How I Started A Backyard Garden Compost
I encourage you to start a compost at home.
A compost makes excellent FREE fertilizer for plants but also does so much more. By starting a compost, you are helping the environment and reducing waste en route to our landfills. By starting a compost, you are making a connection to the earth and earning your Brownie points to boot.
It’s not hard. If I can do it, you can do it. And here’s how you do it.
I started a compost in my backyard and my garden thanked me for it.
Grab a bucket (or another suitable container) and drill a few holes in it. Make sure the holes are small enough for water to get out, but no so big that pests can get in.
Then, grab some browns. Browns represent carbon, the larger portion of your compost. Household trash like shredded old newspapers and brown paper bags, garden waste such as dead leaves and twigs and burnt items like matches sticks, ashes and roast breadfruit skin are all ideal for a compost. For me, browns take up roughly two-thirds of my compost.
Next, you need some greens; they provide nitrogen. Fruit and vegetable scraps, cut grass and flowers, and coffee grounds (which technically are brown but don’t overthink it) will make up about a third of your compost. Being Jamaican, I have lots of greens. Seasons fruits and starchy vegetables are a big part of my diet, and by extension, my compost.
Eggshells don’t fit into the green or brown category, but they should be in your compost! They are nutrient-rich. Eggshells go in, but meat, oil and grease should stay out. Also, don’t add processed foods, dairy or garbage to your compost.
Finally, occasionally mix in a little water and keep it covered in the corner of your yard. By mix, I mean churn it up about once a week. This helps the enzymes breakdown the materials and release the nutrients. In about two months (or more), you will have fantastic, organic, free fertilizer.
I started my compost with a simple five-gallon bucket and had my neighbour drills holes in the bottom and on the sides. I added just a little bit of earth to start things off. Then, I added layer after layer of greens and browns and mixed it all up until my bucket was full.
It didn’t smell, nor did it attract pests. Keeping it covered is essential in this regard. Eventually, your compost bucket will fill up.
Once full, start another one!
See my full demo video here.
