The easiest and fastest way to start is to pick a spot for the pile and start putting things like vegetable peels, coffee grounds (including the filter) leaves, yard waste, etc in that spot. If it's too dry (it should be as damp as a wrung out sponge) add some water. If it starts to stink, get a garden fork and turn it, and/or add some things that are high in carbon (like shredded paper, leaves, sawdust).

Turning it every once in a while can help it decompose faster, also. If you get the right mixture of high carbon to high nitrogen (like coffee grounds, green vegetable waste, manure), the right moisture level, enough matter (some say it takes a cubic yard) and enough air in the pile, it'll get hot and turn into compost faster.

If you're not in a hurry or don't have enough stuff to add, you can just wait longer. Eventually, you'll get compost no matter what.

Adding to what bpgreen wrote...

Some people say to lay some branches on the ground in your compost spot to "let air into the pile". DON'T do this. The small amount of air it might let in isn't worth the aggrevation of having to pick through all that undecomposed debris every time you turn it.

Most times, you can turn it once a week if you have the time. If you don't have the time, it will still be okay.

The center of the pile will be the warmest (decomposing best), the outside will be the coolest (decomposing least), so when you do turn it, scrape off all the outside dry stuff and put it as the bottom of the new pile. Do this every time, so all parts of the pile get heated up more or less equally. The heat will help break down the contents, kill pathogens and parasites, and kill most weed seeds.

The larger the pieces of stuff you use, the longer the pile will take to break down. The smaller the stuff is, the faster it will break down. As long as you aren't adding dense chunks of things like branches, it will be okay. You can always sift out the chunks and add them into to the next compost pile you make.

Add a shovelful of regular garden soil every so often as you build your pile. It has a lot of useful microbes in it, and the population will explode with all the new food.

Here in the northwest, we get a lot of rain. I've heard that it will leach out a lot of nutrients from the compost, so I usually cover mine with cardboard or a piece of old plywood.

You can add meats, bones, fats, milk, etc to the pile, but expect animals to go after them. It's usually less annoying not to add them.

Sue

"Easy and Fast" are contradictory in terms of composting.

The easiest way to make compost is to throw organic material into a pile and let it sit about a year to rot on it's own, in it's own time.

The fastest way is to manage it well. Tend it. Collect materials and build a pile about 3'x3' all at once. Get the C:N ratio at 30:1, moisten the pile as you build it. Check the temp with a compost thermometer regularly. Let it heat, then as it cools, flip to aerate, moisten as you flip, etc. Let it heat again...

How fast or how easy is up to you. Like most things, it's a bunch of variables. Either way will work. The important thing is to start and then you will find what works for you and how much effort you want to put into it. Trust me, flipping a pile of compost isn't easy, it's hard work. Some of us enjoy this, playing with our compost. Once you start you will find what works best for you. Just start and go from there.

Karen

one thing i'm not gettn, i'm down to where i'm pretty much only adding homemade liquid gold for nitrogen, but it's not heating up?? i though that maybe a rain might have leached everything out it but it's really not that wet inside, and the outside is even dry.

West--if it's dry, maybe it needs more moisture. It could also need more N, depending on what you added before the liquid gold. Have you turned it at all? It may not be mixed well.

People tend to say that the best ratio of nitrogen to carbon is 30:1, but 10 or 12 to 1 is better.

As a rule, it takes about a pound of nitrogen to break down a hundred pounds of carbon (browns). If it looks like your pile is too dry inside, dilute the urine with water before you add it. Also, add it right away, as it turns quite quickly to ammonia, which isn't really what you want.

Most compost piles are dry on the outside, but how is yours on the inside? Scrape off all the dry stuff and pile it beside the "old" compost pile and fork the rest on top of it. How does it look? If it looks dry inside, you'll have to moisten it as you rebuild it.

Sue

I have my barrel ready, I'm all excited to begin, now I found this in a book, it tells me to start with kitchen scraps,outside ingredients, (leaves, clippings and so on)clean kitty litter, to begin with and get going from there. My neighbors have a donkey, can I use donkey poo?

Sue, I think I must be misunderstanding what you mean with your numbers. First you say that you should have 10 or 12 N to 1 C, then you say 1 lb to 100 lbs N to C.

