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Food growing · Build soil, beds and infrastructure · food-12Start your compost system
Compost turns kitchen scraps and garden waste into the organic matter your beds need. Start it now so finished compost is ready when beds are planted.
How
- Site bins in Zone 1, between kitchen and garden, on level, drained ground.
- Build or buy at least two bays so one can mature while you fill the other. Colorado State Extension says a pile needs to be at least about 1 m (3 x 3 x 3 feet) to build heat.
- Mix nitrogen-rich greens with carbon-rich browns to reach about 30:1 carbon to nitrogen (CSU). Volume rules of thumb differ between sources: CSU describes about two parts green to one part brown, while the US EPA advises at least two to three times the volume of browns to greens. Follow the waste module (waste-14) and its C:N blend calculator, which use the EPA guidance; add browns and turn if the pile smells or turns slimy.
- Keep the pile damp like a wrung-out sponge: only a few drops should come out of a squeezed handful.
- Turn the pile to speed decomposition. To kill weed seeds and disease organisms, CSU says the pile must exceed about 63 degrees C (145 degrees F) and be turned regularly; above about 71 degrees C (160 degrees F) the microbes themselves die.
- Leave out pet and human waste, meat, dairy, oils, diseased plants and seeding weeds, as CSU advises. Handle humanure separately under the sanitation module.
- Expect finished compost in about 3 to 9 months depending on materials, climate and turning.
Safety: Wear gloves when handling compost and manure, and wash hands afterwards. Never add pet or human waste to food-garden compost.
Do these first
Sources
- Making Compost. Colorado State University Extension, accessed 2026-11
- Composting At Home. US Environmental Protection Agency, accessed 2026-11-07