Outdoor Composting

What is Outdoor Composting?

Outdoor composting is great for people who have the space, the desire, and the energy to create compost in their yard. If you have outdoor space and want to make compost, there are many ways to go about it. Many people choose to use a tumbler or other enclosed bin to keep potential critters away. You can also make a compost bin out of chicken wire or wood. If your household is producing enough food scraps, just making a large pile is another option.

Why use B.O.C.K. (Better Outdoor Compost Kit)?

Have you ever wanted to create amazing compost in three months time and found that your compost was very slow to break down or not the quality that you wanted it to be?

Very high quality compost is high in humus content. Humus is organic matter that has reached its most stable point. Humus is able to hold water and transmit nutrients to plants. It provides fertility to the soil. The more organic matter in your soil the better, and the more humus formed from organic matter the better.

Humus is made by microorganism excrement which has a positive ionic charge, and fine clay which has a negative ionic charge. It is created as the clay (- charge) and the slimes microbes produce (+charge) bind together. This process, along with the decay of microorganisms' bodies, creates humus.

The Better Outdoor Compost Kit is designed to help you create high quality humus compost in your backyard. Included in the kit is:

• EM (effective microorganisms) which are a specific set of microbes that are great at breaking down organic matter
• Azomite, which is a natural remineralization supplement for your soil,
• burlap, to help your compost pile retain more moisture
• fine clay
• and step-by step instructions.

Click here for more information and complete instructions.

How to use B.O.C.K.

As a general rule it is good to add 1 part nitrogen materials (which is all your food scraps and green yard waste) and 4 parts carbon (leaves, dry grass clippings, wood chips, newspaper, paper towels).

The importance of water and air

Most people don't realize how important it is to water their compost pile. You want your compost to be moist like a damp sponge. For the nitrogen and carbon to bond properly, the compost pile needs to be 50% moisture. It is also equally important to aerate the compost regularly when creating humus.

Find out more about humus on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humus