Compost is great for your garden plants. Learn the basic tips and techniques on how to make and use it. This is a simple solution and one of natures best ways to ensure healthy plants. There are many different styles of bins you can purchase or build yourself. Most materials you can put in a compost is right from your own home. Lets talk about the different indoor and outdoor resources you can use.

One of the biggest outdoor material is leaves. The leaves usually make up the biggest substance in the pile. Grass clippings will also work but should be added with wood materials such as limbs, branches, and twigs. Sawdust is also a great added feature. Indoor resources include egg shells, coffee grounds, and any type of vegetable scraps. There are certain items you should never put in the pile as bacteria will develop. Meat, any type of dairy products, grease, or any type of chicken, pork, fish, or beef bones.

The bins can be very simple or there are a number of more complex bins available. One of your key goals with the pile is allowing all the organic material to decompose. When this process takes place, natural nutrients will begin to develop and these nutrients provide wonderful food for your garden plants.

One of the most popular bin is the wire bin composter This bin is simple and can be used with any type of material. The whole process of allowing the organic materials to dry out takes anywhere from six months to two years. This bin will work and is the easiest process but will take the longest. You will have to periodically turn the organic material. You can add leaves, grass clippings, and your everyday indoor wastes. Usually a pitch fork or rake is used to turn the organic waste. Your most nutritious resources will be at the bottom of the bin. You can build your own out of wood, brick, or stone.

Another option is to use two or three bins. The bins provides you with more materials. Each batch will be getting air movement through them and this allows a faster rate of decomposition. You will have to turn the bins more frequent working with the multiple piles. When you first start, turn every five to seven days and do this for a few weeks. Below are a few simple steps in getting your compost pile started.

1. The first step is to collect all your organic materials and waste.
2. Go ahead and combine the wet and dry materials together.
3. Moisten down the entire pile with some water.
4. Mentioned above was the periodical turning of the mixture. This is a very important step.

Following this process for a compost pile can be done very easily. It tends to be a slow process but is really worth the wait as once you start putting the material in your gardens, your plants will truly thrive. I started out with a single wire bin. The biggest challenge I had was to get into a routine of throwing things into the pile such as my daily coffee grounds. Turning the waste became a habit. The decomposed material won't all go in your garden at the same time. The bottom of the pile will be the first to go into the ground. Mix it up well with your soil.

I couldn't resist showing you this picture of a neighbors bin. He got a couple of banana plants from a friend and planted them into the pile. The plants are doing fantastic even though they don't produce bananas due to the zone seven we live in.

Any tree, shrub, flower, herb, vegetable, or fruit will benefit from using organic waste. I believe that doing a compost pile will create superb and healthy gardens. I hope this has helped you some in thinking about doing a compost pile. To me, spending a little time creating a natural environment for your plants, is a great way to know exactly what is in your ground soil.