Compost is a gardener’s best friend. Unfortunately, it can be quite expensive if you have to purchase it. The cost in my area is about $30 per cubic yard. I can drive about an hour and a half and get mushroom compost for $10 a cubic yard. So, what’s a person to do who wants a lot of compost for the spring but doesn’t want to buy it? Make it. And make a lot of compost in the winter.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “That’s easy for you, you have chickens and can use their bedding, I don’t” or “We don’t have many food scraps so it’s not worth it.”
I’m going to share our super secret ingredients for making lots of compost first and then I’ll share some tips and other things you can add to it. Oh, and a printable compost list for you to put in your gardening notebook.
And the super secret ingredients are…leaves from your neighbor’s curbs and used coffee grounds
Composting leaves quickly
We start collecting leaves as soon as we notice people bagging them up and putting them on their curbs. You can tell they are leaves because they are usually in brown paper lawn bags. It’s okay to take them, but if it makes you feel better you can ask first.
In our area this doesn’t happen usually happen until early winter (mid to late December). So if you live in a zone 9 gardening zone know that it might seem like the leaves will never fall but eventually they will.
Several times a week we go into our Starbucks or local coffee house and ask if they have any used coffee grounds. They almost always do. They’re happy we take them off their hands.
Why does this work? Dried leaves are considered a “brown” in the composting world; that means they have a lot of carbon. The microbes in compost use carbon as their energy to thrive. Coffee grounds are considered a “green” (yeah, I know they’re not green); that means they have a lot of nitrogen. The microbes in compost use nitrogen as their protein to thrive.
Composting basics
Composting basicsHere’s the deal, any organic matter will compost down….eventually. If you don’t want to wait indefinitely you will need to build a compost pile that has browns and greens mixed throughout.
So, open a bag of leaves and put about 4 shovelfuls of leaves in the area you are going to use for your compost pile and then sprinkle a shovelful of coffee grounds on top and sprinkle with water. Keep layering until you run out of either leaves or coffee grounds, making sure you dampen each layer.
Every few days turn the compost pile and make sure it smells fine, looks fine and isn’t too dry. If you want to speed up the process even more run the leaves through a mulcher and then use a 1:1 ratio of leaves and coffee grounds.
Browns are things like dried leaves, shredded paper and cardboard, wood chips, hay, mulch and wood ash (although I like to use this directly in the garden instead of composting it).
Greens are things like fruits, vegetables, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, manure (cow, horse, goat, chicken, sheep and rabbit) and grass clippings.
Don’t compost things like pet waste, fats and oils, meats and bones, coal and charcoal, dairy or anything with pesticides or diseased plants.
Your compost should have an earthy smell to it. If it smells bad, you need more nitrogen. If it’s slimy, you need more carbon. If it’s really dry, you need to dampen it. See, it’s really not complicated.
Where to put your compost pile? Most people who compost have “a” pile or bin that they use which is kind of hidden out of the way. We do, too. However, we’ve decided to start composting IN the gardening beds that are not being used for our fall/winter garden so they will be ready in the spring.
Once we cleaned out the summer plants, I planted buckwheat in the beds that we’ll be using in the fall, and I started compost piles in several others using chicken bedding and coffee grounds. When we gather more leaves we’ll start composting in other beds. It’s similar to the lasagna method of gardening.
I’m not anticipating that these piles will get super hot since they are only a few inches high. So, I’m covering most of them with tarps to keep the heat in. Come spring if there are any leaves or bedding that hasn’t composted down we’ll just rake it up and put it all in our permanent compost pile.
Composting in the winter
During the winter the composting microbes will slow down and if you live in a really cold climate, they’ll stop. But it’s okay to still compost in the winter. Continue adding adding your household scraps to the compost pile or bin even though they freeze. The freezing and thawing cycle will actually help the compost break down quicker in the spring.
When things really start to melt in the spring, add some leaves or straw to cover the composting pile. You don’t really need to add leaves or straw during the winter when you add household scraps if your compost freezes. The frozen compost won’t be odorous and attract animals. Of course, if you’re worried about that go ahead and add leaves to the compost.
