Now that veggie-planting season is getting into full swing, I’m out in the compost area, collecting rich soil to pat around the seedlings and feeling good about not sending food waste to the landfill. 

The federal Environmental Protection Agency says that yard trimmings and food “residuals” together constitute 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream.

 Not all of it can be composted. People generally nix meat scraps, fatty foods and even vegetables cooked in butter  because they attract pests and smell bad. But still, a lot of opportunity remains. No need to send this stuff to a landfill if you can use it to enrich your garden. It helps the soil hold water  and reduces your need for fertilizers and chemicals. 

Just about any set-up you can imagine will work … eventually.  I’ve seen rural yards with large, scientific compost productions that will turn out compost in two months or less. I’ve seen tiny backyard bins outside a Cheltenham rowhouse. Some people are so gung-ho they bug their neighbors for extra material.

And then there are my own piles of  prunings, weeds, grass clippings, leaves and such. They’ll take a while to break down, and I don’t really care because they're pretty much out of sight in the woods.

For about two years, I built bins out of concrete blocks and turned the piles over with a pitchfork every few weeks to hasten things along. I had a special thermometer – decomposition generates heat -- and I’d log the temperature regularly. Heat is also good for killing weed seeds. 

I had a chipper, too, for chopping up the bigger materials. But it was loud and didn’t work very well. Plus, small gas engines create air pollution.

So enough of all that!  Now I just wait.

I know a lot of people will think this is disgusting, but we have a little compost pail by the kitchen sink, and into that go all the coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peelings, eggshells, etc. We empty that into two black composting bins in the back yard. (I thought the bins looked nicer than a pile, which means we can keep them closer to the house.)  Occasionally I add other stuff, just to keep it varied.

There is worlds of information on the internet. The Penn State extension service offers classes, and you can find out about them here.

Meanwhile, I went out to my black bins just the other day and opened up the bottom. Rich dark humus spilled out. Oh boy.