Building a compost area
When we relocated our garden last year one of the things we really wanted to make space for was a compost pile. We didn’t want to spend any money and we’re hoping to reuse our extra fencing materials. We sketched out a few different designs and landed on a very simple design. The pile would be situated closest to our property to allow us to easily access the pile year round without having to enter the garden itself. Our garden is actually located outside of our main fenced yard and can be accessed by a gate.
We designed a “u” shape out of our extra 6ft wire fence, keeping the top and the front side open. For the front side, we had an existing metal fence door with a sliding pole locking mechanism. This would allow us to keep the front side closed but open it when we needed to turn or remove compost. In total it’s about 4ftx6ft and can be as high as 6ft.
Creating the compost layers
To create the initial fill we needed to include both greens and browns. With our property being surrounded by woods, finding leaves is never an issue. For the greens we added lawn clippings and throughout the growing season any cuttings or scraps from the garden. We also added some regular soil from the garden, which helps provide the beneficial bacteria which break down the compost.
Any fruit or vegetable scraps from the kitchen were collected rather than thrown in the trash. We purchased a pretty counter-top container to make this effortless and prevent any bad odors. With the chickens also in their outside coop, we began to also scoop any poop and add it to the pile.
Adding worms to the compost
To help nature break down all the browns and greens we purchased a composting worm mix which you can get from Amazon. They literally ship you a bag of live worms which you can dump into your compost. We couldn’t help but save a few for the chickens!!
Adding kitchen scraps and maintenance
As the summer continued we kept adding to the pile:
- Eggshells
- Kitchen scraps (just nothing with meat or dairy)
- Chicken poop and old bedding
- Dried leaves
- Garden clippings
- Coffee grounds
We found out that our local Starbucks offers giant bags of spent coffee grounds for free specifically for composting, so we would pick them up when we could.
As the garden was winding down, we pulled old plants to add to the compost. We later realized after trying to turn the compost that we should have cut the debris like pumpkin vines and tomato stalks into mix smaller pieces as they take a while to break down.
To maintain the compost we would always water the pile whenever we would water the garden as it’s important it stays moist.
Frequently turning the compost is also important to all the mixture to combine and increase airflow. A pitchfork makes this much easier than a regular shovel.
If it’s working correctly, even if the the compost is covered with snow, the interior should be warm. We can’t wait to see what it looks like in the spring.