Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Can’t Keep Up? 3 Ways to Simplify Composting


Sometimes life can be a little overwhelming. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves but composting does not need to add to your stress. Here are three tips to simplify composting and one big secret that will put your mind at ease.

  1. Keep a collector in your kitchen. This will make composting as easy as throwing food scraps in the trash. Sure, you’ll have the “chore” of taking out the compost but I see this as a little break. A chance to stroll through my backyard while still being “productive.” 
  2. Turn the pile less frequently. Yes, you read that correctly. Once a month, every other month, or even less and you will still have a great compost pile. Just accept the fact that your finished compost will come more slowly. AND THAT IS OKAY. Really.
  3. Harvest once per year. If you’re turning the pile infrequently, it will compost more slowly which means that you will only need to harvest once per year. Harvesting less often also means you get more finished compost at once, which is of course, very satisfying.
You cannot oversimplify composting. You want to know why? Here’s the big secret:

Your pile will compost without you.

Maybe a little slower (okay, a lot slower), but don’t you have enough to worry about? That’s the beauty of composting, you can do it at your own pace. You can compost quickly with a little more work or you can sit back and let nature take its course.

How do you simplify composting?