Spring is just around the corner bringing a fresh year to begin new gardening activities. Composting is a great way to recycle weeds, food waste and just about anything that was once a plant. Composting home and garden waste is one way to reduce what is picked up by the garbage truck, reducing your carbon foot print, and saving money for you if garbage collection is charged by bag, or your town in tipping costs. Tipping costs are the amount municipalities have to pay per ton to use regional trash plants. Every little bit helps. The benefits of the end product of compost can be used in gardens and lawns, returning nutrients and increasing organic matter to the soil resulting in healthier plants.

Finished Compost.
Composting is controlled decomposition. Everything eventually rots, but by knowing a bit of the science of how things break down, we can make rot happen quicker, getting more compost faster. Every compost pile or bin needs carbon, nitrogen, air and water, and soil organisms to do the dirty work of decomposition. Micro-organisms are the fungi and bacteria which feed on the stuff in the pile. They are most efficient when the pile contains a ratio of 30 carbon to 1 nitrogen.
Browns are the carbon and are from dead plant material. They are the browns of the pile. Fall leaves, newspaper, scrap paper, woodchips, dry hay, straw sawdust dried grass clippings and weeds without seeds are all browns.

Dry leaves are carbon.
- Newspaper is carbon. No glossy sections.
Greens provide nitrogen the microbes need to process the carbon. The nitrogen will be given back to the pile after the microbes use it, and also release more from the carbon material. Greens are green leaves, grass or weeds without seeds. Also fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea leaves and even coffee filters as they are paper, which comes from trees.
Things not to put in a compost pile include meats or dairy products, fats and oils, bones, weeds with seeds, diseased plant material, and dog or cat manure. Also no pesticide treated plant material.

Pet waste is not recommended.
Water should be added to keep the pile as moist as a wrung out sponge. Too much water and microbes drown. Too little moisture and the microbes will dry out and die. Turning the pile will incorporate more air, helping the pile to dry if too moist.
Piles can be out in the open just as a heap on the ground or contained with wire or fenced sides.
Closed container can also be used and must have drainage holes to allow water to escape it the inside become too wet from rain or watering the pile. Some containers are mounted so they can be turned, effectively turning the contents inside. Turning the container or the pile incorporates more air and distributes moisture, both of which the microbes need to do their work of decomposing. If a container is used to compost, add a few shovels of soil or finished compost to introduce healthy microbes into the organic matter of greens and browns.
Finished compost can be screened through a 1/4 inch piece of hardware screening stapled to a square made from 2×4 inch boards. Shovel the compost in, and shake or move it around to keep the larger sticks and debris out of the finer end product. Through the larger pieces back into the pile for further breaking down.
Happy composting!
-Carol Quish
February 26, 2018 at 2:15 am
I turned over my compost pile today, and for the first time in several months the soil was warm enough to see worms munching away. You mention microbes but not worms – do the microbes do the bulk of the work even though it’s the worms that are visible?
I haven’t put newspaper in the compost pile because most of it has color pictures these days. I thought the color inks had traces of heavy metals that weren’t good for the soil. False?
Also, you didn’t mention eggshells, which I’ve been composting for years now without any problems (vermin or otherwise). Should I stop?
Thanks!
February 26, 2018 at 5:08 am
That dog does not seem to be happy about being the token ‘pet’.
We are not so careful with our compost pile, but it is big enough to absorb boo boos. I am actually surprised at how well it turns out. It was working long before I got there. I do not dump bramble canes there because I think that they will start to grow rather than decompose. I suppose we could spread them out nearby to dry, but that is too much work. I just discard them, as well as willow canes. It seems like a waste, but we get more than we know what to do with anyway.
February 26, 2018 at 5:17 pm
Hello David,
Larger soil organism such as worms and sow bugs do some of the work of decomposition, but fungi and bacteria do the bulk of the work.
Today’s newspapers use soy based ink, including the comic pages. I do not know what the glossy paper is made out of, so I do not recommend using those, including the Sunday flyers.
Egg shells are fine to put in the compost. They add calcium.
Regards,
Carol Quish, UConn
February 26, 2018 at 11:05 pm
Thank you!
March 8, 2018 at 1:05 am
I just decided I’d really like to get some compost started, but I live in the city with a small backyard and I saw a rat in it the other day. I was looking at the closed containers but until I actually purchase a place to put my compost, do you recommend an alternate space I could use? Probably the garbage for now, right!? I’m getting antsy to stop throwing so much of my food waste into the garbage so I can make good use of it in my yard!!
March 8, 2018 at 7:04 pm
Hello Alyssa,
An enclosed container should keep the rats out of the compost for outdoor compost. If you find them chewing through the container, I would stop composting in the city. Another option is worm composting inside the home. See links for information. http://www.yankeeworm.org/ym_about.html
and https://www.wormladies.com/
Regards,
Carol Quish
UConn Home and Garden Education Center