Autumn’s a good time for making compost

Garden cleanup, lawn mowing and falling leaves all provide materials that make autumn a good time of year for composting.

No need for exotic ingredients, fancy equipment or a degree in soil microbiology to put together a pile that yields quality compost and is not unpleasantly aromatic.

HOUSING FOR YOUR COMPOST ‘PET’: You might look upon your compost pile as a pet, a conglomeration of millions of beneficial fungi, bacteria and other soil microorganisms. The pet benefits from the right housing. So one item that can greatly improve your compost-making is some sort of enclosure — a compost bin. A bin can fend off raccoons and stray dogs, as well as retain moisture and heat generated by the hard-working compost microorganisms. The latter is especially important as outdoor temperatures cool. And if nothing more, a compost bin keeps a compost pile from looking like a garbage pile.

Whether you purchase a bin or make one yourself, 9 cubic feet is the minimum size for a critical mass to generate and maintain heat. My homemade “state of the art” compost bin was originally constructed from 1-by-12-inch wooden boards, 5 feet long and notched near their ends so that they could be stacked together like Lincoln Logs. Nowadays, I use 1-by-6-inch “manufactured wood” (such as Moistureshield, Azek or Correct deck), which should last many, many years. The boards are about 4 feet long and, as before, have notches cut into them so they can stack.

A bin is a minimum requirement for good compost; compost mavens will set up two or more bins. This allows ingredients in one bin to age and mellow while materials are being added to a second bin.

FOOD AND WATER FOR YOUR COMPOST ‘PET’: If you become even more enthusiastic about composting, you might lavish more attention on the mix of ingredients.

The two most important foodstuffs of composting microorganisms are carbon and nitrogen. Old, usually brown and dry plant materials, such as autumn leaves, straw and sawdust, are rich in carbon. The older the plant material, the richer it is in carbon.