Celebrate Learn About Composting Day Every May 29

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Compost is the other black gold—black gold for your garden, that is. Learn About Composting Day invites you to explore the world of turning garbage into gold.

Once you start your learning journey, you won’t want to stop. You’ll wonder how many of the things you’ve been tossing in the waste bin can actually be composted. And you’ll be amazed at how much less garbage you’ll be sending to the landfill each week.

Yes, amazed!

We don’t know who started this day, but it’s a great idea. Many people think composting is hard or complicated. Or that it takes up a lot of space. Or—and this is a big one—it smells.

It’s not. It doesn’t. And it doesn’t (unless you try composting meat … Don’t do that!).

If you truly don’t have the space to compost, you might still be able to contribute some of your compostable materials to a community compost project. Many communities now have special bins for yard waste, which then gets composted.

Some communities even have programs to compost kitchen waste. You collect your kitchen scraps & other compostable materials in a bucket under your sink and it gets collected periodically to be added to a community compost pile.

 

What is Composting?

Composting is letting food scraps and other materials decompose into a nutrient-rich soil-like material that plants just love to grow in.

Bacteria, molds, worms, and assorted creepy crawlies work together to turn “garbage” into garden gold.

You can buy special containers to hold your composting material. Some are hanging drums that you can rotate to mix your compost.

Others just sit on the ground. You need to mix the material in these by hand (mixing isn’t really necessary, it just makes the composting process go faster). You remove your finished compost through doors in the bottom while you add more “fresh” material to the top.

But you don’t need a special container. You can also just create a pile in a corner of the yard. Start tossing your compostable material on it and turn it regularly. If it doesn’t rain regularly, you’ll also want to water it (really).

Now, “green living” has become a “thing” in recent years. So composting might seem like a recent “invention” or even a fad.

It’s not.

Composting has been going on as long as people have been farming.

Well, technically composting has been going on for as long as the earth has existed. Worms, bacteria and mold (along with other insects) have been turning dead leaves, grasses and other organic materials into rich soils since before humans existed.

But human-driven composting has still existed for thousands of years. Farmers and other serious gardeners knew about it. But now everyone can share in the riches of this not-so-secret secret.

 

What Can You Compost?

Oh, so many things you can compost:

• Yard waste, like grass clippings, leaves, weeds, dead plants & flowers (just make sure they’re not diseased)
• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Coffee grounds (including the filter)
• Tea leaves (including in tea bags)
• Eggshells
• Wood chips or sawdust (not from treated lumber)
• Paper, including newspapers, paper towels and cardboard (paper towel rolls, too!)

 

Certain things you shouldn’t compost. Things like meats and bones (including fish or poultry), dairy, and oils can make your compost pile smelly.

Diseased plants may end up spreading the disease around your yard if the spores don’t die in your compost pile. And weeds with seeds may end up sprouting, giving you more weeds (oops).

You should also leave your pets’ feces (poop!) out of your compost pile.

Technically things like animal carcasses (meat) and manure (poop) can be composted. But it’s best to leave those things for the industrial composters. They can control the conditions in the compost pile better, so those materials break down without smelling and any harmful bacteria get killed.

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this earth-friendly unofficial holiday.

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How to Celebrate Learn About Composting Day

Learn about composting, of course.

We’ve given you a little bit of information to get you started, but there’s so much more.

These pages are a good place to start:

• Mind Your Dirt – Composting 101: Don’t overthink it!
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden – BBG’s Guide to Composting
• Better Homes and Gardens – How to Make Compost
• Live Science – How Do Compost Piles Work?

 

You can also find many good books to help you understand the process and how to do it yourself:

• Composting: How Organic Gardeners Let it Rot and Make Homegrown Humus
• Let it Rot!: The Gardener’s Guide to Composting
• The Rodale Book of Composting: Easy Methods for Every Gardener
• The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
• How to Compost: Everything You Need to Know to Start Composting, And Nothing You Dont!

 

How much do you already know about composting? What more do you want to know? Do you have any good websites or books to share?

 

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