Composting 101: How to reduce waste and create natural fertilizer

Welcome to the first installment of our Green Corner series! Throughout the next few months, we’ll be publishing short articles about environmentally-friendly farming practices. We’re kicking off the series today with compost – a way to recycle nutrients on your farm or in your backyard, reducing waste and providing all-natural fertilizer for your plants. 

Composting at a glance 

For farmers, gardeners, and environmental enthusiasts, composting offers an opportunity to reduce waste, recycle nutrients, and improve soil health. Composting can also reduce the amount of synthetic fertilizers that farmers need and support beneficial soil microbes, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. 

How it works: 

In the compost-making process, dry or brown organic material such as leaves are layered with water and green organic material, including grass clippings and fruit and vegetable scraps. Over time, the organic material breaks down and gradually becomes finished compost. Factors such as temperature and humidity affect how quickly this process occurs. Once finished, farmers can then incorporate the compost into the soil in their fields, where it will contribute to soil health and provide nutrients to crops. 

Composting plays an important role at Finca Tierra Viva Cantalagua, located in the community of Los Criques in San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica. 

At Finca Tierra Viva Cantalagua, making compost is one of many regenerative and biodynamic practices that Jennifer (Jenni) González and her family implement. The farm’s compost-making process involves layering dry organic material, green organic material, minerals, and manure one layer at a time. Water is also added, and the layering process is repeated. Finally, a biodynamic preparation is added to the top of the pile, and all the layers are mixed together, Jenni explains. About four to six months later, after all the organic material has broken down, the compost is ready to be added to to the soil!

Learn about Jennifer’s journey in Costa Rica on our YouTube channel:

Watch here!

Tips for getting started: 

• Keep it simple. Whether by digging a hole in your backyard or using a compost bin, composting can be done at any scale. You can also try vermicomposting, in which worms break down food scraps and produce nutrient-rich castings. Choose the method that works best for your space. 

• Balance the amount of dry and green organic material. The EPA recommends a ratio of two to three parts dry/brown organic material to one part green organic material. Additionally, the agency provides a handy list of what to avoid adding to compost, including dairy and meat products, cooked food, and plant material that contains weeds that have seeds or aggressive weeds (these unwanted visitors might sprout in your compost pile). 

• Turn your compost. This will cause the organic material in your compost pile or bin to break down more quickly and help prevent the compost from attracting rodents.