How To Build A Compost Heap

Building a compost heap is easy and cheap, since most of your ingredients are already being created right in your kitchen: Items such as egg shells, coffee grounds, and pieces of vegetables that normally would go down your disposal or in your garbage can.

Before we begin I'd like to make it clear that my experience with building a compost heap is targeted at those who live in a warm climate and have lots of sunshine and a constant source of green grass. That while the ingredients will be the same, no matter what part of the country you live in. The actual breakdown of those ingredients will depend entirely on the amount of sun, water and warm temperatures your compost heap receives.

Having said that, Let's begin.

Fresh compost is some of the most fertile and nutrient filled fertilizer that you can use to create sweet, juicy, healthy fruits and vegetables. I don't believe there is a store bought fertilizer that even comes close to what you can produce right in your own backyard.

The size of your vegetable garden will determine the amount of compost you'll want to produce. Adjust your amounts accordingly.

If you want to contain your compost you can build yourself a compost bin. This can be achieved by sinking 4 two by fours or four by fours a couple of feet into the ground to for a square and wrapping them on 3 sides with chicken wire, leaving the front open for easy access. If not, a simple pile works equally as well.

Step #1
Using a clean 5 gallon bucket with a lid, begin saving your kitchen garbage in it. Dump items such as coffee grounds, egg shells, and parts of vegetables you normally would throw away when making a salad etc. A friend use to say when cleaning her vegetables, "Here's one for the pot and one for Mother Earth." Nothing got past the compost bucket. There are some things you don't want to put in your compost bucket, such as meat and grease. You can put bones in provided they've been stripped clean of meat and ground up. You don't want to attract unwanted rodents to your pile as the items mentioned above do not break down well nor as quickly. Once you've got a substantial amount in your bucket you'll be ready for the next step.

Step #2
Take some freshly cut grass clippings and make a layer about 4 inches thick. The area you cover will depend on the size of your pile or the size of your bin and of course the amount of fresh grass clippings you have at your disposal. (The Author had a pretty good size garden and had a local landscaper drop off several large garbage bags full of clippings, whenever he was in the area.)

Step #3
Using either a scoop or your hands, spread a healthy layer of kitchen garbage from your bucket onto the grass clippings.

Step #4
Apply a fine dusting of steer manure on top of the garbage and lightly water the entire surface.

Repeat this process over and over until your heap is approx. 3 to 4 feet high.

Step #5
Keep an eye on your heap making sure it hasn't dried up and stopped cooking. Every couple of days stick a pitch fork in the center and lift. You should be able to see it starting to darken or you'll see steam or smoke. The size of the heap should also be shrinking. If you think it stopped cooking add a small amount of water and it will resume the composting process.

You should also be able to detect a rich, pungent aroma from your heap, alerting you that it's just about ready to use. This will occur in 4 or 5 weeks.

Step #6
Turn the pile over at 4 weeks time, water lightly.

When ready apply generously to your plants. Don't cover them up. Just use enough so that it comes up to the second or 3rd branches on the baby plants. Water Generously.

Your Veggies are gonna love you for it by producing some of the most delicious vegetables and fruit that you've ever eaten. They will also be very prolific. So if you don't plan on canning what grows, your neighbors are going to enjoy what your producing.

There You Have It! Quick and Easy! As Always - Happy Gardening!

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