In this Video, Lars answers a question from Lynn, one of our readers, concerning paper towels and compost piles. Lynn asked us the following:

It would be very nice if you can add information about paper towels that are compostable. You mentioned that brown material is good for adding to your composting, would the commercial brown paper towels used in washrooms can be considered as brown material as well? I was told by an Environmental company that the paper towels are also used to be spread on landfill to prevent the smell.

Thanks for your question, Lynn! To clarify, when we say “brown material” we aren’t necessarily talking about the color, we are talking about carbon-rich material. To answer the question though…yes, you can definitely recycle and compost paper towels – be it white ones, or even recycled, brown paper towels that you sometimes see in an office washroom.

You don’t want to compost any paper towels that you’ve gotten wet with chemicals, because this can harm your compost. But if it’s just a normal paper towel that you’ve gotten wet at some point, you can totally use it with your compost, that’s no problem at all!

Thanks again for reading, and thanks for your question! Hope this is a big help!

In the above video, Lars answers a question asked by another one of our readers, Heather. She asked us the following:

My husband’s grandmother had a beautiful vegetable garden. She just put leaves, newspaper, and vegetable scraps down the rows of her garden. She raked/tilled in under every few weeks. Is this a good idea?

Thanks for the question, Heather! Your husband’s grandmother is very wise – this is a legitimate method of composting – it’s known as trench composting, which is where you can dig a hole and place your organic materials in there. Cover it up, and it will break your materials down over time, and improve the quality of the soil. Famers have used this method of composting for hundreds, if not thousands of years…it’s a perfectly good way to compost.

So yes, it can be a great idea and has proven to work for years upon years. Thanks for your question and hope this helps!

A compost pile is literally what it sounds like: a pile of compost in your yard to use as rich, fertile soil for your garden. Of course, a compost pile doesn’t just “happen” – you have to build one. Do not fret, for it is a simple process. By following certain guidelines, you can ensure that you have a proper compost pile in our lawn.

First things first, make sure you have a large surface area for your compost pile. The larger the surface area, the quicker your organic material will decompose. When selecting the area of your lawn to create a compost pile, the following is highly important:

Location

You want the area that you are creating the compost pile on to be able to touch the ground. Placing your compost pile on wood for instance can cause the wood to decay. Try to avoid the compost pile touching any buildings. In addition, you want the surface area of which the compost pile is to be placed on to be level, and with good drainage. Make sure the compost pile is in a convenient location, so you can access it with ease.

Size

You want the size of your compost pile to have the same dimensions throughout. Ideal sizes for your compost pile will range from 3x3x3 to 5x5x5.

Now that you’ve got location and size settled upon, now what?

So, now you’ve selected your location and you are aware of what size you want your compost pile to be. Next comes the construction of the compost pile. The most important thing you can do when creating your pile is to layer your materials. A good compost pile has an equal balance of Nitrogen rich materials (fruit peelings, vegetable trimmings, etc) and Carbon rich materials (sawdust, newspaper strips, leaves, etc).

The easiest way to maintain this balance and to have your compost pile work efficiently is to alternate layers between Nitrogen and Carbon rich materials. You want to start with Nitrogen rich materials closer to the ground. This will also help keep animals and pests away from the compost pile.

Ideal Layer Structure:

Don’t forget to make sure that compost piles are allowed in your city. If not, use a compost bin instead.

Composting at home is a simple task that is easy, and can bring many positive results in the end for your home or garden. The task may at first seem overwhelming or daunting – but have no fear, it’s quite simple.

Photo found on Flickr.com courtesy of Bookshelf Boyfriend.

When home composting, you can add things such as a Compost Pail to your kitchen. A compost pail will allow you to store food scraps while preparing food, so that you can take them out to the compost bin every few days.

When you take items out to the compost bin, you want to make sure that you have a proper balance of Nitrogen and Carbon rich materials. This means in addition to your food scraps, you want to have leaves, grass, newspaper clippings and items of the sort to aid in proper composting.

Your compost bin in the back could be as intricate as a store-bought tumbling composter, or as simple as a homemade bin created from wire and wood. The most important thing is that you are checking your compost, and turning it regularly. There are numerous books and websites (such as this one) that provide tips on home composting. In addition, there are tools such as compost thermometers to measure the moisture in your compost pile, and compost forks to make turning the compost a painless ordeal.

Photo found on Flickr.com courtesy of UrbanGarden.

Composting is a natural process, and is easy to do at home. All you have to do is take a little time out of your day to make sure there are the proper items in your compost pile, turn it occasionally, and let nature do the rest of the work. It’s simple, easy, and in the end you will have richer soil and more brilliant plant life than ever before!

Nitrogen Rich Materials Include:

Coffee Grounds
Photo found on Flickr.com courtesy of Macxoom.

 

Carbon Rich Materials Include:

Leaves
Photo found on Flickr.com courtesy of PatchworkPottery.

 

Not Recommended for Your Compost Pile:

Want to learn more? Be sure to visit our main composting page to get more details about home composting.

Photo available on Flickr.com courtesy of This is Green.

If you are curious about composting, there are a wide variety of books available to help you with your composting needs. Many of these books can serve as a comprehensive guide to compost, or can add to your collection of gardening books at home. Certain books such as Let it Rot! The Gardener’s Guide to Composting are quick and easy reads to really help you with your compost information. This book in particular is an in-depth 160-page analysis of composting, complete with detailed illustrations for those of you who are visual learners.

Here is a great collection of composting books: