Composting 101

Composting lets you turn your kitchen scraps into fertilizer for your garden. Here’s how to do it.

• Place the compost on the ground. Either bare earth or grass works. You want worms and other beneficial organisms to get in to aerate it.

• Add green and brown compost in layers. Green compost consists of mostly table scraps, tea bags, and coffee grounds. Brown compost includes leaves, grass cuttings, newspapers and paper towels, among other things.

• Keep the compost damp. It should be the consistency of a moist sponge. If you don’t get a lot of rain in your area, sprinkle it with water periodically.

• Turn it every few weeks. This helps distribute oxygen throughout the heap, which enables the compost to decompose.

Within a few months, your compost pile will be full of nutrients and ready to incorporate into your garden.