How Do I Start Composting In A Small Garden?

How do I start composting in a small garden? One of the most often asked questions I get asked by friends and readers. With September here and the harvests are being gathered, now is a great time to get started on a compost bin for your garden. Read on to find out how do you start composting in a small yard?

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Tune in to the podcast episode or read on to learn more about composting in a small garden:

What Is Compost?

Compost is simply decomposed materials that were once living. Compost is what gives the soil life and fertility and is the workhorse of an organic garden. Organic gardeners are PROUD of their compost bins and get quite passionate and animated when discussing their process!

Compost provides:

Key nutrients for plants (nitrogen; N, phosphorus; P and potassium; K)
Trace minerals which support healthy plant growth
Humus which helps to bind loose soils together and retain water
Microorganisms which breakdown materials further into components which the plants can use

How To Make Compost

Compost is made by piling together materials that were once alive in a heap or in a bin. Keep the materials moist like a wrung-out sponge and turn everything in your bin or heap every so often to mix it all together and it will break down and turn into compost.

You can add lots of different materials to your compost pile including:

Straw
Leaves
Shredded paper
Grass clippings
Vegetable and fruit peels and offcuts
Coffee grounds
Teabags
Animal manure from cows, horse, goat, sheep, rabbit, and chickens

These materials are split into 2 categories: greens and browns. Greens are fresh materials that were alive very recently or, they contain a lot of nitrogen. Browns are dry materials that have been dead for some time or, they contain a lot of carbon and take a long time to break down.

Let’s take a look at some examples of green and brown materials:

You can add these onto your compost pile as you have them or put them down on the pile in layers just like the example in the picture below:

Compost will happen naturally and will take time to form. A typical backyard compost heap will take 6 months to 2 years to break down fully into compost. Compost can be made much faster but needs a big pile of materials (4 ft high by 4 ft wide) to start with and if you have a small outside space, you probably want to be maximizing your growing space rather than your composting space.

You should consider multiple composting systems for your garden to be able to handle the materials you will be generating from your small homestead and garden. The more you can compost, the more self-sufficient your garden and you will become from outside inputs like soil amendments being needed, and the better your soil and garden will become.

How To Start Composting In A Small Garden

If you can have a compost bin (and it is always worth checking your zoning regulations, your city’s ordinances and any HOA rules and regulations) then you need to figure out where to place it and what space you want to dedicate to composting in your garden.

Many homesteaders and gardeners put their compost bins in the garden area so you don’t have to go too far to add to it. Other gardeners put their compost bins in a shady spot in the garden where there isn’t much which will naturally grow in the space. If you have rules or regulations from the city or the HOA you may have to position your compost bin so many feet away from fences or property boundaries.

The next step is to decide what type of composter you want for your garden. I have a re-sizable compost bin a black plastic tumbling composter and a larger animal proof, aluminum tumbling composter to tackle all the compostable materials coming out of my homestead and garden. All of these composters in my garden are functional and work well but they are not exactly pretty to look at.

There are typically 2 types of composters for small gardens: tumbling composters and compost bins.

Tumbling Composters

Using tumbling composters in your garden has several advantages over the static compost bins:

Easy to turn
Small footprint
Some are animal proof
Tall legs mean less likely to attract rodents
Durable and long-lasting through the seasons
Faster composting
Can collect draining compost tea
Dual compartments allow the continual composting
Easy to empty finished compost
More airflow through the pile allowing you to compost grass clippings easily
Less strain on your back

There are some disadvantages to tumbling composters including:

Higher cost
The smaller capacity of the drum
Non-insulated models dry out rapidly
Multiple composters needed for larger gardens with lots of waste

Related Post: How To Build A Tumbling Composter

Static Compost Bins

A static compost bin has been a popular choice for gardeners for many years and for good reason! These composters are cheaper than tumbling composters and have a larger capacity. Compost bins are also easy to make from pallets. Compost bins have some disadvantages, however:

Thinner plastic models do not last very long
Difficult to turn the compost
Difficult to empty finished compost
Attract burrowing pests like mice
Slower composting process
Cannot collect compost tea
If not enclosed, animals can get into the heap

If you have a really small garden area you should consider stacking composters which allow you to use the vertical space to compost without being an eyesore. Worm towers are a great stackable option for composting in small spaces. Worms produce worm castings which are an excellent soil conditioner for potted plants and the vegetable garden. Many worm towers allow you to drain off the worm compost tea which is a great fertilizer for your garden too.

Trench Composting

A trench composter is simply a deep pit or trench which you dig and add the compost materials to and cover up with soil. It is a great set it and forget it composting method which covers any odors and flies which may be present in your compost bin.

The materials in a trench will be broken down by worms and microorganisms to produce a rich layer of nutrients for your garden. Trench composting is traditionally done in fall in England and the following spring, hungry crops like potatoes or pumpkins are planted on top of the trench so they can get to the nutrients below as they get bigger.

You can even trench compost in a raised bed by removing the soil and digging down a little into the ground then adding the compostable materials and back-filling with the raised bed soil.

How To Compost

Once you have your composter, set it up, and start filling it up! You can collect scraps in a 5-gallon bucket or kitchen crock then transfer to your composter alternatively you can add to your composter as you have the materials available. The best thing to do is to add about 50% fresh, green, high nitrogen materials and 50% brown, carbon materials or add a couple of handfuls of shredded paper each time you add kitchen scraps to your compost bin.

Turn your compost pile regularly; every couple of days in a tumbling composter or every couple of weeks in a compost bin. Ensure that your compost materials are moist as a wrung-out sponge and in small pieces. This helps the microorganisms break down the materials into compost quicker.

Adding fresh animal manure like horse, goat, sheep, chicken, or poultry will help your compost heap start to breakdown, as will the addition of comfrey leaves.

In Summary: How Do I Start Composting In A Small Garden?

Follow these 5 steps to start composting in your backyard:

Step 1: Decide where your composter will be located in your garden area.

Step 2: Decide what type of composter you want. Tumbling, bin, stacking or wormery composters are all readily available to buy or to build.

Step 3: Start filling your composter with green and brown materials.

Step 4: Wait for the microorganisms to break down the materials this could be anywhere from 2 months in a tumbling composter to 2 years in a compost bin.

Step 5: Harvest your finished compost to use in the garden.

What’s stopping you from composting in your backyard?

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