Make Your Own Dirt Creating Compost Step 1: Decide which system you will use to cook your compost. There are many different ways to collect and cook compost. There are store-bought bins, homemade bins, and worm bins. Some people choose to go bin-less and make piles in the yard. Step 2: Gather materials and tools Compost bin or an area in your yard for a compost pile Lid or cover for bin or pile Large jar or other container for collecting kitchen scraps Rake or garden fork to turn pile Garden hose or water sprinkling can Step 3: Start collecting kitchen, yard, and garden scraps. Many people collect kitchen scraps in a large container kept in the kitchen. Once a day, or every few days, the kitchen container is dumped into the large compost bin or pile outside. Grass clippings, dry leaves, weeds and other yard scraps can be placed directly into the compost bin. Step 4: Maintain a balance of air and moisture for your compost A lid or cover over the compost helps maintain the proper air and moisture levels. If there is no cover over your compost, make sure you turn the compost after a rain storm to keep the material from becoming matted down by the weight of the water. Matting limits the movement of air in the compost. If the weather is very dry, you will have to sprinkle water on your compost to make sure that it is moist enough for the compost to decay properly. Add green and brown materials about equally to help keep the oxygen and moisture levels correct.
One-Bin System: Types of Composting Systems The one-bin system is the most commonly used method of making compost. Bins can be made from free wooden pallets from local businesses, lumber, cinder blocks, or even steel posts and wire fencing. You can also purchase a commercial bin. Bin-less composting is the same as one-bin composting. Just choose a spot where you will pile kitchen and yard scraps in the yard. The material at the bottom of the compost pile will be fully decayed first. Most commercial bins are built with doors that give easy access to the bottom layer of the compost. Access doors can also be built into homemade bins. If your bin does not have easy access to the bottom layer, just remove the top layers of unfinished compost, take out the bottom decayed layer, then replace the top layers. Two or Three-Bin System: The two-bin system is much like the one-bin system. The advantage of a two-bin system is that you can keep one bin full of finished compost, and continue filling the second bin with fresh compost. When the bin of finished compost is empty, you can place the compost from the second bin into the first bin with a pitch fork or similar garden tool. Transferring the compost from one bin to the other also helps add air to the compost, increasing the speed that it decays. The three-bin system works like the two-bin system. The three-bin system is more efficient because you can have three levels of decaying compost.
Rotating or Turning Bin System: Rotating or turning bin systems can be very expensive, but they have great benefits. A turning bin allows you to turn the compost on a regular basis. Turning the compost regularly increases the amount of air flowing through the compost. The increased air helps the compost decay faster. If done properly, rotating bin composting can produce finished compost in as little as three weeks. Worm-Bin Composting: Worm-bin composting uses specific kinds of earthworms to decompose the material in the compost bin or pile. Worm-bin composting is also called vermicomposting. Redworm, manure worm, and red wiggler are common names for worms used in worm composting. Worms can be purchased from worm farms, bait shops, or community worm banks. To begin worm composting you need to provide a cool, moist bedding in which the worms will live. Brown compost ingredients such as shredded leaves or paperboard work very well. You then need to bury kitchen wastes in the bedding. The worms graze on the bacteria and fungi that grow on the materials. The worms also break up the ingredients with their movement through the bedding. Eventually, the worms eat all of the ingredients and bedding, turning it all into worm poop, also called worm castings. Worm castings are an excellent form of finished compost. Trench or Sheet Composting: Trench and sheet composting do not require a bin or a pile. For trench composting, dig trenches in your garden at least eight inches deep. Bury your compostable materials in the trenches and allow them to rot for a few months. Plant seeds above the compost in the trenches, and their roots will be able to use the compost s nutrients. Sheet composting is similar to trench composting. For sheet composting, newspapers are placed on top of the fresh compostable material. The newspaper decays with the other compost, but also provides a natural weed control method.
Functional Text Questions: Make Your Own Compost 1. What tool is needed for composting? 2. What materials are needed for composting? 3. What is the first step in making compost? 4. What happens after Step 2? 5. What happens in Step 4? 6. How many bins are needed to make compost? 7. Which composting system can produce compost fastest? 8. What should you do if it rains on your compost? 9. What should you do if the weather is very dry? 10. Why should we make our own soil or compost?
Teacher s Note: Please be aware that the term worm poop appears in the text of this file as a definition of worm castings or as a term in the production of compost. In the composting and organic gardening industry the acceptable term for worm waste is worm poop or worm castings. Please see the links below for further explanation. http://www.wormpoop.com/ http://www.terracycle.net/ http://www.cleanairgardening.com/organic-wormcastings.html Functional Text Answers: 1. The tool needed for composting is a rake or pitch fork to turn the compost. 2. The materials needed for composting are a commercial bin or a homemade bin, or a place to start a pile; a covering; a large jar or container; garden hose or sprinkling can. 3. The first step in making compost is to choose the system you will use. 4. Start collecting kitchen and yard and garden waste. 5. You maintain an equal level of air and moisture. 6. None; you can make it by making a bile. 7. The rotating system. 8. Turn the compost to get air under the top wet layers. 9. Water the compost. 10. Composting helps produce healthier plants, while recycling waste and reducing garbage in landfills.