How to Compost in Your Backyard

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How to Compost with Kids in Your Backyard. The idea is as simple as the execution: You simply put some worms in a worm box and feed them with table scraps (no dairy, fat or meat).

In a couple of weeks, you can drain off the excess liquid for a powerful fertilizer. In a couple of months, you can use the new soil in your garden.

Worms are also good in the garden, because their excrement is high in nitrogen, plus they aerate soil by tunneling. That improves tilth and allows water and air to get to plants' roots.

Here's How to Make a Worm Bin and Put Your Wigglers to Work:

1 Get a big plastic tub (not see-through) with a lid.

Shoot for a tub 30 gallons or larger.

2 Drill holes along the sides.

You'll want these to be about 1/4 inch from the bottom for drainage. Poke some air holes near the top.

3 Put in about a 4-inch layer of shredded newspapers.

Spray the papers with water until they are damp but not soggy.

4 Add about three or four handfuls of garden soil.

5 Mix in about 1 cup of chopped food scraps.

(Chopped foods decompose faster than bigger pieces.)

6 Now add the worms.

Red wigglers are the best. You can usually buy them at garden centers. (Don't use nightcrawlers, the worms sold for bait.)

7 Add more table scraps weekly.

Keep the soil moist but not wet. (If it starts to smell, it's too wet.)

To keep flies from laying eggs on them, be sure to cover scraps with soil. Also add more paper or yard scraps each week.

8 Store your worm-and-food-scraps bin in a shady place.

A basement or a garage work well for this purpose. When you're ready to add the final organic product to your garden, separate the worms out first so they can continue to compost for you.

The easiest way is to spread the contents of the box on a plastic garbage bag on the driveway on a sunny day. Cover half the soil with a box to shade it.

The worms will crawl to the shady part. (Because your box is sitting on lumpy soil there are small raised areas for the worms to, well, worm their way out.)

Get more great ideas on composting at Savor the Rhubarb.com

Prefer to Compost Without Worms? Here's How to Make It Happen

Get Growing: Container Gardens With Kids

How to Grow Bulbs Year-Round

Return to Backyard Living

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