Composting and your climate
Your climate affects every part of gardening, including how you compost. The basics are the same but the process will be different. If your winters are harsh and long you’ll compost differently than someone who lives in an area that almost never experiences a freeze.
Composting is both a science and an art. There are ratios that you can follow to help speed up the composting process and make proper compost – that’s the science part. But you can’t control the weather, you can only observe it and tweak what you’re doing in response to it.
The important thing is that start where you are and with whatever compostable items you have or can gather.
I made a handy printable to help me remember what items are browns and what are greens. To download your copy just fill out the form below.
Once you print it up, you can put it in your gardening notebook. I find that the more notes I keep on my gardening efforts the more I enjoy gardening and the more productive my garden is. If you don’t already have a notebook for your notes, consider purchasing the printable gardening notebook I created to help gardeners have a more productive garden.
What is your composting system like? Feel free to share in the comments so we can all learn.
Jan says
September 15, 2014 at 12:53 pmI am not too great about turning compost, but I will pile the stuff up! I have access (at the stables my son and I take horseback riding lessons at) to half rotted manure mixed with hay. I was thinking that maybe that would be a good mix to bring home and pile up for awhile. Is that too much brown and we would still need to add green? I’d like it to be ready for spring and I hate having to buy compost.
Thanks for the article! I stopped by from the Homestead Barn Hop.
Angi Schneider says
September 15, 2014 at 4:26 pmIf it’s the bedding, it’s perfect because urine is a green. I’d absolutely try it and just keep an eye on it. If it starts to smell, you need to add more green. We really like coffee grounds because they smell so good to begin with.
Jan says
September 15, 2014 at 6:06 pmI hadn’t thought about getting the bedding hay with urine in it! Most of the horses stay in the pastures, but we do occasionally get one on stall rest. I bet I can mix some of that in to help out with the greens (and see if I can get more coffee grounds than what I produce). Thanks so much!
laura says
September 17, 2014 at 3:44 amooh
horse manure gives you LOTS of weeds.
let me rephrase, unwanted plants….
i have used it very successfully, but i have it in black bags lying in the sun for at least 1 month, before it turn it into the compost pile.
Angi Schneider says
September 17, 2014 at 7:50 amThat’s a good tip, Laura! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to remember the black bag trick if I’m ever fortunate enough to get some horse manure.
Gentle Joy says
September 15, 2014 at 3:21 pmThis is great advice…. good to plan ahead to next spring… so sad to be tearing down the gardens now…. 🙂
Angi Schneider says
September 15, 2014 at 4:34 pmYep, this is the best time to be planning for next spring. Thanks for visiting!
Angi Schneider says
September 15, 2014 at 6:42 pmPutting the garden to bed for the winter is a little sad to me. We garden year round, but don’t use all of the beds in the winter.
Nan M. says
September 15, 2014 at 7:55 pmThanks, Angi! I like the idea of composting IN the garden!
cptacek says
September 16, 2014 at 11:49 amI am confused why hay is a brown but lawn clippings are a green. Hay is dried grass that you feed animals. High protein means high nitrogen. How would lawn clippings have higher protein content than hay? If lawn clippings had higher protein content than hay, wouldn’t people be feeding their animals lawn clippings and not hay?
Straw is dead stalks of wheat, etc., that you use for animal bedding. Straw has very little protein, and should be in the brown category.
Perhaps we are having a regional terminology or farmer/non-farmer terminology misunderstanding?
Angi Schneider says
September 16, 2014 at 2:46 pmSorry for the confusion, I should have mentioned that the grass clippings that are mentioned in the Green category are fresh clippings and are full of nitrogen. When they are dried out (as they are for hay) they lose their nitrogen and become a Brown for the compost pile. The green and brown has to do with nitrogen and carbon content not protein content. And you are right, straw is in the brown category. Hope that helps.
Tom Cahill says
November 22, 2016 at 4:50 amI’ve used grass clipping in my compost piles but I have found if too much is used, they can get slimy, so I let them dry a bit on the lawn first. Never thought of them loosing the nitrogen that way. I do love Starbucks coffee grounds though.
