Composting - It's so Down To Earth

Composting in progress.  Not done yet!

I have to admit that until I attended Earth Day last year, composting really wasn't on the top of my to do list. After visiting the St. Louis Composting Booth, I was intrigued with the idea.  I'm a staunch believer in reusing or recycling and this booth introduced the idea of taking my beliefs a bit further.

I attended a composting clinic, bought a compost bin and jumped right in.  I soon discovered that composting takes time and this wasn't going to be a project that I would see results for several months.  A few weeks in, I wondered why I was actually composting.  It seemed that my efforts would probably not yield me a lot of rich soil.  Sure, I would have some but not anything significant like I envisioned.

Instead of walking away from my project, I kept evaluating what I was doing and if it could be improved.  The answer of course was yes.  Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am always looking for ways to live simply, enjoy what I have and save money.  My way of improving my compost was to cancel yard waste pickup for 3 months.  (Confession - I put it off a month so I could clear out a ton of weeds and yard waste while I was preparing my first ever serious attempt at gardening.)  It helped me get my garden beds prepared with a little more urgency and gave me some extra time to absorb the decision to go cold turkey on the yard waste.

After borrowing compost books and reading up on the subject I began to get hooked and see the definite benefits of my new lifestyle.  No more throwing food into the garbage disposal so the wear and tear on the disposal would disappear.  No longer would I receive a yard waste bill.  After five months, the price of my compost bin would be paid for.  Food waste from slicing and dicing or cleaning out my refrigerators fruit and veggie drawers would now be looked at from a whole new angle.  You see......these items are what make compost soil "gold" and full of nutrients for any future garden.  Soon I realized I would be able to supply a good portion of my future garden soil by simply composting my grass, leaves, food and newspapers.  Need I say more?  Being focused helped me understand and "buy into composting one hundred percent.

Tomato vines after the mulching mower did its job.

I am now 8 months into my new hobby and realize that I am producing quite a bit of compost and will be buying very little garden soil for the upcoming spring and summer.  This whole process is very spiritual and rewarding.  When I pulled up my tomato plants, I mowed them and put them back into the compost! I did the same thing when I was cleaning up any garden bed that was healthy.

My compost bin from the store has a lid but composting can be easily accomplished without any pricey bins. I use a pitch fork to turn my compost which takes a bit more effort than the tumbler barrel composter but it works just the same.  I look at it as an upper body workout when turning the compost.  Generally having the compost pile not too far away from your back door promotes the best success rate for sticking with composting for newbies.  Mine is in the back corner of our yard and although it works for me it is understandable that some would ditch adding table scraps to the bin when it isn't close by or in the case of cold or rainy weather.

I look at everything so differently now and with amazement as the composting process takes place.  The true test to my efforts will be my garden results in 2013 I'm pretty confident that my efforts will pay off.  In fact, I'm already psyched about incorporating additional nutrient rich soil to my front yard in 2014!

Here is a list of all the items my compost contains to date.  I'm sure the list will grow even larger in the future.  Keep in mind a lot of this list represents the excess produced when slicing and dicing fruits and vegetables for a meal. List of Compostable Items Used