.
these 4 need to be balanced correctlyfor best results. the ingredients you add to a compostheap contain carbon and nitrogen. the ratio of carbon to nitrogendetermines whether we label it a 'green' or a 'brown'. ingredients that have arelatively high nitrogen content and a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio below30:1 are called 'greens'. ingredients with a lowernitrogen content (in other words a higher carbon-to- nitrogen ratio) are called 'browns'. color isn't always a reliable indicator of what is a 'green' or a 'brown' material. for example, fresh grass clippings when spread out and left to dry
are still considered a 'green' ingredient even though they've turned a brownish color, because really all they've lost is water. on the other hand, straw is alwaysconsidered a 'brown' because before it was cut, the main stems had died and much of the plant's nitrogen had gone into the seeds as protein. good examples of greens to add to your compost pile are grass clippings (which haven't beensprayed with weedkiller), vegetable waste, fruit peels, annual weeds before they've developed seeds, and old bedding plants. don't compost animal products such as meat, and try to avoid adding diseased plant material, orfats and oils.
good examples of browns include sawdust, straw, woodchippings, shredded brown cardboard, and fallen leaves. bedding from herbivorous pets such as guinea pigs is ideal, as their manure adds a bit of extra nitrogen into the mix. compost decomposes much faster if youchop the ingredients up, so shredding woody materials and tearingup cardboard speeds up the process because there is then more surface area exposed to the microbes that decompose the compost. however, avoidshredded evergreen trees such as leylandii because they don'tcompost well and the pine resin can inhibit seed growth.
when making compost you want to aim for 2-3 times more brown materials than greens, at least initially, although some moregreens can be added as the compost cooks. for most gardeners, the biggest challengeis therefore collecting enough brown materials and not just piling in loads of greenswhich will result in a soggy, smelly mess. never add lots of grass clippings in one go as they will just form a slimy matted layer. air is vital to the composting process so it's important to mix the ingredientsin together, and never squash them down. by turning or remixing the compost moreair is introduced, which speeds up decomposition. the fourth vital ingredient is water.
if like me you stockpile brown materials,you'll need to water the pile to get things going when first mixing it. build the compost pile up with layers ofbrowns and greens, watering it where necessary to produce amoist (but not soggy) mixture. a good compost heap has a slightly sweetcomposty smell. if it smells sour or rotten then iteither has too many greens, or is too wet. in either case, the remedy isto mix more brown materials in to compensate. by getting the right balance of 2 or 3parts browns to 1 part greens with moisture and air, you're giving the microbes that decompose the materials
the best conditions to work in. as they break the organic matter down they give off heat, which in turn speedsup the decomposition. in a well-mixed heap temperatures caneasily reach over 150 degrees fahrenheit, or65 degrees celsius. this heap for example was mixedseveral days ago and it's already been cooking nicely,although it's starting to cool a little now. after a few more days i will remix it to introduce more air and to bring materials from the edges into the center.
several weeks later the heap will cool, and worms can move in to finish the process. if you follow this recipe you should get a fine, crumbly-textured compost. any remaining large bits can be sieved out and put into the next compost heap you build, leaving you with the very best food foryour plants.