By Pat Dray
The Garden Spot
Pat Dray
Like yard waste, food waste can be composted. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that in 2018, 2.6 million tons of food (4.1 percent of wasted food) or 0.42 pounds per person per day was composted. Composting these wastes creates a nutrient-rich product that can be used to help improve soils and nourish your lawn and garden.
According to the Public Interest Working Group, composting could reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills and incinerators in the US by at least 30 percent. Organic waste in landfills generates methane. These landfills are some of the biggest emitters of this potent greenhouse gas in the US. By composting wasted food and other organics, methane emissions are significantly reduced. If all Americans composted, it would be equivalent to taking 7.8 million cars off the road.
Compost reduces and can even eliminate the need for chemical fertilizer and pesticides. These chemicals may be toxic and wash into waterways, fueling the growth of algal blooms that can kill or displace large numbers of fish. Using compost instead of mulch in the garden or as a light top dressing on turf will provide most of the nutrients you need for healthy plant growth.
Composting helps the environment and your pocketbook by reducing the use of chemicals.
You can buy a compost bin at most home and garden or big box stores, you can make your own or you can just make a compost pile. You want a location that gets some sunlight so things “cook” properly. A properly maintained compost pile won’t have an offensive odor, so no worries there.
There are four key ingredients to successful composting – carbon, nitrogen, moisture and air. These ingredients feed the bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that are the key workers in composting as they “feed” on organic matter and use the carbon and nitrogen it contains to grow and reproduce. It’s an amazing cycle.
The first, carbon, can be thought of as brown: fall leaves, cardboard, newspapers, straw and wood chips.
Ingredient two, nitrogen, can be thought of as green, and is what the composting workers need to help break down the carbon. Nitrogen can come from lawn clippings, vegetable peels and other kitchen scraps.
Ingredient three, moisture, is needed to keep the composting workers alive. Every time you add a layer to the compost pile, you should sprinkle in a little water.
Ingredient four, air, can easily be added by “turning” the pile with a metal rake or pitchfork every time you add a layer of one of the other ingredients.
Once you have your four ingredients, you need to get the microbes to come. You can purchase compost starter or worms, but I find that I can just take a few shovels full of garden soil and add it to my compost pile.
It can take from three months to a year for the decomposition process to finish, so be patient. Soon enough you’ll have a better garden and smaller environmental footprint.
Pat Dray is a past president of the Garden Club of Orange and a master gardener.