Resources for Composting in North Carolina

The act of composting is defined as the natural breakdown of organic resources. The result of composting is - you guessed it - compost, a rich organic soil that is host to microorganisms that actually work to decompose resources such as yard and kitchen wastes. There is certainly good reason to practice composting. Compost acts as a nutrient source for your yard, and using it will save you a few bucks on soil and fertilizer. Composting helps keep excess materials from going to landfills, as well as keeps pollutants from the environment and atmosphere. Composting actually serves to beautify your lawn and garden, and it saves monetary resources for the community as a whole.

In order to begin, take a look at what kind of waste is produced in your yard and kitchen and take an inventory. Materials that are useful to a compost pile are either nitrogen-rich or feature carbon as a molecular structure. As a rule of thumb, generally add only "green" items (vegetable scraps or fruit cores, eggshells, old coffee filters and grounds, tea bags, breads, grains, and pastas are good places to start) or "brown" items (paper shreds, straw, paper towels, branch fragments, and leaves). To this pile of resources, add soil to introduce the microorganisms needed to begin decomposition.

There are a few resources that you should not add to your compost, as they will attract animals, create unpleasant odors, or poison the pile. These include animal manure from cats or dogs, which is likely to contain disease. Charcoal ashes and herbicide-treated plants are also out, because of environment-unfriendly toxins. Meats, bones, dairy, grease or cooking oil are magnets for rats, so be wary of adding any of these ingredients. Don't add diseased plants, as you don't want their disease to spread to healthy plants. Weeds and seeds are also out - these will destroy the order already established in your North Carolina garden. Also out are pine needles and magnolia leaves, which take too long to decompose.

Now that you have resources for your compost pile assembled, either place it in a compost bin, or simply place it in an area of your yard that is shaded and well-drained. Balance your pile between green and brown ingredients - an ideal balance is 75 percent browns and 25 percent greens. Adding the resources of water, oxygen, heat and composter organisms will take care of the rest of the work. Add the material to the pile in layers - start with browns, add some greens, then shovel some soil on top, and repeat. Next, add water until the pile has a sponge-like consistency. Oxygen isn't necessary, but if you wish you can turn the pile over with a shovel to add the element and increase decomposition time.

Store any kitchen waste you plan to compost, and when you have a good selection, bury it in the pile under about eight inches. Bury the next batch of scraps elsewhere in the pile. Just about the only maintenance your pile needs from here on out is turning and watering. It's best to turn the pile about three times a week. A high temperature helps the compost to decompose faster; simply adding more green products will raise the temperature.

Richard Barthallo reports on weather and other problems that damages homes. See:
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