{"id":2867,"date":"2016-05-01T19:50:30","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T23:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ugagreenway.wordpress.com\/?p=2867"},"modified":"2023-01-03T15:30:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T20:30:15","slug":"its-international-compost-awareness-week-a-great-time-to-start-composting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/2016\/05\/01\/its-international-compost-awareness-week-a-great-time-to-start-composting\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s International Compost Awareness Week &#8211; a great time to start composting!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Composting is a fun and easy way to live a little greener and boost the\u00a0nutrient value of your soil.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2869\" src=\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compostbinstack_wb.jpg\" alt=\"CompostBinStack_wb\" width=\"180\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compostbinstack_wb.jpg 400w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compostbinstack_wb-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/>Start with a compost bin. This can be stationary or rotating. The key is to periodically turn the materials inside to aid the decay process by providing oxygen.\u00a0The more the bin retains heat and moisture, the quicker the results! If you choose a stationary compost bin be sure to place it in the sun because it will speed up the process. The benefit of a compost tumbler is it makes it easy to churn the contents around so that the compost will be ready in a matter of weeks instead of months.<\/p>\n<p>Second, come the ingredients! Brown and green plant matter are the key ingredients. Shredded newspaper, wood chips, and dry leaves make up the <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2870\" src=\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compost_pile.jpg\" alt=\"Compost_pile\" width=\"180\" height=\"135\" \/>brown matter you could use. The green mater comes from kitchen waste like vegetables and fruit, and also grass clippings. You can give your pile a jumpstart by adding a couple of shovels of organic matter gardening soil. It\u2019s best to not add\u00a0meat products because they are bound to attract pests and pets like mice, rats, raccoons, and dogs.<\/p>\n<p>Then let nature do its magic! Remember t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2871\" src=\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compost-dirt.jpg\" width=\"180\" height=\"135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compost-dirt.jpg 2288w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compost-dirt-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compost-dirt-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compost-dirt-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compost-dirt-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/files\/2016\/05\/compost-dirt-2048x1532.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/>hat moisture is a necessary ingredient in the decomposition process so in hot and dry \u00a0weather. Most expert composters say an ideal moisture content is 40% to 60%. Basically if your compost is wet and slimy and has a bad odor, it\u2019s too wet. Ideal compost will become dark and crumbly and smell like fresh earth!<\/p>\n<p>The resources below will help you get started composting!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>General information from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/recycle\/composting-home\">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Resources on composting from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/extension.uga.edu\/publications\/detail.cfm?number=C816\">University of Georgia Extension<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ingredients video from <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/resources\/composting-recipe\/\">University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Preparing food scraps to compost faster\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ccetompkins.org\/resources\/compost-preparation-of-food-scraps\">Cornell Cooperative Extension<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong>Written by Guest Blogger:<\/strong>\u00a0Mary Fenwick Parish, Graduate Student at the University of Georgia, Master of Historic Preservation<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Composting is a fun and easy way to live a little greener and boost the\u00a0nutrient value of your soil. Start with a compost bin. This can be stationary or rotating. The key is to periodically turn the materials inside to aid the decay process by providing oxygen.\u00a0The more the bin retains heat and moisture, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":2871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,88],"tags":[255,270,356,394,429,757,920],"class_list":["post-2867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardening-farming","category-green-living","tag-composting","tag-cooperative-extension","tag-extension","tag-gardening","tag-green-living","tag-recycle","tag-uga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4630,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2867\/revisions\/4630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/greenway\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}