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How to compost

Why pay for soil and fertilizer when you can make them using stuff you normally throw away? You can reclaim the few minutes you spend per week composting by carrying less trash to the curb.

There's no single way to do it, but here's what I do.

1. 

   Make an "outside" compost bin.

   I took an old plastic garbage can and drilled a dozen or so holes in the bottom and a few dozen in the sides with an electric drill. The side holes provide oxygen and the bottom ones let worms in. I wrap a bungee cord over the top to keep raccoons out. Put it somewhere that gets partial sun; it should be kept warm but not too hot.

   You can buy special pre-made bins that allow you to spin them, but why bother? A garbage can, if you don't already have one, costs a tiny fraction of the price. If you want to roll your compost kick it over and roll it around.

   If you have the land and not too many raccoons a pile on the ground or topless box will do.

2. 

   Make an "inside" bin.

   This is to hold your food scraps between trips to the compost bin, and can be as large or small as necessary. We have a ~1 gallon bucket in the sink with a plastic lid on it. We empty our inside bin outside every few days.

3. 

   Toss your cooking/eating veggie scraps in your inside bin instead of the trash.

   Uncooked vegetable scraps only. No meat, fish, cheese, fat/oil, cooked/seasoned food, etc. Things we do throw in: vegetable scraps, onion peels, apple cores, melon rinds, carrot tips, lettuce stalks, corn shuckings. Generally anything that is pure fruit or vegetable and is uncooked and unmodified. I've read online to avoid banana peels because of the pesticides. Anything large or tough will break down much faster if you chop it up.

4. 

   Roll your compost pile occasionally.

   I use a pitchfork or shovel to mix the compost bin every week or two. It takes about 15 seconds. Contents should be moist but not soggy and warm but not hot. Every once in a while throw some dirt on top. Keep this up year-round. The two of us, eating mostly vegetables only manage to fill up a single garbage can every year or so (as the compost breaks down it greatly compresses). You can produce a lot more compost if you include grass clippings and autumn leaves, but we don't currently have the space.

5. Use it.

   When it comes time to use it in your garden, I find it's easiest to drag the bin over, dump it all out, spread it and cherry-pick the minority unfinished items back in the bin with a shovel. Much faster than trying to only scoop out the finished compost from the bin. Scoop some fresh dirt back into the bin and start all over again.

   Then till the finished compost into the soil.

I was worried our bin would smell, but it doesn't with the lid on, even in the summer. You can only smell it briefly when you stand directly over it and take the lid off.