Backyard Gardening Compost

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Get your step-by-step plan on how to set up a backyard gardening compost area by having a better understanding of how the process works. We’ll talk about what the layers are, how to alternate them, heating tips, and more!

When learning how to start a backyard garden, it all starts with the best soil and compost can help you get there. With this skill mastered, you can grow a better garden year after year.

So, this memory might be more relatable to my midlife gardeners out there, but have you ever seen that Gilligan’s Island episode where a crate of vegetable garden seeds washes up on shore?

They are so excited to grow fresh veggies that they plant them all without a thought. Within a few days, they have mammoth lush plants full of ready-to-eat produce that are triple the normal size.

That scene always reminds me of the magic of using compost in your garden. Compost, or black gold as I like to call it, is the secret sauce to a successful garden. And the best part? You can do it all for FREE!

About eight years ago, we had a horrible time growing anything on our land. The soil was just awful, made mostly of clay, and the pH was all off.

I knew that we needed to fix the ground if we wanted things to grow well, so I went to research ways to make improvements.

Little did I know that the best way to fix our stale clay ground was sitting in a pile just a few yards away.

What is the Current Condition is Your Soil

Before you amend your soil, it is good to know where you are now. Start by getting your hands in the dirt to see if you have clay soil or sandy soil.

1. Clay soil – sticks damp soil that easily clumps together. It feels smooth and sticky when wet and doesn’t easily crumble. Clay soil is hard to grow in because it tends to hold too much water and not enough oxygen.
2. Sandy soil – has a gritty texture that feels sandy. When wet it feels coarse and will not roll into a ball easily.

Next, do a pH test to see where you are now. You can use a pH soil test kit to know how acidic or alkaline your soil is. Since different plants do better in different pH levels, knowing your number can be very helpful in a garden setup.

Get more tips on improving your soil here: Prepping Your Soil For A Successful Garden.

What is compost?

Compost is a decayed organic material that is commonly used as a plant fertilizer in flower gardens, many different styles of vegetable gardens, and fulled sized crop fields.

Organic materials are adding in layers that nature works with rain and warmth to heat up and break down.

Worms, snails, and other insects work in a compost bin to break things down further, turning it into a rich, lush soil booster. When ready, it can be worked into the soil before planting or added around the base of any plants that are currently growing.

Be sure to download the Compost Checklist below!

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Benefits of Composting

Composting has been around for centuries, and the benefits make it a worthwhile project for any sized garden.

#1. Compost is Great Organic Matter

The compost provides organic matter that feeds microorganisms and macro-organisms. These little guys are key to a nice, healthy garden.

#2. Compost is Full of Nutrients

Compost stuffs your soil full of healthy nutrients, creating optimum conditions for plant growth.

#3. Compost helps with drainage

If you have clay soil, it helps with drainage and aeration, transforming it into a healthy platform for growing. If you have sandy soil, it helps to retain moisture for plants to grow.

#4. Compost attracts worms

Compost attracts earthworms which are the “good guys” in any veggie garden.

#5. Compost does time release

When you compost, you help to release nutrients slowly so the benefits last much longer than synthetic fertilizers do.

#6. Compost keeps diseases away

It helps to keep away soil-borne diseases and pests that can destroy a garden in one quick season.

Compost is so popular that you can purchase bags of compost at your local garden center. (Heads up,  it’s not that cheap!) This can be helpful if you need just a little. But, if you plan to garden for years, having your source can be beneficial.

DIY Composter

Sure you can purchase a compost tumbler like this one, and actually, those are pretty nice. However, I am a frugal homesteader, which means I look for ways to DIY what I need before buying.

The good news is, you can DIY a compost area quickly with few supplies.

DIY Pallet Compost Bin

Pallets are a great way to quickly setup a compost area near to your garden. They are so simple you can make a few around your homestead area giving a neater look to your compost piles.

To make a compost bin, all you need is a container of any size with 3 or 4 walls.

1. Use three wooden pallets that are in fair to good condition. If you see any loose boards, you can add a few nails to tighten things up.
2. Attach them together with nails or l-brackets to form a U shape.
3. Pound heavy-duty garden stakes into the ground and attach the pallets to the stakes. You can do this with wire or zip ties.
4. Put a plank board in front to hold the compost in place. You can add on more boards as your compost gets higher.

SLCG PRO TIP: It’s important to ensure your compost pile has enough air. Use a pitchfork to lightly “mix” things every few days or weeks to prevent them from compacting tight. The more air there is, the quicker things compost.

You can see how to build a compost bin at Thisoldhouse.com if you want exact directions. But there is no magical science here. As long as your compost can “breathe,” is kept relatively damp, and you add the correct ingredients in the correct order, you will be fine. This is why pallets work so well for this. The slats in the wood allow for great airflow. 

Because we have so much manure on our homestead, I have since moved on to a compost pile out behind the barn. This requires no walls of any kind. As you add in the matter, you can keep it in a pile in your yard where it can compost down.

No, it’s not neat and tidy, but it is effective and easy to access. This type of setup can be helpful if you have a large garden that requires a lot of compost throughout the growing season.

We let our chickens work the layers together for us; this arrangement has worked perfectly for the last few years.

Where should you put a backyard compost pile?

The location of your pile is probably the most important decision you will make. Take a walk around your garden and see what would be a good spot. When deciding there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. You want it close enough to your garden that using it is not a huge inconvenient chore.
2. If you have livestock, you will want it close enough to your barn to make adding to it easy.
3. If you plan to water down your compost routinely, be sure you are close to a water source. If not, you can incorporate a rain barrel nearby.
4. You want it far enough away from your house that the aromas do not overtake your Sunday dinners.

