Discover What Composting is All About

Many people who are gardeners or care about the environment at putting in kitchen and garden waste into composts and turning them into a valuable resource for your garden or houseplants.  What happens is that the process of composting is basically speeding up the natural process of decomposition.  If you enjoy gardening then composting is somthing that you should learn more about.

You may believe that compost and soil is the same thing but it isn't.  This is something that a lot of people beleive but it really isn't anything like the dirt you find just lying about on the ground.  Compost allows plants to grow healthier by providing lots of wonderful nutrients.

Before you begin composting there are choices to be made – not all containers will be suitable for your needs, what type of waste you will be composting, and the location of your bin.  But regardless of these decisions, the process of composting happens in the same manner.  It is a breakdown of waste materials as they are digested by microbes (bacteria and fungi).

Without these microbes your waste cannot be turned into compost.  They need air, water, and food to do their job and it is up to you to supply it to them in the right quantities.  For great compost you should consider using a wormery.

People who have never owned a compost before in their lives are under the misconception that composts are automatically smelly it is most likely the result of not enough air circulating throughout the waste material.  Without air, the material will still breakdown but it will be done by anaerobic microbes (organisms that do not need oxygen) as opposed to aerobic (ones that need oxygen).  So if you do have an unpleasant smell coming from your compost bin or pile you can rotate the material to let in more air or add a substance to create more room for the air to circulate.  Wood chips or hay are good for the composter.

Composting is something that everyone should get involved in, even if you only have a very small garden – it prevents waste from enetrying landfill and also adds much needed nutrients to your soil.