You may have been thinking about composting for some time now and may have even looked at getting yourself a composting bin. But wait! Have you asked yourself what is composting? You’d be surprised that there is more to composting than just throwing yard waste and kitchen scraps into a pile and letting nature take its course. Although this is a method of composting, this may not be the right method for you, and the only way to know is to learn what is composting.
So what is composting? Basically, everything that grows will decompose, and composting just speeds up the process by creating the optimal environment for organic matter to breakdown into what some call “Black Gold.” A nutrient-rich soil-like material that can be used in horticulture, gardening, or agriculture.
There are three main types of composting. Cold, or passive, composting, Hot, or active, composting, and Vermicomposting.
Cold, or passive, composting is the easiest form of composting to do and require the least amount of work and attention, but also takes the longest amount of time to create a finish product. Cold composting allows nature to just do its thing. You don’t have to worry about turning it, moisture levels, temperature, or air flow. It’s basically set and forget. It is an anaerobic process that relies on microorganism that thrive in oxygen-deprived environments. It is a great option if you don’t have a lot of organic waste or time to tend to your compost pile. However it can take one to two years to have a usable product. Also a cold composite pile may never reach the necessary temperature to kill off pathogenic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, worms, and other parasites as well as weed seeds. It can also be smeller than other forms of composting. If you want to kill off pathogens, prevent weed seeds, and minimize smell, hot composting or vermicomposting are great options. But if set it and forget it is your thing Check out our Good Ideas Compost Wizard Eco Square…
Hot, or active, composting requires you to actually tend to your compost pile, but it will result in a finish product quicker, usually in 1 to 12 months.
Hot composting requires the right amount of air and moisture to attract the organisms that thrive in oxygen-rich environments, as well as the right ratio of carbon and nitrogen needed to decompose organic material quickly. You also have to maintain a core temperature of 140℉ in order to destroy most weeds, plant diseases, pesticides, and herbicides, plus any bug larvae or eggs. Although hot composting may need more attention, you can easily do this form of composting using an insulated tumbler style composter like Good Ideas Compost Wizard Insulated Composter Single carried in our online store…
Vermicomposting is the most versatile of the three types of composting we covered in this blog post. It requires more effort than cold composting, but less than hot composting. You also can do it indoors or outdoors, and have a finish product in 3 to 4 months. So what is vermicomposting. Vermicomposting is composting using worms, vermi meaning worm. Vermicomposting uses Red Wigglers or European Night Crawlers, the latter can be used as fishing bait as well. These worms take your kitchen scrapes, such as fruit and veggie peels, coffee grounds, tea bags, or vegetables, paper products, and grass and yard trimmings into nutrient rich compost ready for use in your garden. Check out unclejimswormfarm.com to learn more about vermicomposting.
There are several more methods of composting, but these are the three most common ways to compost your organic waste. There are many benefits to composting and we highly recommend that you start benefiting from it today. We only covered a small portion of the world of composting, if you want to learn more check out nrdc.org.
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