Enhance Your Landscape with Kitchen and Yard Waste

[Blog Post by Ann Hall, Environmental Education Specialist, ahall@thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov]

Vegetable trimmings, egg shells, fruit cores and peelings frequently are ground by the waste disposal or tossed into the garbage bin. Did you know that you can re-use all of these materials to create rich, handmade compost in your own back yard? Creating compost is as easy as layering these materials with the leaves and yard trimmings now in ample supply.

Compost is composed of two basic types of organic materials: brown material and green material.

Brown Material

Leaves
Pine needles
Dried yard trimmings (dead branches, plants)
Frozen plant material (from winter freezes)
Shredded cardboard
Shredded newspaper
Nut shells

Green Material

Vegetable scraps and peelings
Fruit cores and peelings
Egg shells
Coffee grounds
Tea bags
Grass clippings

Brown material is a source of carbon while green material adds nitrogen to the compost bin. Collect leaves in bags or a compost bin. Kitchen scraps may be stored in a small counter top bucket with a lid. When kitchen scraps are abundant, freeze them in zipper top bags to add later to the compost pile. Coffee grounds, filters and used tea bags may also be stored in zipper top bags.

Layering brown material alternately with green material in a compost bin creates a perfect environment for beneficial microorganisms to begin to decompose these organic materials. As the microorganisms break down the sources of carbon and nitrogen, heat is generated. An actively heating compost bin will heat for 3-5 days with a temperature ranging from 80-160 degrees Fahrenheit.

As the bin cools, other decomposers such as small insects will enter the compost bin to continue the maturing process which provides available nutrients for plants. Finished compost may be used on house plants, outdoor ornamental containers, planting beds or vegetable gardens. Turning kitchen and yard waste into useful compost is a rewarding gardening activity.

Free composting classes are offered at 10 am continuing on the first Saturday of February and March at The Woodlands Township’s Parks, Recreation and Environmental Services Department facility located at 8203 Millennium Forest. Join us to learn more about back yard composting.

For details, please visit us online.