Another thought that someone might find helpful. I live near a golf course. In the Autumn, they collect tons of leaves from the fairways and roughs and typically piles these somewhere out of the way. I went to pick up some bins of leaves to add to my compost piles then realized somewhere amazing. If you dig down just a few inches, you will discover tons of already composted leaves teaming with worms just ready to add to your compost pile or right into your garden. I use recycling bins to bring this back to the house in the back of my vehicle, but you could add it to your pickup if you have one.
Angi Schneider says
November 22, 2016 at 7:36 pmThanks for the tips!
susan says
October 17, 2018 at 3:47 amGolf courses use loads of pesticides. I’d be extremely careful of using anything from them on my vegetable gardens. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt flower gardens too much, but I prefer to keep any and all pesticides and herbicides out of my yard.
Angi Schneider says
October 17, 2018 at 8:17 amThanks for that reminder Susan.
Valerie says
November 18, 2019 at 12:56 pmFor anyone who happens to read this since I’m posting way after the date above, golf courses use tons and tons of herbicide and pesticide. I would imagine tree leaves to be fairly safe. It’s up to each person.
Angi Schneider says
November 18, 2019 at 2:34 pmGood point, Valerie. Thanks for sharing.
Howard Davis says
October 19, 2018 at 10:00 amAll proteins contain nitrogen. Nitrogen is one of the building blocks of amino acids. Depending on the protein it will consist of 13% to 19% nitrogen. If you know that one of your compost ingredients contains protein then that means it contains nitrogen.
Angi Schneider says
October 23, 2018 at 8:41 amThanks so much for the tip!
Jayme says
September 16, 2014 at 5:34 pmYour list looks good but manure is a green. Chicken manure having the highest nitrogen content of the list. Even dried all animal manure are greens due to the high nitrogen content in them. Also, if you aren’t completely grossed out by it you can use your own urine as a jump starter if you are using the pile method.
Angi Schneider says
September 16, 2014 at 6:36 pm{sigh} I know that. I have no clue why I put it under browns. I’ve corrected it in the post and on the printable. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention, I really appreciate it!
Mary says
September 16, 2014 at 11:30 pmI have two bunny rabbits as pets. They eat a lot of greens and I use recycled paper litter as bedding and in their litterboxes. I know that I can compost their droppings (aka bunny berries) or just till them into my garden and houseplants directly, but can I compost their litter as well? Its a mixture of hay, urine, and recycled paper litter, so based on the horse comment above I want to think this OK, but “pet waste” is on the do not compost list. Anyone know?
Angi Schneider says
September 17, 2014 at 7:48 amYep, you can compost it all, Mary. Pets meant cats and dogs. We have wild rabbits around here and I forget that rabbits are pets for some people.
Cody says
September 24, 2014 at 12:12 pmPhew! I was worried when I read no pet waste, as I’ve been putting my gerbil bedding in my pile for a couple weeks now. It’s mostly recycled cardboard and paper anyway, and they have a little potty they’re supposed to use for waste, but let’s be honest, some just gets dropped where ever, and I was worried I’d tainted my pile.
Angi Schneider says
September 24, 2014 at 8:35 pmNo worries, herbavore waste is fine in the compost.
laura says
September 17, 2014 at 3:45 amlovely info and lovely site. thank you!
From the Balcony and Urban Gardening Group in Dubai.
Angi Schneider says
September 17, 2014 at 7:50 amThanks for visiting!
Rachel says
September 22, 2014 at 10:02 amHi Angi, thanks for posting this. We are starting our garden in the spring and we’re starting from scratch. This will certainly help us out in the compost department! I also featured this post on my Sunday Good Reads post if you’d like to check it out.
Angi Schneider says
September 22, 2014 at 9:56 pmThanks for the feature! What a great idea for a post. How exciting to be starting your garden; now is such a great time to begin getting ready for it.
Angi says
September 23, 2014 at 9:04 amHi Angi! I really like these compost tips. I am horrible about just throwing stuff on my compost, then totally neglecting it otherwise. I will definitely be implementing these ideas this fall! Thanks!
Angi Schneider says
September 24, 2014 at 7:59 amWe do that a lot too, but during the fall and winter when we are making a lot of compost with leaves and coffee grounds, we try to be more attentive. Happy composting!
Lani says
September 23, 2014 at 11:51 pmI’ve been contemplating compost for some time now. Thanks for making it seem doable.
