Being Green: They Don’t Call Compost ‘Black Gold’ for Nothing

If you want to recycle organic waste and improve your soil at the same time, composting is an ideal solution. It’s good for the environment as well: one-fourth of the waste that currently goes into landfills is compostable.   

Compost is an excellent soil conditioner and vital to having a healthy soil. It has vital nutrients to help feed your plants and reduce the amount of fertilizer you need. It helps builds soil structure by creating air pockets to aid in water absorption, which keeps the moisture at your plants’ roots instead of leaching away. It also adds organic matter, which is extremely necessary if you have sandy soil.    

Composting is a natural process and will take place in nature with or without your help. The pile can be as simple as a 3 foot by 3 foot mound on the ground, or a black plastic bin especially for making compost, located in the sun or shade. You can also attach wooden pallets to create composting compartments. Three compartments are best – to allow for a starter pile, one that is maturing and one that is rich, ready-to-use compost. But two compartments will do as well. If you want to use the pile method, a wire mesh around the outside will help to keep its shape.  

Compost is basically made up of greens, which are wet, and browns, which are dry. Greens are any food scraps or vegetation you may have in your kitchen or garden. Don’t use meat or dairy scraps, which will attract animals. Scraps of garlic and onions are believed to repel earthworms, so you may want to avoid those. Don’t use diseased plants or ones sprayed with herbicides.   

Browns are materials such as dried leaves, paper or cardboard, wood chips, sawdust, unbleached coffee filters and wood ashes (but not from a barbecue grill). Generally I like to avoid citrus and twigs, which both take a long time to break down.  

I find the best ratio is one part browns to two parts greens. Use a layering technique. If the compost seems too wet, add more browns. If it’s too dry, add more greens and/or some water and stir it up a little.  

Cut up your materials before adding them to the compost — especially eggshells, which take a long time to break down. The smaller, the better. Adding finished compost or rotted farm animal manure will help speed up the process. A hot pile — full of high-nitrogen greens like fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells and coffee grounds, which all generate heat as they break down organic matter – can reach 160 degrees and will help kill weed seeds and break down faster. But it’s not strictly necessary. A cold pile just takes longer. Compost thermometers are available for purchase.   

It takes between three and nine months for a pile to start turning into compost. Once this starts happening, it’s time to aerate. Use a spading fork to turn the pile. This means you’ll end up with the bottom material on the top. Compost must have air to properly decompose, so do this every couple of days. It’s great exercise. And the more you turn it, the faster you’ll have a finished product.   

Compost is ready to use when it’s dark brown and feels moist, like a squeezed-out sponge, but not wet. And keep the cycle going. Once you get in the habit of separating out your organic materials from your other waste, it becomes second nature. You don’t even have to be a gardener. Spread the compost on your lawn or give it to a gardener friend. They’ll love it.  

Elizabeth White grew up on a farm in Shekomeko Valley and holds a degree in agronomy from SUNY Cobleskill. She’s been an active member of the Pine Plains Community Garden since 2020.