Pit Composting Is Much Easier Than Using Tumblers

Q. I only have a small container for composting so I mix it twice a week on the ground and put it back in the container. It’s about 2 months old and I’m wondering if I can use this compost now for my plants?

Composting is nothing more than getting stuff that you don't use to rot. Remember, garbage in and garbage out. If you want a high quality compost use good quality waste.

A. What you’re doing sounds like a lot of work! To judge if a compost is “finished” or not, look at its color, consistency and smell it. It should be rotten through and through, all the same color and have a good smell. Composting is controlled “rotting” of the ingredients.

A finished compost should be the same color through and through, and the smell should be earthy and not like rotten eggs or ammonia.

            I like to divide composting into 2 categories; “hot” composting and “cold” composting. Hot composting relies on developing high temperatures to “sterilize” the contents from human pathogens while cold composting doesn’t. They both rot the ingredients but hot composting is much faster than cold composting.

Compost can be soaked in water to extract nutrients and good microorganisms that can prevent disease and improve the microbiology of the soil. This discoloration of the water is a good thing and called "leachate".Sometimes it's referred to as a "compost tea".

            Your compost size is small so it will probably never become “hot” compost. Whenever handling any compost, always wear gloves and wash your hands afterwards. Your composting will be slow. You can speeded up by making the ingredients of your compost as small as possible.

Compost is a good thing around plants and here it's added to wine grapes. Just keep compost away from the trunk of plants or it may damage it.

            Compost is best used when it is mixed with the soil at the time of planting. Compost added to the top of the soil will improve the soil on the surface but not much below the surface. Because this surface soil is improved, roots will grow towards the surface in or near this composted area. Yes, you can apply it but I would cover the compost with a layer of woodchips if you can’t mix it into the soil.

            Try a composting technique called “pit composting”. It’s much easier to do than what you are doing if you have an open space where you can dig a hole in the soil and let the ingredients rot inside the pit.