BACKYARD COMPOSTING

Millville, NJ: Americans throw away 28 million tons of grass clippings, dead leaves, and branches every year. This yard waste, along with other household organic waste, makes up over 30% of the materials being transported to landfills.

Many people may not realize that backyard composting, the natural process of decomposition and recycling of organic material into a rich humus, is an easy, fun, and rewarding way to recycle organic material. Commercial compost bins made of wire, plastic, or wood can be purchased from garden centers, hardware stores, or mail order garden catalog companies. Bins can also be made from used wooden pallets, wire mesh, or snow fencing. In addition, the Cumberland County Improvement Authority will be offering residents a backyard composting course on April 28, 2001 at Cumberland County College. Individuals who attend the course receive a free Earth Machine to enable them to begin composting at home.

What To Compost:

From the Kitchen: fruit scraps, vegetable trimmings, crushed egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds with filters, shredded paper, shredded cardboard.

From the Garden: mulched leaves, grass, garden plants, weeds, old potting soil, soft plant stems.

What Not To Compost:

Meat scraps, bones, fish, dairy, oils, cheese, plastics, metals, glass, stone, pet waste.

To get started, set up your bin, no specific size is required. Start with your available organic materials, leaves, grass, and table scraps. Moisten the dry parts lightly and mix whatever you have together with some old compost, composted manure, leaf mold, compost starter, or rich loam soil. Add your daily kitchen scraps and garden trimmings. Do not add thick layers of any one kind of waste. The contents should be moist, like a wrung-out sponge. Mix the compost every couple of weeks or each time you add new material. Cover your pile with old carpet or black plastic.

Trouble Shooting: If your pile does not decrease in size or generate heat, the composting may need a boost. If the pile is dry, add water and mix thoroughly. If the pile is wet and muddy, add dry material. If the center of the pile is damp and warm but the rest is cold, the pile may be too small. Add more material and mix thoroughly, breaking up mats and clumps. If the compost pile develops a foul odor, it is not getting enough air. Loosen up your pile, break up mats, and add some wood chips to help it breathe.

Follow these simple instructions and in a matter of months you will have a free mulch soil enhancer and potting soil to add to your flowers and garden while helping to save valuable landfill space. To register for this year's Backyard Composting Seminar, please call the Cumberland County Improvement Authority at 327-8326.