Composting Resources

Compost Bins by USFS

In Basic Composting for Busy People Leah wrote about the slow, or cold, composting method.

You’ve probably also heard of hot composting (the method which involves turning) and vermicomposting (using worms).

If you want to know more, read on. I’ve grouped the resources below by presentation method – read, watch, listen.

Read – Comprehensive Composting

The USDA NRCS has a number of tip sheets on Backyard Conservation which you can download, including a comprehensive 4 page pdf tip sheet on composting (explains both hot and cold composting).

And Cornell University’s Waste Management Institute provides guides, manuals, and tip sheets at their Small Scale Backyard Composting Page, including advice on composting for schools and additional information on  health and safety considerations with composting.

Read – About Red Worm Composting

Worms make fabulous compost. If you don’t mind having a few extra pets to take care of, worms might be for you. Worms can be kept indoors (or outdoors if you have the correct conditions) and will produce wonderful compost in the form of castings for you all year. For more information on worm composting, visit Compost Guy at his blog Redworm One.

Watch – Composting Videos

You might prefer to see compost knowledge, rather than read it. Here are some useful composting videos, with a variety of emphasis.

• What Composting Is and How it Works – a TV style interview with the editor of Organic Gardening Magazine.
• Cooking up Compost from Better Homes and Gardens. Presented like a cookery program.
• Composting Demystified – it’s all about the bacteria. Video from Kitchen Gardeners International which explains the compost ecosystem and uses a lasagna analogy to explain layering.
• After that you might need some light entertainment. If so, try How to Build a Compost Bin in under 2 minutes. I don’t guarantee it will teach you how to build a bin, but it will surely make you smile.

Listen – The Idiot’s Guide to Composting

If you need some more reassurance on the fact that composting is not only possible, but it’s really not as complicated as it seems, Chris McLaughlin, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Composting has done a series of interviews with Carole Brown, the Ecosystem Gardener.

• Compost and Healthy Soil.
• How to Start a Compost Pile.
• The Accidental Organic Gardener – on composting all those autumn leaves, cute bunny poop, and becoming an organic gardener.

Have you started composting yet? If not, what barrier is there for you? What method do you like – hot, cold, or worms.

Related posts:

1. Basic Composting for Busy People
2. Five Lazy Ways to Compost – Part 3 – Bokashi
3. Five Lazy Ways to Compost – Part 4 – Dalek