How to make a compost

[Deedles]

I know that it may seem a silly question, though I just have to ask.
How to you make a compost?

Do you just put all your food scraps in a pile in the corner of your garden or do you need to put it in a bin of some sort?

I just don't want to make a huge pile of scraps that the kids can get their hands into, also I don't really want it to smell to bad. Mostly for the neighbours as they are right next to the garden, city living hey....

Anyway any ideas would be great. Also if there was any way of making one that didn't cost much money if any and use things from home?

Also once the compost is broken down, you do use it on the garden don't you?

OR maybe I should make a worm farm, I just saw one when reading online. Is it really the same thing but just with worms to break it up?

[Party-of-five]

we have a worm farm in an old fridge(around the side of the house) its fantastic! all the scraps go in and we get worm pee to put on the plants
the kids think its pretty fun too

[Beach Mama]

I have a worm farm, easy peasy and you put everything other than citrus, bread and meat in it! Compost is basically the same but you would want it in a container or sorts or you will attract rats and it will smell. There are loads of different containers out there, Deals Direct have some good ones. We have a worm farm cafe that we got from Bunnings and we use the juice on the vegies and they are thriving!!

[jackrose]

I used to be completely gobsmacked by compost, and completely bewildered by how everyone would say it is easy, you just... then follow up with a thesis of explanation!

In the end what worked for me was a cheapo compost bin (the black kind with the open bottom and easily removable lid. You just throw in kitchen scraps (not meat though) and try to follow up with a mix of things every now and again. So every now and again throw in some green waste, some paper/cardboard, alternating in a very general sort of way

The real trick though is aeration. I bought a specially designed compost steak from the hardware store which is sort of like a corkscrew at the base with a handle at the top. I left it sitting in the compost bin and every time I added something, I gave the whole thing a little bit of a mix. Getting air into the mix speeds up the composting, stops it from just 'rotting' (hence smell, rodents and no compost) and left me with usable compost in 3 months! Then I simply lifted the bin off the mound, moved it to a new spot and dug the compost through the garden bed.

Hope that helps and makes sense.

You can reapply that process in any type of compost bin/mound/box.

food/green/paper + regular air/turning = compost!

ETA: Another option is a Bokashi Bin. I am now in an apartment so can't have a compost bin so this is the next best thing. It is a bucket that sits in your kitchen to which you add your scraps and a special fermentation mix that speeds up the organic breakdown and stops the rotten food smell. When the bin is full you bury it in the garden to complete the breaking down process. It also makes a liquid fertiliser much like a worm farm as a by product.

[AnyDream]

The thing to remember with compost is you need a mix of green (wet/nitrogen) and brown (dry/carbon).

Green things are kitchen scraps, fruit peelings, grass clippings.

Brown things are dried leaves, pine needles, shredded newspaper, straw, etc.

If you have too much green your compost will rot down slimey and moist. Too much brown and it won't really rot down quickly enough...if you add them in layers then mix frequently eventually you will get nice compost that is nearly like rich black soil.