Why Compost Matters

“There are starving kids in Africa!” How many times did you hear that as a kid? How many times have you said it to your kids? Composting is the solution. Most dads hate to see food go to waste. Dads put so much time into earning the money that provides groceries each week, and kids waste food like it grows on trees. But learn to compost, and you’ll feel a whole lot better about your kids running off after just one bite of that banana they begged for. Composting turns waste into black gold—black gold that literally helps food grow on trees.

The Basics—What Is Composting?

If you aren’t familiar with composting, it’s simply nature’s way of breaking down organic waste into rich soil. It’s the original recycling program. Setting up a composting system at home is simple, cuts down trash, and feeds your yard, garden, or trees. Including the kids can teach them responsibility, a bit of biology, problem-solving, and even creativity and hard work.

If you’re interested in some benefits of composting for your garden soil, check out this infographic from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR).

What You’ll Need

Composting methods vary about as much as gardening methods, but let’s outline what you’ll need to get started. To make a successful compost pile, you’ll need a good place to heap up materials. You can find a spot in the yard for a raw, open pile, screw together a few pallets to make a bin, or even buy a fancy one that rotates. You’ll also need a pitchfork or shovel for turning the pile. Of course, you’ll need a good supply of scraps to go into it. To break down scraps, you need a mix of green and brown materials—green materials are nitrogen-rich, and brown materials are carbon-rich. Think kitchen scraps (coffee grounds, fruits, veggies) or yard waste (grass clippings, manure, leaves).

How to Start—Step-by-Step

To get this ultimate science project going, choose a location. Find somewhere flat, semi-shady, and within reach of the kids so they can help. Start by layering brown and green materials. You’ll find varying opinions on the brown-to-green ratio, but shoot for 3:1 and adjust as needed. 

With the pile complete, hose it down—it needs to be damp but not sopping wet. Every week, turn the pile with your pitchfork and encourage your kids to “feed the pile” with kitchen scraps until you’re ready to let it cook. For the quickest decomposition, aim for a pile roughly 3’x3’x3’.

How to Read the Pile: Identifying Signs of Success and Failure

Okay, now you’ve got a heaping pile of scraps, leaves, and grass clippings. You’ve watered it and turned it a time or two—but how do you know if it’s working? Here’s a chance to teach your kids to use their senses, because you can tell it’s working by how it looks, smells, and feels. First, let’s look at smell.

The Smell of Compost: Stinky or Earthy?

You won’t want to get near your pile if something’s off. If it stinks, you’ve got one of two issues: too much water (creating an anaerobic mess) or too much nitrogen. If your compost smells earthy, all’s well in your microbial neighborhood.

Looking for Signs of Life

You can spot a few things to gauge your compost’s health, depending on its stage. Check moisture—if it’s bone-dry, not much is happening; if it looks (and smells) like sewage, you’ve got too much water. As it progresses, you might see worms, flies, or bugs—don’t worry, these are good! They break down bigger materials and are part of the cycle. Now, if you see rats, mice, cats, or other vermin, that’s a problem. Lastly, you should start seeing more soil than scraps—the breakdown will be noticeable.

Getting Your Hands Dirty

The final, most satisfying way to check your compost is to feel it. With a good mix, it’ll be warm to the touch. If you live somewhere cold, it might even steam when you expose the warm center to chilly air—this kills weed seeds and shows lots of microbial action. In the final stages, the scraps-turned-soil will be soft and crumbly, like store-bought potting soil.

Composting: Why It’s Worth It

Ta-da! Free fertilizer to green up the lawn or grow veggies. Composting can be work, but it’s simple and turns into an easy routine—especially when you recruit your kids. They’ll play a part in creation. It’s amazing to not only grow veggies from a seed but to take those veggie scraps and turn them into the soil you’ll plant in again.