Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - Lazy Compost Recipe

From our friends at Compost Junkie. 

Easy composting is a lazy gardener's dream come true. That's right, I said it..."L-A-Z-Y gardener". I never thought those two words would come out of my mouth in the same sentence, but something changed recently...

In the last week or so, I've had several conversations with the folks in our Compost Tribe and they each said the same thing...

"Dave, if you want to motivate more people to compost, you have to start tailoring your message and material to the 'Average Joe'". That is, the person who has little to no experience in gardening, and perhaps a deficiency of time, but still wants to do his part to be GREEN.

For instance, maybe Average Joe won't turn his compost, but he will save his kitchen scraps and dump them into a backyard compost pile. Maybe Average Joe doesn't have the time to shred his compost ingredients, but he will throw everything into a compost tumbler and flip it every couple days.

So Average Joe, let's make a deal...

Every couple pages that I write from now on will be catered directly to you! I'll do my absolute best to simplify, refine, and condense everything I know into a set of what we'll call the easy steps to composting.

To get started let's review what I consider to be the the ultimate recipe for easy composting...

Easy Composting 101

Step 1
Pick an area in your yard where you will build your compost pile.

Step 2
This step is optional but highly recommended.
Grab some old wire fencing, or welded wire (12.5 gauge is preferable) and wrap it into a circle. Make sure it's at least 3' across from one side of the circle to the other and approx. 4' high. Secure the ends of the fence together with zip-ties, shoe strings, concrete ties, etc.

Step 3
Start filling your new compost bin.
When doing this try to remember the following - For every 6" of brown material (e.g. dried leaves, newspaper) you add to your pile, you also want to add 2" of green material (e.g. fresh grass clippings, kitchen scraps).  Continue layering until your bin is full.

Step 4
Sit back and wait.

Depending on your climate and season, the majority of this pile will breakdown into usable compost within 6-12 months. If you want the compost more quickly, you can always turn it, but that wouldn't be very easy now, would it?

By the way Average Joe, I was only kidding when I said "sit back and wait". This is actually the perfect time to revisit Step 2 and build a second compost bin. If you time it properly and build your piles right, you can rotate between these two (or three) bins and always have a ready supply of compost to feed your garden.

Now that's my idea of easy composting! Don't you agree Average Joe?

As I bring this article to a close, I need you to lean in so I can tell you a little secret...
Pssssst...the truth is, we all have an Average Joe inside us, so why not slow down, take a deep breath and take a lesson from the easy composting steps above. Remember - Life's too short to try and garden quickly.

Would love to hear some of your other lazy - but green! - composting tips!