Compost layers

Layers play an important role in composting and knowing the materials you can use for the layers is the first step to understanding how they all work.

Compost layer materials:

1. Cut grass
2. Eggshells
3. Coffee grounds
4. Livestock manure
5. Produce scraps
6. Wood ash-keep this to a minimum or at the least monitor your PH levels if using.
7. Soiled livestock bedding
8. Livestock manure-(NOTE: Do not add manure directly to plants as it can spread pathogenic organisms to your soil and possibly your plants as well.)
9. Old newspaper or paper feed sacks – don’t worry about ink. Most newspaper ink is soy-based and safe for plants. 
10. Old leaves
11. Plant clippings-do NOT use weeds!
12. Pine needles
13. Twigs, bark, and sawdust

SLCG Pro Tip: Do not add oils or fats to your compost pile; this will not only attract animals and rodents, but it will provide no value to your soil. A good rule of thumb is this; if it came out of the garden, it can go back in.

Just about anything organic can be composted; the key is how you place the matter into your compost bin.

Brown and Green

Compost is divided up into two parts. Green matter and Brown matter. The green matter is high in nitrogen and provides protein to your composting organisms. The brown matter is high in carbon and provides energy. You need a good balance of both for a successful compost bin.

Brown Compost Matter:

• Straw
• Paper products
• Leaves
• Pine needles
• Twigs, bark, sawdust
• Wood ash from wood only! And only use in sparing amounts.

Green Compost Matter:

• Coffee grounds/filters
• Kitchen scraps
• Grass
• Manure-do not use feces from pets or humans.
• Plant clippings-not weeds!
• Produce scraps
• Eggshells

For composting to work well, you will want to layer your green matter and your brown matter to keep things balanced. This is not an exact science, but you will want to try to keep your layers somewhat even.

For example, if you toss on a ton of grass clippings, you will want to add some manure-soiled straw or leaves to help balance things out.

SLCG Pro Tip: Manure is a composter’s dream ingredient. Once I had a healthy supply of manure, our soil greatly improved and our plants grew better.

Remember, do NOT add fresh manure directly to your plants, as it can burn and damage them due to the high nitrogen.

Instead, put manure into your compost pile, allowing it to age before adding around your plants. If you live in a colder area, you can add manure directly to your garden soil in the fall. The winter snow will help to work the manure into the ground giving you healthy organic soil to plant in come spring.

Once spring arrives, use a rototiller to work the remaining manure into the soil. This step is perfect if your soil is in poor shape. If you don’t have a rototiller, you can rent one or borrow one from a neighbor.

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Not all things can be added to a compost bin, and knowing what is tabu will help keep things healthy and organic.

What Not to Compost:

• Meat, cheese, processed foods. Anything that can get moldy.
• Milk, juice, pop
• Pet or human feces
• Weedy materials
• Diseased plants
• Ash from a charcoal barbecue
• Dairy products

Water and Oxygen

Water and oxygen play an important role in composting. You can allow things to happen naturally, but I find it takes longer and I tend to be in a hurry most times.

Remember, compost is a living, breathing thing, so in order for it to be healthy, just like humans, you need to ensure there is enough water and air. Compost will decompose quicker when it’s wet. If you live in a dryer climate, you will want to water your pile routinely to keep it damp, with your goal being a pile that is 40-60% water.

How do you know if your compost needs water?

To determine whether your compost needs water, take a small handful and squeeze it out. It should feel like a damp sponge. If not, you can spray it down until it does.

The secret to a productive compost pile is the health of the organisms found within. Their job is to break things down and if your pile gets compacted, it will slow things down due to the limited oxygen.

Each week or so, I like to use a pitchfork to lift up the layers, adding in some fresh oxygen. If the weather is dry, I like to water things down with a garden hose. This is usually in the summer as our falls are very wet where we live.

Why does a compost area need air?

To keep the fast-acting aerobic bacteria working, they need air. If your compost becomes compacted, the slower-working anaerobic will take over, meaning there is less air to move things along. This is not a huge issue, but it will matter if you are in a hurry to use your compost.

To encourage more airflow, you can shred matter before adding them to your compost area. Larger items such as branches, stems, stalks, shrubs, and even leaves can be shredded to jump-start the composting process.

How to use your backyard garden compost.

One of the best times to add your black cold compost is in the spring when you are planting. I like to put piles all over my garden and then work it into the ground using our rototiller.

If you have backyard chickens, you can let them take care of this chore. Use a temporary fence keeping them inside of your garden area. They will scratch through the piles spreading them out and breaking down any large clumps.

It amazes me how they work quickly work the compost piles into a workable layer that I can spread out with little effort.

READ: How To Keep Chickens Next To Your Garden

Throughout the summer, you can add compost directly around the base of your plants, just like you would mulch. This is where knowing your pH is so helpful. Just as with anything, too much is not always a good thing.

SLCG Pro Tip: Remember, compost is not a fertilizer, per see. That means. you will still need to add any missing nutrients to your soil. Always be sure to test your soil as you monitor its recovery.

Natural organic gardening is, in my opinion, the best way to grow food for your family. Sure, there is a bit more work involved, but in a world full of chemicals, why not do what we can to use natural products? Expensive fertilizers are unnecessary if you have access to organic compost.

If you are unsure that composting is right for you, start out small and take it for a test drive. I promise you it is easier than you think! Building a backyard gardening compost setup is a great investment of your time and will help you grow as a gardener for years to come.

More Gardening Resources:

• What is the Best Vegetable Garden Size?
• How to Have a Successful Garden
• 10 Tips for Beginner Gardeners