by Carel Two-Eagle

Created on: May 07, 2008   Last Updated: May 20, 2008

Composting is so simple, even bacteria can do it. In fact, bacteria make composting happen. If a single-celled organism can do it, you - with billions of cells in your brain alone - certainly can learn how to!

In order for the bacteria to make composting occur, four things are necessary. They are: food, water, oxygen, and a specific temperature range.

Composting happens faster if what you feed your pile is chopped into small pieces. For this you can use almost anything that will chop materials finely - garbage disposal not connected to a sewerage line; a shredder; even an old lawn mower. "Food" includes manure of any and every kind, dirt (for the bacteria in it, to make your pile start working faster), and any kind of vegetable material. If you want to be sure your pile starts working quickly, buy "probiotic" capsules or the same yogurt you eat, and mix some into your pile. The bacteria in yogurt are the same bacteria that enable your body to process your food and so, enable you to live.

Water enables the bacteria to multiply; it also leaches out whatever is soluble in the things you feed your pile. If your pile's temperature gets too high, watering will bring the temperature back down where it belongs.

Oxygen is necessary for the bacteria to live, the same as for you. This means you must turn the pile some way. To do this, you can: use a pitchfork; drive hollow tubes into the pile various places & then pull them out; drive or stab a sharpened heavy stick or piece of steel into the pile, wiggle it around to make an air hole, and do this in several places; or you can buy or build a compost tumbler. The first 3 methods have to be done every couple of days, and you can include the effort to turn your pile in your exercise program. Compost tumblers are basically a barrel that sits on rollers or which you roll back and forth whenever you add material to the barrel. They make compost happen the fastest.

As far as the temperature range goes, figure roughly from +50F to +90F for the bacteria to start working. Once your pile is working, temperatures in the middle of it can - and should - reach as high as 185F, to kill any bad bacteria in there. If they rise above that, both good and bad bacteria will be killed. It is a good idea to have a soil thermometer and use it to check the temperature of your compost pile.

The compost you make can be used for potted plants, side-dressing in your garden, or to improve your yard's plantings. It can be spread by any means.

A properly made compost pile will never smell bad or attract vermin. Compost smells warm and good and 'earthy', even when the pile is working.

Composting is a process as old as life on our Holy Mother, the earth. It enables life to continue, by breaking down whatever has died and enriching the soil there.

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