I think you may have had nitrogen and carbon reversed the first time and meant to say the ratio of carbon to nitrogen should be 10 or 12 to 1 (rather than nitrogen to carbon). But that's still quite a difference from the 100 to 1 you later mention. Did I miss something?

I found a study that tested 10:1, 30:1 and 50:1 at various moisture levels and concluded that 30:1 and 50:1 were much better.

This from Cornell says 30:1 is usually best, but that it can vary based on bioavailability of the C and N.

This one says that below 20:1, N is lost early in the process.

I think the finished product is about 10:1. Is that what you meant? Sorry if I'm being dense. I've never really measured and adjust based on the rule that if it smells bad I have too much N and if it isn't decomposing I have too much C.

belgian, wheter it looks wet or dry it still doesn't seem to work, and i have been storing urine too, like in a bottle, so that could be part of the problem???
one thing i can get that i have found to work awesome is the crappy 1.50 4 lb bag of dog food from dollar store, it makes the compost heat up great, and thats something i need, cuz now that it's warming up i'm picking up a tick or two when i mess w/ my pile.

bpgreen,

Why do I get online when I'm tired???

You are correct, I reversed my C and N. Sorry about that! 1 part nitrogen and 10-12 parts carbon. I'm not sure where I read that, but it was in a book. I had been going with the usual 1:30 for years, but things seemed to be a little slow in the pile. So I boosted the nitrogen, and found where my compost thermometer was hiding, and started getting better readings, like temps of 135F rather than the piddly 110F that I was getting.

Of course, no one I know does anything but estimate the percentages, so I could have been wrong both times, but these last two years have been better than the previous fifteen.

And the figures that I quoted in LBS are what I remember from Neal Kinsey. I suspect that the difference is in the translation from "parts" (percentages) to "pounds" (weight), but I'm not totally certain. But it seems like the nitrogen from the usual sources always seems to be heavier than the carbon.

But I've been wrong before this. And will be again.

But one thing I am certain about is that the information provided by agricultural colleges seems to leave a lot to be desired. Just my opinion. But I don't trust them anymore. In fact, it's getting rapidly to the point that I don't believe a thing they say.

Sue

Thanks for clarifying, Sue.

As I said, I don't measure or weigh and just use the smell and temperature to decide what I need to add. I was just confused by some of what you posted and also by how much your C:N ratio differs from the normal recommendation.

I don't have any idea what C:N ratio I usually have, but last year (first year with a compost thermometer after 30+ years of composting) I saw temperatures in excess of 165 F so I think I was close to the right mix.

Hi everyone, sorry I am so new at this composting process, I cannot provide any input.

I have a question on the amount of carbon vs green.

I have read in a few publications where if you mix 50/50 by weight, you will have about the correct carbon nitrogen mix. Is that true anyone? I am about to start my composting for the first time and plan on doing it by weight until I get a feel for the smell, or heat thing. I am looking for a compost turnaround time of 45 dayÂs or so. I am saving up my carbons and greens to build it and have about enough now to get started.

I will be using the wood and wire 3 bin units that you can find instructions to build online. O and that reminds me, shouldnÂt it be maybe 4 compartments? I can store my mixed new pile in the first, cure that pile for an additional 14 dayÂs in the second , the other two compartments being used for carbon & fiber storage? All the units I have seen are only 3 compartments though?

Thanks for any input

HotOlive

I started with a plastic compost bin from Jerry Baker, then a tumbler. Now I use a simple and cheap mesh bin made of 1/4" hardware cloth. I started with a bin of 3x3x3, but moved to a more workable bin of 4 to 5 feet in diameter, and a height of 18" or 24" high. This is easier to turn, and retains core heat as well as the 3x3x3'.

The next consideration is how fast you want to compost, and that depends on your level of patience, your materials.

I start by making the starting pile of fresh cut grass and coffee grounds, and shredded leaves. These ingredients usually have the right amount of water if mixed in the right proportion. A compost therometer is a good idea.

As the core temp. rises; I can add more problematic ingredients like fruit and veggie wastes, smelly fish parts, and manure in the center.

I find I can get a decent compost in two or three months. Many purchased bins and tumblers promise faster results, but I never could get anything resembling finished compost in 14 days. (And I was weighting everything I put in the tumblers)