It’s easy to make compost, and the Walpole Health Department makes it even easier by offering rodent-resistant home composting bins for $25, over 60 percent off the retail price.
Composting is a great way to recycle organic “waste” into a beneficial soil amendment for yards and gardens. Composting at home can also help reduce methane production at landfills. Using the compost in landscapes helps store carbon in the soil instead of releasing it to the atmosphere. Compost creates healthy soil, reducing or eliminating the need for fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation. Trash can be reduced by 50 percent or more by composting leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, fruit peels, vegetable scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, paper towels, napkins and even paper bags.
The Health Department offers the New Age Composter. It is adjustable and has a capacity of 24 cubic feet, the equivalent of about 12 bags of leaves. It has a cone-shaped floor and cover, which provide air and moisture to the composting material, requiring a minimum of maintenance while producing compost in about three months.
The compost bins help hold in heat and moisture, keep animals out, and look more attractive than open compost heaps. Organic material will start to turn to compost in the bins in three to six months. Compost, known as "black gold" to gardeners, replenishes nutrients in the soil, helps retain moisture, makes the soil easy to work, and helps plants resist disease. Compost makes plants healthy so they can overcome adverse conditions without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
It is recommended that individuals fill their compost bins using three parts “brown” material and one part “green” material. This provides food for the compost organisms in a recipe that will not create odors. “Brown” ingredients include leaves, straw, dried grass clippings, wood chips, sawdust, pine needles, and paper products such as paper towels, napkins, bags, plates, coffee filters, tissue and newspaper. “Green” materials include fresh grass clippings, weeds, fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells, manure, and seaweed. Make sure the materials are damp while building the pile, especially the “browns.” As the pile is built, sprinkle on several shovelfuls of rich garden soil or finished compost after every 12” of fresh material.
Leaves are an important ingredient of a compost pile. Without them, a compost pile may become too wet and create odors. If leaves are available, they can be used to start a compost heap; the rest can be saved to add during the summer. Compostable food scraps and grass clippings should be buried under about 6" of leaves, where they will decompose odorlessly. If leaves are in short supply, add plenty of paper towels, napkins and torn up paper bags to provide the necessary carbon, and always bury food scraps under this material.
Most of the composting work is done by soil organisms that convert organic material to humus. They need oxygen, just as we do. Lack of oxygen will slow down the composting process and cause odors. Composters are encouraged to turn their pile, fluff it with a hoe or turning tool, or build air passages into the pile to keep it aerobic and odor-free. Alternatively, compost bins that allow air to penetrate the pile can be used.
In about three months, the material will start to turn to compost. The material at the bottom of the pile will be ready first. As more time goes by, the level of compost in the pile will rise until it is easy to access just below the surface. Compost is ready to use when it looks like rich, brown soil and no longer resembles the original materials.
Compost benefits all plants, and there are many different ways to use it. Add a handful of compost to each transplant hole when planting seedlings or potted plants. Spread another handful on the surface of the soil around the newly planted seedling, making sure that the compost is not touching the stem or trunk of the plant. Spread compost as a mulch around perennials, shrubs and other existing plantings. Individuals planting seeds can apply one-half to three inches of compost and mix it in with the top four inches of soil in the seedbed. To rejuvenate lawns, screen compost using ½” screening. Sprinkle the screened compost on the lawn about ¼” deep. Screened compost is also excellent for reseeding lawns. Sprinkle it ½” deep over the bare spots and distribute new grass seed on top. Excellent potting soil can even be made with compost by mixing equal parts compost, sand and loam.
To obtain a discounted compost bin, visit the Walpole Health department during normal business hours. For more information, contact the Walpole Health Department at (508-660-7321).
