Composting: it's not about the compost

If you've never composted food scraps, what comes to mind when you think about it? Rotten, putrid stinkiness? Rats, snakes and maggots? Slimy, decaying, mold-covered food? Mmmm, tasty. These are the things I worried about before my family started doing it. But I think that one of my biggest concerns was could I make usable compost? What with all the browns plus the greens, balancing the carbon and nitrogen -- oh dear god who can figure it all out? It's too much pressure! Would I have an overflowing bin of rotten, stinky, rat-infested nastiness? Because no thanks!

Here's the thing: it's not about the compost. Whether you can successfully make usable compost is not the goal when you are first starting out. The goal is to keep organic matter (food) out of your garbage, because when it gets buried in the landfill it releases methane, which is a gas far more toxic than carbon dioxide. (It's not as big a concern as carbon dioxide because there's less of it.) So if you forget about the pressure of making compost and just focus on getting food scraps out of your garbage, then you're halfway there.

Right now is the perfect time to get serious about composting because autumn is just around the corner. Why is this important? Because falling leaves and dead, brown garden growth will be in abundance and you'll need these things to add to your compost bin. I keep a 32-gallon garbage can next to my compost bin and fill it with dead leaves in the fall. Then I rake up a whole bunch more into piles around the bin, which gives me plenty of brown matter (carbon) to add to my green matter (food scraps, which provide nitrogen) throughout the year. When the carbon and nitrogen are in balance, there is no stink, no rot, no maggots. (Well, it will be a little odorous when you open your compost bin, but you won't notice it if you're just hanging out in your yard.) You will figure this out as you go. When you dump in your food scraps, dump in an equal amount of brown matter. In the summer months you might need to add a little water, just to make it damp, which helps everything break down faster.

I've been composting for over a year, and I've never taken any compost out of the bin and it's never filled up. It just keeps breaking down. Now that I'm comfortable with it, I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to actually make usable compost. Maybe add some worms or adjust my green to brown ratio. Maybe add a second bin so that the first can cook awhile. But this needn't concern you until you get the composting routine down pat. Or not! You don't have to make usable compost.

About rodents: oh how they love rotten food. But if you have a bin that is enclosed on all sides, including the bottom, you shouldn't have a problem. Portlanders, Metro now carries a perforated bottom that snaps on to the bottom of the Earth Machine that will keep out rats. I highly recommend it.

So make your list: kitchen compost pail (preferably with a carbon filter to eliminate odor); outdoor compost bin; a long-handled stirring tool (I use a 3-pronged claw); and a pile of dead leaves, bark chips, garden refuse, etc. Check out our composting video (try to ignore my robotic, tinny voice) to see how Renee and I compost or visit our archive of composting posts for more insight. You can totally do this. Totally.