We’ve moved a lot and the last composting pile I had was in Sparks when we owned our own home. I’ve been turning over the garden in our newest place and decided I wanted a compost pile.

So I made one last night…using a dog training crate that came with a botched dog adoption off of Craig’s list.

From the Back to Basics Traditional Kitchen Wisdom book (LOVE THIS BOOK!) they said to pick a site that’s level, well-drained, and sunny. So I set up the kennel out back near the old grape vine where it will have sun practically all day.

What to Compost?

Greens such as grass clippings, tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells, fruit & vegetable peelings, and plant cuttings, alfalfa hay, green weeds that have not seeded (except for pernicious weeds). The “greens” rot fast and will provide nitrogen.

Browns such as newspaper (non-glossy paper), leaves, cardboard egg cartons (but I save those to give to local chicken folks), straw, non-treated wood shavings. Browns provide fiber, carbon and air into the mix.

Water…make sure everything stays damp.

Air…turn over your mixture to introduce oxygen.

I’m going to throw in a container of fishing worms for good measure…they say red worms or red wrigglers are the best ones as they thrive on kitchen waste.

Items that should NOT go onto you pile are chemically treated wood products, diseased plants, human and pet waste, meat or bones, fatty food waste, milk products, and pernicious weeds (plants that are destructive to other plants in their midst are sometimes characterized as pernicious weeds).