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You are here: Home / In Life / Slow Living / Composting for Beginners: What You Need to get Started

May 10, 2016 by Angela

Composting for Beginners: What You Need to get Started

Are you composting those kitchen scraps from vegetables and fruits that your household consumes? Have you thought about it but just haven’t started yet? This composting for beginners post is for you!

We are not the greenest family I know, but things such as reusing rain water with rain barrels, recycling, and composting have become a regular part of our household routine.

Composting for Beginners

Getting Started

What do you need to get started in composting? You’ll need greens and browns.

Greens are the kitchen scraps from vegetables and fruits that your household is consuming, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, or grass clippings. Greens are rich in nitrogen. Browns are things like leaves, wood chips, or straw. Browns are rich in carbon. The ratio that we have been using is roughly 4:1 – 4 parts brown to 1 part green.

Looking to start #composting? Here's how to get started. #gardening Click To Tweet

Materials you need to start composting

  1. something to gather vegetable and fruit scraps inside your kitchen
  2. something to mix your greens and browns in outside

We personally just use an old plastic pretzel container for our compost pail in our kitchen. It isn’t pretty, but it does the job!  This compost pail is highly rated and cute! I wouldn’t mind it being on my kitchen countertop.

We have two different kinds of compost bins similar to this locking lid composter and this tumbler. We got both free so don’t be deterred by price. The first one we received after attending a free workshop on composting in the city. Try searching for “free compost bins” plus your city. Another good place to search are sites like Freecycle or Craigslist for unused compost bins. The other one we got from a family member.

You can also make your own out of sturdy wire or pallet boards. Some friends of ours have a round garbage bin with a top that locks on. They drilled holes into that and use it for their compost bin. It’s ingenious – they just put it on its side and roll it around to mix the compost – no pitchfork needed!

Composting for beginners: The Process

  1. Every few days we bring our compost pail “our greens” out to the compost bins.
  2. We dump “our browns” on top of the greens.
  3. We mix it up with our pitchfork.
  4. Add water if the compost looks too dry. You want it moist but not soggy wet.

For a list of “Do’s and Don’t’s” regarding what to compost, feel free to download this free printable.

Here are the do's and don'ts of what to #compost. Free printable. #gardening Click To Tweet

We keep several bags of brown leaves next to our compost bins that we’ve collected from our neighbors. We’ve learned to pick up several bags in the Fall to give us enough browns to last us until the following Fall for our compost.

Full disclosure, we have yet to actually use our home compost in our gardens. We keep adding to our pile without letting it “cook” all the way down. Since we have free compost available to us through the city, we don’t feel the need to use our own compost in our gardens. We just feel great that we’re keeping things out of the landfills!

Do you compost? If so, any other tips for beginners?

This post will be shared with these great link ups.

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About Angela

Wife. Mom to three boys. Writer. Reader. Aspiring Minimalist. Lover of chocolate and fitness. She loves blogging about the ways she is finding success in simplifying life one step at a time. Her mantra is "Progress, not Perfection."

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Comments

  1. Abby @ WinsteadWandering says

    May 11, 2016 at 8:28 am

    I’ve honestly never thought of composting, but it appeals to me because we don’t have a local recycling program. Moving from Oregon, that was a hard adjustment to make. Composting seems like something my science-loving husband would enjoy.

    • Angela says

      May 12, 2016 at 1:50 am

      I bet you guys would love it – especially your hubby! Let me know if you start and how it goes Abby!

  2. Corinne says

    May 12, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    I’ve been curious about composting and this was really helpful if I can talk my husband into getting started! Does the compost pile smell a lot? Would it be best to set it in the back of our yard? Thanks!

    • Angela says

      May 13, 2016 at 11:00 am

      Hi Corinne! No the compost pile should not smell if you’re putting enough Browns in with your greens. I set out first one towards the back of our yard because I was concerned about it but it really isn’t a problem. Make sure you use at least double the amount of browns as greens.

  3. Hannah Jinks says

    May 13, 2016 at 10:31 am

    I love that you’ve gotten into composting, it’s such a great way to reuse things! Where we live we’re not allowed to have a compost pile outside, any idea if there are any indoor options?

    • Angela says

      May 13, 2016 at 11:04 am

      Vermicomposting is an indoor option with worms. I’m pretty fascinated by that idea but haven’t moved to it yet. I’m a teensy bit nervous about having large numbers of worms in our house!

  4. Jessica says

    May 16, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    This is so timely for us! Our garden hasn’t done well the past two years, and I know it’s the soil. I was just wondering what we could do to fix that. I’ll be showing this to my husband so we can get something started. Thanks! And I’ll be featuring this for Tuesday Talk this week – thanks for linking up! -Jessica, Sweet Little Ones

    • Angela says

      May 18, 2016 at 1:23 am

      Thank you Jessica! Let me know if it helps. I hope that you get fresh veggies from the garden this summer! My little seeds are sprouting and it is exciting!

  5. Kim~madeinaday says

    May 17, 2016 at 11:06 am

    I have not tried composting, Thanks for the tips! Thanks for linking up to Merry Monday! Sharing on Twitter! Have a great week!
    Kim

    • Angela says

      May 18, 2016 at 1:24 am

      Thanks for sharing Kim! I hope you give it a try!

  6. Jennifer A says

    May 18, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    Great post! (I pinned both your posts.) I just dumped our compost pile on the garden today. Well, actually I made the kids do it. 🙂 Thanks for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hop!

  7. Mrs. AOK says

    May 22, 2016 at 12:35 pm

    I use to compost when we lived in IL., I’d like to get back to it. Thanks for sharing your tips with us at #MMBH, pinning this to our board.
    XO

    • Angela says

      May 27, 2016 at 5:27 pm

      You should definitely try to do it again. It’s a simple thing but so good for the environment!

  8. Ryan Scott says

    July 29, 2016 at 5:20 am

    I’ve been composting for a month now but I think I am doing it the wrong way as I’ve read your blog I’d better give it a tyry.

  9. Beth says

    March 1, 2017 at 9:35 am

    Compost is great for houseplants too. Let it cook and watch the green magic.

    • Angela says

      March 6, 2017 at 10:13 pm

      I never think of using compost for houseplants but I’m going to try it for my “one” solitary houseplant that isn’t looking so good these days!

Hi Friend! I’m Angela

Welcome to my blog where I write about simplifying life in small, manageable steps and creating healthy habits. You'll find inspiration, practical tips and community here for the decluttering you're doing in your own life. (whether that's physical, mental, or emotional clutter) Thanks so much for stopping by! Read More…

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