Angi Schneider says
September 24, 2014 at 8:00 amIt really is easy, because given enough time, all organic matter will compost down.
daisy says
September 24, 2014 at 5:19 amWhat a wonderful post! Thanks for sharing your outdoor post on this week’s Maple Hill Hop! Consider yourself pinned!
Angi Schneider says
September 24, 2014 at 8:01 amThanks for hosting, Daisy!
Rhonda Crank says
September 25, 2014 at 5:35 pmHey there, I really liked this article. I too compost in the garden, as well as our worm bins. I had not thought of the greens and browns. Thanks for putting that together. Good information. Nice blog
Angi Schneider says
September 26, 2014 at 8:28 amI would really like to raise worms at some point. I know it’s easy, but starting something new always intimidates me a little. Thanks for visiting!
Linda says
September 28, 2014 at 5:10 pmHi, enjoyed your article. I live in the Northeast and just put my garden “to Bed” this weekend. I did a container harden this year, by far the best garden I have ever had, the highest yield ever!! I drilled holes in the containers and lined each bin with a layer of straw. Mixed soil purchased in bags with peat moss and planted away. I have never had much luck with bell peppers and this year I was giving them away, froze some, etc. It was wonderful.
I pulled all the plants, dumped all the contents into a pile and will add coffee grounds, veggie scraps and the like. I added a heavy dose of nitrogen in the form of Miracle Grow and water. There is an abundance of worms in the soil, so they will hopefully be busy this winter, Looking for some pretty rich soil!!
Angi Schneider says
September 28, 2014 at 9:24 pmIsn’t it wonderful when you find something that works for you. What a great idea to turn your potted soil into a beginning compost pile for next year. I bet your garden will be amazing next year.
Kelly Cordon says
September 30, 2014 at 9:16 pmHello, again. I think I’ve mentioned before that my husband and I own a restaurant. We have the person who preps all of our vegetables put the scraps in a box, and we bring two pretty good-sized boxes home every week and throw them directly into our garden. The boxes have scraps from cutting onions, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet peppers,zucchini, squash, and carrots in them. Would you say that this is a good practice, or would you suggest doing something different?
Thanks,
Kelly
Angi Schneider says
October 1, 2014 at 8:03 amThat sounds wonderful for compost. You can add some shreadded cardboard or newspaper or some leaves into the mix to help keep it a little more balanced. We used to pick up a box of scraps from a smoothie bar every day to treat our chicken, it was wonderful. I wish more restaurants did this, it would greatly reduce the waste in the landfill. Good job!
George symons says
September 26, 2015 at 5:06 amUse saw dust and wood chips sparingly when composting get in beds…. those sources tie up nitrogen during the decaying process….compost them first elsewhere
Annie Gaddis says
September 27, 2015 at 3:08 amGreat page for finding out what you can or can’t put in your compost pile….
http://www.anniesbacktoedengarden.com/compostlist.htm
Vickie Butler says
October 29, 2015 at 12:05 pmThis is incredibly informative and encouraging. I especially appreciate the tips for correcting smelly/slimy compost! Thank you, so much!
Angi Schneider says
October 29, 2015 at 5:43 pmYou’re so welcome! I’m glad it encouraged you.
Kay says
November 1, 2015 at 10:51 amBeginner gardener here. My husbands grandfather used a hole in the ground for his compost. Apparently he was a great gardener and hole digger. He is no longer around so i was wondering if this would be a good idea to keep the compost warmer during the winter. How does heat or cold affect the yeild of compost? Also should you turn your piles during the winter when there is snow on the ground?
Nancy says
August 7, 2016 at 4:59 pmWhen I have a bed not being used I save my kitchen cuttings and dig a hole which then they are placed in. The worms eat it in no time. I do the same next to that spot and work along the bed. The holes only need to be a shovel deep. This works great if you don’t have space for a compost pile. It can work in pots too.
Angi Schneider says
August 7, 2016 at 5:20 pmWhat a great idea. Thanks so much for sharing!
Ryan Scott says
August 14, 2016 at 2:05 pmAwesome tip. Thanks for the information.
Dee Herdebu says
March 8, 2018 at 9:09 amLove your website!