A great place to start any urban farm is with composting. Heck, composting is a great place for any form of gardener to start. Even a novice can compost. Your compost can be used as a great organic fertilizer or mulch and can save you time and money. Granted, the idea sounds complicated and messy (who wants rotting food, paper, and eek- even hair in their yard or house?) it really isn't. Not to mention the end product is known as black gold among farmers and gardeners. That "black gold" part got you interested didn't it? Or was the the rotting hair? Either way, now that I have your attention.......
To start with, you are going to need a compost bin. These can be as expensive and complicated as you want. Or, you can go super cheap and easy and just form a compost pile. You can find just about a million and a half homemade compost bins online to use as reference or you can even buy tumbler style and other pre made compost bins. Choose what works best for you and your space. For us, we have a homemade wooden bin. Now, I can not take all the credit for my bin, my dad built it for me. But, besides the construction and transport of my bin, the rest is all me. :P So, our bin- it is about 2' x 2' x 3' . I can not honestly say how much it cost to build. My dad, an awesome on-the-side-carpenter, had all the tools and supplies on hand. BUT, these can be made out of old pallet wood, which is FREE. Or, you can pay up to $500 for a premade bin. If you go the wooden route you will need to make sure it is slated and has a top. Compost piles need to be kept from the elements but still need to be able to aerate. If you go the "pile" route- you can literally plop a pile anywhere and cover it with a tarp..........not the prettiest sight I would imagine, but it would get the job done.
Placement- You will probably want your compost bin a little ways away from your house and most used parts of your yard. There is a misconception that compost stinks. It shouldn't stink." Shouldn't" being the key word here. But, more on that later. Still, you will probably not want your bin uglying up your most used yard space. You will, however, want your bin close enough that it isn't a pain to get to. You could be making trips to your bin quite frequently, once a day if you so choose. Our bin is right outside of our privacy fence, near our trash and recycling totes.
You have your bin and you found the perfect place to put it. "Now what?" you ask? Now, you can start composting! To properly compost you need the proper carbon to nitrogen ratio. Again, there are so many great resources online. This is one of my favorites- http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/carbonnitrogenratio.html Although that sounds really complicated, (jr. high science anyone?) again, it really isnt. The best way to describe this is to better your understanding with the carbon and nitrogen mumbo jumbo. Scientifically, a peek preforming compost pile needs a carbon to nitrogen ratio ( c : n ) of 30:1. Still lost? Don't get down, its much easier than those stupid ratios want you to believe. In general think of it as a 2:1 ratio. (this may need to vary slightly depending on the actual contents of your pile) Now, what is carbon and nitrogen? Carbon, known as chemical element symbol C, with the atomic number of 6, is in group 14 on the periodic table. AHAHA JUST KIDDING! Think of carbon as your "browns." I like to remember carbon as "cardboard." Your browns will be anything from DRY leaves, straw and hay, shredded newspaper, and of course cardboard. (Like all of those cardboard toilet paper rolls perhaps?) Nitrogen is then considered your green. This is where things get messy. Your greens can be anything from fruit and veggie scraps (never compost meat or processed foods like pizza,spaghetti etc) to chicken poop.Check out that link for a great list of all things compostable.
The reasoning for proper C:N is to ensure your compost is doing its job. With ratios way off in either direction you could end up with a stinking pile of rot or a bunch of dry paper. Speaking of dry- be sure and water your pile every so often. It needs to be damp,not soaking. You will also want to "turn" or "stir" your pile once a week or so. This allows all your junk to mix thoroughly and aerates your pile. Both of which are necessary to keep your compost working in tip top shape.
I would highly recommend doing your own research before starting a compost pile of your own. It's always better to be over prepared than under. But, once you have got these basic steps down its only a matter of time before you have your own beautiful compost. (it can take anywhere from 4weeks-8months depending on how and what you compost) There are many uses for compost, the most popular, or well known. being fertilizer. But, be sure to read up on its many uses!
Think of composting as a great, new way to recycle! Where not only are you bringing new life to garbage , but you are benefiting from it!
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| My "BROWN" Scrap bucket It will also be worth it to consider indoor compost "buckets." To minimize frequent trips to your bin you can designate many household items for your scrap buckets. I choose to take my greens out daily and keep them in an old coffee can or a bowl on the counter. If hidden away I put it off until it forms into a big scary goop that I don't perticularly want to touch anymore. So the entire can goes into the trash. I would not recommend this type of composting, as it doesn't work, and man, is it gross. For my browns I have a dollar store basket lined with a plastic bag. The reason for the bag? All my cut up browns fall through all those little holes. |
All of you apartment dwellers and renters out there- There is hope! If you are not allowed an outdoor compost bin, or simply don't have a yard space of your own there is another option- Worm Composting! I am not an expert on this form of composting and can not personally attest to its greatness. Another future goal. However, I have read quite a bit about it. Also, many green communities are encouraging its residents to take up this form of composting.. Here are a couple of links to get you started - http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/wormcomposting.html 
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