DON'T BAG IT LEAF MANAGEMENT
COMPOST
Introduction
Slide 1. The Don't Bag It Compost Plan is an ecologically sound program designed to significantly reduce the volume of landscape and kitchen waste entering community landfills.
Slide 2. Needless Waste.. At least 20-50% of the solid waste sent to landfills is made of tree leaves, grass clippings, other landscape debris and kitchen wastes.
Bagging these materials for curbside garbage collection is a costly practice. It requires you and your community to spend taxes and service fees needlessly. It takes up limited landfill space, and it robs the environment of a natural source of nutrients for plant growth.
Slide 3. One time-tested method of turning "trash" into "treasure" is home composting.
Slide 4. Interest in composting is increasing dramatically. The early Greeks and Romans practiced composting, although the process itself has occurred in nature since the beginning of time. Whether an ancient art or a modern science, composting is a useful and environmentally sound gardening practice.
What is Composting?
Slide 5. Composting is nature's own recycling program! In forests and meadows, tree leaves and other organic material form a carpet over the soil surface. In time, naturally-occurring organisms break down or decompose this layer.
Slide 6. Compost is the rich, dark, crumbly material that results. Compost, in essence, is nature's own nutrient-rich slow-release fertilizer.
Why Compost?
Slide 7. Yard waste makes up 20-50% of curbside garbage. Composting landscape and kitchen wastes at home reduces the volume of curbside solid waste. This saves transportation and disposal costs while providing an environmentally sound alternative.
Slide 8. Compost is a valuable soil amendment. It can be used to:
- Enrich soil with nutrients
- Help sandy soils retain moisture and add nutrients
- Loosen tight, heavy clay soils
- Mix with potting soil for container-grown plants
- And, to mulch around landscape plants.
If you have a garden, lawn, trees, shrubs or even planter boxes or house plants, you have a use for compost.
What Can be Composted?
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You can compost kitchen wastes, leaves and grass clippings, as well as other yard waste such as pine needles, weeds, small or chipped prunings and spent garden plants.
Slide 10. Shredding the material first, although not required, makes for faster composting.
Slide 11. Avoid composting diseased or insect infested plants, noxious weeds and kitchen wastes containing meat, dairy products, cooking oil or grease.
How to Compost
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Slides 12a, 12b. For composting you can use traditional free-standing compost heaps or homemade or manufactured bins. A bin or some type of enclosure may save space and be more attractive.
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Slide 13. There are a variety of manufactured composting bins (see for example, figures 13A, 13B, and 13C) available from garden catalogs or retail stores. Designs and prices vary considerably, but they do offer a quick-start way of composting.
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Slides 14a, 14b, 14c. Make a home-made compost bin from a number of materials including wire fencing, lumber, used pallets, and cement blocks. Whatever materials you use, it's important to design the bin to allow for good air movement and easy accessibility to turn the pile and remove the finished compost.
So, if you use a bin, choose materials and a design to suit yourself and your needs for neatness, appearance, economy, performance and access.
Slide 15. Ideally, your compost pile or bin should be three to five feet in diameter. With any pile or bin, it's best to start the compost in several layers. The micro-organisms that turn yard waste into compost need the proper balance of nitrogen and carbon materials in their "diet".
Slide 16. Alternate six to eight inch layers of high carbon materials such as leaves and other dry plant debris, with layers of high nitrogen material such as grass clippings, kitchen water or manure.
Slide 17. Add Fertilizer. When such materials are unavailable, a sprinkler or fertilizer can provide the nitrogen.
Slide 18. Add Soil. Follow this with a shovelful or two of compost or garden soil to add the micro-organisms necessary for decomposition.
Slide 19. Add Water. Moisten each layer as you stack it. If you don't moisten the pile as you build it, it will be difficult to effectively do so later.
Slide 20. Repeat Layers. Repeat these layers until the pile is about 4 feet high. Afterwards, water enough to keep the pile moist but not wet.
Slide 21. Turning speeds compost during the summer, turn the pile weekly to thoroughly mix the materials. Turning allows for thorough decomposition and speeds up the composting process.
Slide 22. The basic ingredients in making compost are yard water, air, water, some soil or compost to introduce micro-organisms along. The mixture of these ingredients is important. Too much or too little can slow the composting process and cause other problems as well.
Troubleshooting
Slide 23. Here are some ways to tell if your compost is progressing well. If the pile is composting properly, the interior should heat up to at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit. If the pile fails to heat-up, composting is still progressing but very slowly and may take six months to a year or more to be completed.
Slide 24. If your compost is damp and warm only in the middle, the pile may be too small. Collect more material and mix the old ingredients into a new pile.
Slide 25. If the heap is damp and sweet-smelling, but still will not heat up, it's short on nitrogen. Simply mix in a nitrogen source like fresh grass clippings, fresh manure or nitrogen fertilizer.
Slide 26. If the center of the pile is dry, you may have too much coarse, woody material and not enough water. Chop or shred the course material, add fresh green waste, and then turn and moisten all the ingredients.
Slide 27. Finally, if the compost has a bad odor, the pile is probably too wet and not getting enough air. In this case, add coarse dry materials and mix well.
In-The-Garden Composting
Slide 28. There are many methods of in-the-garden composting. One of which is simply walkway coposting. Place a thick layer of leaves, shredded branch trimmings, garden wastes grass clippings between the rows of raised bed vegetable gardens. If grass clippings are used they should be partially dried or applied in a thin layer to avoid offensive odors. This makes an excellent all-weather walkway that will allow you to work in your garden during wet periods. As these materials decompose and compact, add more to the surface. In a few months this material will be largely decomposed and ready for mixing into the garden soil.
Slide 29. A second option, called sheet composting, involves rotor-tilling a few inches of leaves into the garden in the fall. A light scattering of fertilizer will help speed the process along. By the following spring these leaves will be decomposed, leaving a rich, easy-to-work soil ready for planting. Large amounts of leaves may be easily mixed into the soil by repeating the spreading and rotor-tilling steps one layer at a time.
Slide 30. Trench Composting. Another method of composting involves the use of trenches. This method works well for vegetable gardens, especially if you don't have a space for a compost pile or bin. Dig trenches deep enough to accommodate the volume of waste to be composted. Build next season's new planting beds on top on the trenches, and dig new trenches in place of the old beds. By alternating trenches and garden rows each season, you'll improve the soil throughout your garden. And, you'll see improved results in your garden harvest.
Slide 31. "Compostholing" is a variation of the trench method, useful for small quantities of kitchen wastes. Dig a hole 12 to 18 inches deep, using a shovel or post-hole digger. Alternate layers of kitchen scraps and an inch or two of soil until the hole is filled.
Slide 32. Whatever method of composting you choose, you can effectively recycle your yard and kitchen waste into some of the best soil building products available.
Summary
Slide 33. The "Don't Bag It" - Compost plan saves landfill space and tax dollars. It is a hands-on way to eliminate needless waste, beautify your landscape, and enjoy a more productive garden with compost - nature's own slow-release fertilizer.
Educational programs conducted by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, sex, religion, handicap, or national origin.