Seattle Composting Guide

It's hard to explain why so few people compost. It's virtually free, almost no work, recycles food and yard waste, and results in something that helps your garden grow. Perhaps the answer is that people don't realize all these things, and need a quick tutorial. So, here's how (assuming you don't live in an apartment building, if you do scroll down for tips on that):

Physical Engineering
1.You're going to need some room outside, roughly 4 x 4 feet. Then you'll need to decide if you want a large non-contained pile, a commercial bin, or if you want to build a structure as housing. These systems are a matter of preference and there's no technical superiority to any of them. Commercial bins run from about $100 – 200.

2. If you decide to build your own, it's important that the sides of your container are not solid. Good composting relies on aeration because the microbes that break down the material need air. You can make them out of commercial pallets, cinder blocks, really whatever works, but if you decide to go with wood, make sure it's untreated because the arsenic in some treatments kills important bacteria.

3. Keep a small container to collect food waste under your sink or another easily accessible place in the kitchen that has a lid in order to minimize smell. When this is full take it outside. Dump yard waste directly into the container.

4. Occasionally use a pitchfork or shovel to add air to the mix and keep it from getting to wet or dense, to facilitate the decomposition of material. When you need fertilizer, use the brown, nutrient rich soil-like mixture at the bottom. Leave the top portion alone.

A Healthy Mix
As mentioned before, make sure your pile gets plenty of air through openings in the containment walls, and turn it if necessary. Wetness matters too. Obviously dryness isn't a big problem here in Seattle, but for wetness you can put a tarp over your pile, or a lid with holes.

Bacteria in the compost pile need browns and greens. Browns are primarily dead organic matter like leaves, sawdust and wood chips. Greens are fresh materials like food waste and freshly cut grass. Both are needed in maintaining a steady amount of decomposition. Try to alternate layers if possible.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly
Like any kind of recycling, there is a long list of things that are appropriate and inappropriate for the compost heap.

Good
* Grass/lawn waste
* Kitchen leftovers
* Hay
* Wood chips and sawdust


Bad
* Diseased plants
* Anything chemically treated
* Human or pet waste
* Aggressive weeds
* Meats, bones, grease, or fatty foods


Composting Options for Apartments

1. You can blend up your left over vegetable matter and add water to the mix, then pour it on your plants.

2. If you have a balcony you can put a small heap there. Smell can become a problem so make sure the container is airtight.

3. Keep a small compost container under the sink and then transport it to a local p-patch or other known compost pile around the neighborhood.

4.Worm bins are a great option for indoors. Using an airtight container, put composting material mixed with redworms, red wigglers or manure worms that turn the matter into usable compost.

For more resources about city gardens check out Urban Land Army, a local resource with field manuals on all things urban-growing related.

Sources