How to make the blackest compost possible

Composting veggie and fruit scraps is a simple process. The best part is nature does most of the work for you. You simply add the food scraps, wait a couple months, and the result is “black gold.” About five years ago, our family decided it was time to start making some of our own black gold for the garden. I built a compost bin based on a design by Homesteadonomics founder Joe Mooney. Admittedly, I’ve made a few mistakes along the way, though I’ve tried to learn from them. In this month’s post, I’ll share some tips for managing a compost bin and making the blackest compost possible.

1) Rotate the bin at least once a week

A great feature about this type of compost bin is you can rotate it to mix the fresh veggie scraps with the compost already in the bin. When I’ve forgotten to rotate the bin, it’s taken longer to make compost because the veggie scraps sit in a pile at the top of the bin. These scraps will decompose faster if you regularly rotate the bin.

2) Use a secondary compost bin for about a month before harvesting your ‘black gold’

A problem with maintaining only one compost bin is that you can’t harvest the compost without also having to sort out recently-added, uncomposted food scraps. The solution is to maintain a smaller, secondary compost bin that you can use for about a month before you plan to harvest the black gold from your main, larger compost bin.

If you typically plant your garden in May, you might consider placing your veggie scraps in your secondary bin starting in March or April. Our secondary bin sits in the corner of our garden and takes up only about a single square foot of space. Once you harvest the black gold from your main bin, you can transfer the contents of your secondary bin to your main bin. This will help kick-start the composting process in your main bin.

3) Consider avoiding these food scraps

You can compost egg shells, but I don’t because they take longer to break down. The same is true for corn cobs. I toss out those two items.

I also stopped composting watermelon rinds because they add too much moisture, at least for the style of bin that I use. The rinds are otherwise great composting material. The problem is they store a lot of water, and so they can easily throw the bin’s moisture levels out of balance. It’s just easier not to use them, in my opinion.

4) Add newspaper if your bin starts to stink

Sometimes our bin will start to stink, which usually means there’s too much moisture. Even without watermelon rinds, this can happen. In these instances, the best cure I’ve discovered is shredded newspaper. The newspaper absorbs the moisture and, within a few days, brings the moisture levels back into balance. Fortunately, we subscribe to a few newspapers, and so we always have a good supply. You don’t need much, however. A single edition of the day’s news typically does the trick.

Composting benefits go beyond the compost itself

I like that composting is not just about creating fertilizer for your garden. One of the biggest benefits is that composting noticeably reduces the amount of waste a household generates.

Also, composting can help you develop what I call the physically active mindset. Nobody would think of composting as exercise, but it does keep you moving. Hauling the veggie scraps to the bin, rotating the bin, and harvesting the black gold all require physical movement. Furthermore, composting complements another physical activity—gardening itself.

There are many different types of composting setups and systems. They each come with a list of pros and cons. If you’re struggling to make compost, I encourage you to keep trying. I spent the first couple years with our bin trying to fine tune the process and understand what made the best compost possible. But your patience will be rewarded. It’s one of those things that improves with experience.