3 Magical steps | How to make compost at home step by step beginner’s guide

The best way to recycle Kitchen food scraps | waste is to prepare homemade compost. Ideas, tips, and techniques of how to make compost at home step-by-step

Are food scraps biodegradable? Yes! leftover fruits, vegetable skins, used tea bags, egg shells, and meat bones can be used to prepare organic compost at home.

What is Organic Compost?

Many of us want to contribute to the environment positively, we try to do that by buying Organic, Biodegradable products, and avoiding plastic use. Compost is a mixture of organic material that is added to the soil to provide healthy minerals and nutrition to the plant help the plant to grow faster and act as a homemade fertilizer for plants.

How to make compost at home step by step?

The quickest way to start is from our home. With your kitchen food scraps, you can start separating wet waste from dry waste like paper, plastic, etc.

Once you start doing this activity you will not only give back to the environment but will be rewarded with organic fertilizer at very low cost or not even a single penny sometime.

Step1: Container or Bin for Storage

Look out for a container or a bin for storing Kitchen food scraps, Terra cotta pots, or even plastic containers may be some of the options that have some holes in them for passing air inside the pot. Make sure the container also has a cover to it so that the gasses inside will help to decompose faster…

The depth of the pot is approx.18 inches should be ideal to use.

Step 2: Add Food Scraps

Food scraps can be both cooked as well as uncooked food, leftover cooked stuff, and fruit scraps for example can be some of the ingredients to how to make compost at home step by step.

What can you put in a green waste bin?

1. Used tea bags (remove the cover and only add tea leaves)
2. Coffee grounds 
3. Egg shells (Crush them to avoid big pieces in the final product)
4. Hard stems of the plants can also be added
5. Meat waste from food (meat, bones, or manure)

You may keep on adding as and when it’s available from the kitchen or else you may add every alternate day. Food scraps release Nitrogen which will mix with other gasses inside the container to prepare the fertilizer.

Step 3: Add Dry leaves

Dried leaves from your garden/backyard or any place where you have grown plants. You may add it daily or when the leaves are available to you.

Dried leaves produce Carbon, which helps to reduce the smell of the waste.

Composting Problems and Solutions

Problem: Smell from the compost bin. Bad smell starts coming out of the bin, there is a reason behind it, Food waste releases Nitrogen and Dried Leaves release carbon, if the quantity of the food waste is more than the dried leaves then you may start smelling bad from the bin

Solution: You can add a handful of dried leaves whenever the smell is unbearable from the bin, this will maintain the balance of Nitrogen in the container and the bad smell will be reduced.

Problem: Compost gets too Dry. You might not address your bin for a few days, this can be due to travel or any other commitment which takes you away from your garden. This dries the mixture and makes it difficult to use

Solution: Add water and stir the mixture to reduce the dryness.

Problem: Insect inside the bin. There are good insects and bad insects, good insects are bugs found in the heap like fruit flies, earthworms, and beetles. These insects help to decompose the waste. Bad insects like Cockroaches, Rats, and Lizards are sometimes attracted to the insects inside the bin.

Solution: You can keep the bin outdoors on a balcony or at some height above the floor or you may try some cockroach treatment.

At last, the question which might be in your mind is when is the compost ready?

Ok! So there is no specific duration for it, but yes it may take from 7-8 weeks to months, it depends on how much effort you put into decomposing the waste. Once the Ingredients turn dark brown and smell earthy the composition process is completed.

Tips that may Help!

1. People have a feeling that waste will smell a lot, believe me, it doesn’t smell that much, you may add dried leaves whenever you feel so.
2. Keep the container in a warm and humid place, humidity should be only to prevent ingredients inside from getting dry.

FAQs

Q1: How often should compost be turned?

Ans: Once in a week, It’s very important to continuously mix the ingredients so that there is enough oxygen in the composition system, you may do it once a week.

Q2: How long until compost is ready?

Ans: Ideally, 2-3 months is required to decompose the waste, you may add buttermilk or curd to speed up the decomposing process.

Q3: How do I get rid of the smell in my compost bin?

Ans: A bad smell starts coming out of the bin, and there is a reason behind it, Food waste release Nitrogen, and Dried Leaves release carbon, if the quantity of the food waste is more than the dried leaves then you may start smelling bad from the bin

You can add a handful of dried leaves whenever the smell is unbearable from the bin, this will maintain the balance of Nitrogen in the container and the bad smell will be reduced.

Q4: What is the quickest way to compost?

Ans: Curd or Buttermilk needs to be added at the initial stage itself when you are preparing for the first time. The reason to add curd or buttermilk is to start the decomposing process since yogurt/buttermilk contains microns that will promote soil fertility and enhance the decomposing process.

We would like to know how you are composting your kitchen waste. please write us at [email protected]