Many suburban homesteaders read about the benefits of creating your own compost in the backyard and head to the local big box store to find a composter that some youtube celebrity have recommended. Usually, these composters aren’t cheap and are lacking in the space required to properly turn and aerate compost. Whether it’s the cute Dalek shape or the big barrel that you need superman strength to turn, they pick up something that isn’t needed.
One of the ideas behind homesteading, is not spending money on items that you don’t need. If you have unused cinder blocks around your homestead, you can use them to build the border around your composting center. However, if you don’t already have them, call your local big box store and see if they are in stock. Due to the shortages happening right now, many do not have a stockpile of building materials in their supply. Be sure to call around, if Home Depot or Lowes doesn’t carry them try Ace Hardware or another small hardware store near your home.
Another suggestion is to search craigslist.org or facebook marketplace for pallets. A pallet can be a good border for composting, but it will need to be secured and held up with some screws or bolts. There are some concerns of chemical leaching due to some companies using preservatives on the wood to prevent rotting. However, being able to determine whether or not a pallet has had a chemical layered on the wood, is darn near possible. Most people just chance it since it’s a free source of materials. If you are concerned with leaching from pallets, you can simply choose to only use that specific compost on your fruit, nut and wood producing trees.
I’ve included a list of both greens and browns to help you remember what you can compost.
Greens (Wet/Nitrogen)
- Kitchen Scraps
- Grass Clippings (from only your yard)
- Used Coffee Grounds
- Animal Manure
- Finished Annual Plants
- Egg Shells
- Seaweed
- Tea Bags
- Decaying Flower Bouquets
- Fresh water aquarium water
Browns (Dry/Carbon)
- Cardboard
- Shredded Paper (non-glossy)
- Mulch
- Sawdust
- Used Pet Litter
- Dead Twigs
- Straw
- Spoiled Hay
- Dry Yard Leaves
- Shredded Newspaper
While there are websites and youtube videos that encourage potential homesteaders to compost things outside of the items I’ve listed, I’d recommend against. Some people will go so far as to encourage beginners to add items such as raw meat, rancid meat, leftovers containing meat, animal fats and even animal carcasses. Not only is this likely to set up a beginner for failure, but it could cause unwanted wild animals to wander into your homestead that you could pose a threat. In addition to that, there are numerous viruses and bacteria that can pose a threat to your family, pets and livestock. In addition to no meat, you should not include dairy or bread, as they too cause problems for the small composting system.
In terms of agricultural diversity, make sure you always add a variety of items to your compost pile not just the same two or three items over and over as this can cause a shortage in micronutrients. You can add your own urine to the compost pile but remember to keep the proper ratio of brown to green. If you are not careful, you can end up with a compost that looks more along the lines of mucky mud and it will be a loss or you can possibly try adding carbon to save it.
If you are looking for a scrap bucket to keep your kitchen scraps in, you can always pick up a 12 pack of white food grade 1 gallon buckets. These particular buckets have lids with them so you can fill them up, put the lid on and slide them in the bottom shelf of our fridge until you have enough to take outside. You can not compost in these little buckets, these are merely to be used for holding scraps. If you want something with a bit more pizzazz that you can keep out on your counter top, you can check out this model that my friend got for Christmas. This model has a nice charcoal filter that keeps the stink inside and prevents flies from getting into it while it’s on the counter.
Tools to Assist in Composting
Check out Charles Dowding’s wonderful composting videos.
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Suburban & Rural Homesteading Today 