Composting Made Easy

We have so many options today for ways in which we can compost.  When it comes to food scraps in my home, I wouldn’t dream of putting them in the trash or down the garbage disposal.  They all go into a simple pail under the sink.  Coffee grounds, potato peelings, carrot tops, apple cores, eggs shells and all!  Every bit of it goes back to the garden to feed the worms and offer natural nourishment to the soil. I’m not at all elaborate with my composting approach; I don’t have a formal composting bin or special formula.

My method is simple. Once or twice a week, I take my small bucket full of food scraps, empty the contents, and I bury them in the ground.

Use a shovel to chop up the pieces into small, bite sized bits of food.  Then mix a little soil in-between the food pieces before finally covering with a good 8-12 inches of soil.  

As long as there is a good amount of moisture in the soil, the earthworms will find their way to the compost material for consumption and digestion. 

Leaves and grass clippings (organically treated only) are also good items for composting.  

People often ask whether the compost bucket smells or if the buried compost material attracts rodents.  Regarding the smell, my compost is odorless as long as it can breathe and take in oxygen, it doesn’t typically smell.  In the home, avoid placing and storing your compost material in an airtight container, rather allow it to receive fresh air.  Leaving the lid off your compost bucket may feel counterintuitive, but in my experience, it works!  To keep the rodents away from buried compost material, bury the material deep enough so that rodents won’t be attracted to the food.  Cover the compost with at least 8 inches of soil.  Try it for yourself!