Composting 4 Kids!
The benefits of composting and how you can create it!
What is Compost and It's Benefits?
Compost is a homemade aid to your garden! After you create compost, it can be used as a "free" natural fertilizer. The benefits of compost are but not limited to: it grows grass, it can turn into beautiful flowers, it helps families grow vegetables, closes the loop, and reduces greenhouse gases from landfills. To make compost you have to add various "brown" and "green" ingredients. You have to gather greens like vegetable peelings, fruit peelings, grass clippings, coffee grounds, green plant cuttings and weeds. These greens are all wet while, browns are dry. Some examples of browns are leaves, hay, shredded paper, wood chips, egg shells and cardboard. Water is necessary to put into your compost to speed up the process. (If you don't, it will take a long time due to it being too dry) You will notice the compost heats up a lot to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit due to the energy from decomposers create a lot of energy. After tumbling it a couple of times per day, you should have compost in about 1 month! Some things to avoid putting in your compost are meats, bones, dairy, grease, milk cartons, glass, metal and PLU stickers on fruit.
Compost In Action!
Various ingrdients mashed together.
A Compost Tumbler!
Used to speed up the composting process.
What do we put in compost and what does compost attract?
The Clean Up Crew
Compost is made up of green and brown organic matter. Therefore, it attracts many little critters. These are called decomposers and they break down organic matter and return the nutrients to the soil. Examples of these include millipedes, earthworms, sowbugs, fungi, bacteria, and insects. They are basically the clean up crew for compost!
Fun Facts!
- Incredibly low maintenance!
- You can compost any time of the year!
- Composting can suppress plant diseases!