In just five steps, here's how, step-by-step, to create a do-it-yourself composting system.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himAlso called compost, DIY compost is becoming an increasingly popular practice. If you want to give it a try but don't know how to get started, here you can find the regole step-by-step to create a composting system at home.
Thanks to the homemade compost - an excellent fertilizer for lawns and vegetable gardens - you will guarantee excellent growth for flowers, plants, fruit and vegetables while at home the waste will drop drastically.
What are you waiting for then?
Here's how:
1. Buy the composter that's right for you
To get started right, buy a container suitable for composting. You can find what is right for you in nurseries and garden shops. Or, try to inquire at your municipality, some provide them to residents by applying a discount on the waste disposal fee. And, if you're planning a weekend at IKEA, the Swedish company offers customers a type of compost particularly suitable for those who do not have much material to compost.
A targeted choice must be based on two parameters, the time that usually dedicated to the green of the house and the amount of waste on average produced from your garden.
When we talk about composters we have to imagine a plastic bell, open at the top and, possibly, on one side or at the base. The first opening will be used to insert the organic waste, the side one, which you can think of as a door to be opened and closed, will be used to extract the compost ready for use.
Whatever your choice, don't forget that composters must be: without bottom, perhaps equipped with a net, to dry wet waste favoring ventilation, to prevent bad smells. Possibly equipped with lid or cover sheets, to avoid direct sun or heavy rains.
2. Choose the most suitable place
The best place for the new composter will be an area not excessively exposed to sunlight and not too humid. This is to prevent the content from rotting.
Among the inevitable features for the ideal place, a dry soil and possibly flat. And, if you want to optimize the composting process, remember to break up twigs, peels, roots, leaves and so on before putting them in the container.
3. What to compost and what not to
Make sure you put the right things in the compost bin so that you can produce a healthy and nutritious product for the garden. It is generally thought that if it decomposes then it can end up in the bin. But that's not quite the case.
For example, there are some types of fruit that are best not to compost, but there are also 15 things you never thought you could compost.
So yes a vegetables, used tea bags, newspapers read and broken up, leaves, grass clippings and other garden waste. No, instead, for cooked fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy product, used handkerchiefs and diseased plants. Only in this way will the soil be healthy, free from unwanted guests and bad smells.
And to get the process going quickly, add some compost activator too.
4. A little patience
Once you have everything you need in, you can relax, perhaps with a nice zero-impact activity and wait for the process to begin. From time to time, make sure the compost is neither too wet nor too dry and, to balance the consistency, add substances that dry or moisten the contents.
Remember to always keep the compost well ventilated and do not rush, this process can take months.
5. Start using compost
The compost will be ready when the soil at the top of the composter has reached a very dark, almost black hue. At this point, mix it with the soil for the plants and give free rein to your green thumb among flowers and vegetables.
Good job.
Serena Bianchi
Read our article on DIY compost
Read all of our articles on composting
