Composting in Your Back Yard
Vermont law bans food scraps from the landfill by July 1, 2020. There are a variety of ways to keep your food scraps out of the trash, but composting is one of the least expensive and most rewarding, especially if you will use it as a soil amendment for your lawn or garden.
To get started quickly, you can purchase a pre-made Soil Saver compost bin, or Green Cone in-ground digester from CVSWMD. It's also possible to build your own system. Scroll down for tips, guides and DIY bin plans.
For more information and tips on composting, download our Dirt on Composting booklet, or check out one of our compost webinars.
To get started quickly, you can purchase a pre-made Soil Saver compost bin, or Green Cone in-ground digester from CVSWMD. It's also possible to build your own system. Scroll down for tips, guides and DIY bin plans.
For more information and tips on composting, download our Dirt on Composting booklet, or check out one of our compost webinars.
Tips & Guides
|
Easy Compost Bin PlansCheck out this Simple 2-Bin Compost System how-to video CVSWMD designed and built, (pdf printable plans below).
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
More Super Easy Composting Ideas
Trash Can Compost
We met up with Bruce Sargent at the Growing Local Festival. He gave us a great idea for home composting: something cheap, simple, and incredibly easy for anyone to do. He simply dumped his food scraps into a black plastic trash bin and turned it a quarter turn every day to keep it heated evenly. He said he could not believe how quickly his food scraps turned into beautiful, rich compost. Thanks for the idea, Bruce! We found these instructions for a slightly more involved version of the same thing on the Big Blog of Gardening.
Counter Top Milk Carton Compost in Three Weeks
We love re-use ideas, and came across this oldie in a book acquired at a church rummage sale: "Re-uses: 2,133 Ways to Recycle and Re-use the Things You Ordinarily Throw Away." Author Carolyn Jabs includes this gem on page 74: "Making Compost in the Kitchen."
She explains that you can take a standard milk or orange juice carton, lay it on its side and cut a small opening at the top (and fold back, like a hinge." Add compost, but first cut food scraps into 1-inch or smaller pieces. Jabs suggests pulverizing scraps in a food processor prior to adding to the compost, which seems a bit over-the-top to our sensibilities here at CVSWMD. But if you want to, that's an option. If your food scraps are "gloppy" drain off excess liquid into a plant or the sink. Sprinkle a bit of unsterilized soil over food scraps every day, and stir after each layer. Keep adding kitchen scraps and layering with soil until its full; give it one last stir, cover, and set aside. Start a new carton while the first one "cooks." After about three-weeks, the first carton should contain crumbly brown soil. Add it to your houseplants or garden, and start all over again!
We met up with Bruce Sargent at the Growing Local Festival. He gave us a great idea for home composting: something cheap, simple, and incredibly easy for anyone to do. He simply dumped his food scraps into a black plastic trash bin and turned it a quarter turn every day to keep it heated evenly. He said he could not believe how quickly his food scraps turned into beautiful, rich compost. Thanks for the idea, Bruce! We found these instructions for a slightly more involved version of the same thing on the Big Blog of Gardening.
Counter Top Milk Carton Compost in Three Weeks
We love re-use ideas, and came across this oldie in a book acquired at a church rummage sale: "Re-uses: 2,133 Ways to Recycle and Re-use the Things You Ordinarily Throw Away." Author Carolyn Jabs includes this gem on page 74: "Making Compost in the Kitchen."
She explains that you can take a standard milk or orange juice carton, lay it on its side and cut a small opening at the top (and fold back, like a hinge." Add compost, but first cut food scraps into 1-inch or smaller pieces. Jabs suggests pulverizing scraps in a food processor prior to adding to the compost, which seems a bit over-the-top to our sensibilities here at CVSWMD. But if you want to, that's an option. If your food scraps are "gloppy" drain off excess liquid into a plant or the sink. Sprinkle a bit of unsterilized soil over food scraps every day, and stir after each layer. Keep adding kitchen scraps and layering with soil until its full; give it one last stir, cover, and set aside. Start a new carton while the first one "cooks." After about three-weeks, the first carton should contain crumbly brown soil. Add it to your houseplants or garden, and start all over again!
