Over half of the methane released into the atmosphere comes from rotting food in the landfill. When food waste is buried and kept from oxygen, the resulting oxygen deprivation leads to methane production. About a quarter of the waste entering a landfill is food scraps.
Think about the things you throw out and how quickly they fill your kitchen trash. Corn cob husks, watermelon rind, juiced lemons, and pineapple cores and peels take up a lot of space. Multiply that by the estimated 134.79 million households in the U.S. There’s potential for an exorbitant amount of methane.
Composting is a great way to keep food scraps out of the landfill, thus reducing methane emissions. It’s also a process that requires a bit of adjustment to get the balance right. A little guidance keeps your compost from becoming smelly and riddled with maggots and turning into the “black gold” that helps your gardens thrive.
There’s a learning curve to composting, especially in the summer when it gets hot and humid or hot and far too dry. Our guide helps you understand the goals to establish a healthy compost bin and unique options that may be easier to manage.
The Foundations of Composting: Greens and Browns
The very basics of composting involve the right balance of browns and greens. You use beneficial microorganisms, fungi, and even worms to break down the materials and turn them into nutrient-rich material to add to your soil.
- Browns: These carbon-rich materials create the bulky matter that aerates the compost materials. It includes materials like dry leaves, sawdust, shredded cardboard and paper, and straw.
- Greens: These nitrogen-rich materials supply fuel and protein to the microbes, helping break down the compost. They include coffee grounds, grass clippings, and fruit and vegetable rinds, peels, and trimmings.
Summer food scraps are often high in moisture because popular summer produce, such as berries, cucumbers, melons, and zucchini, has a high water content. To accommodate the higher-moisture compost, you want to increase the browns.
A good ratio of greens to browns is 1:3. For every pound of greens, add three pounds of browns. This ensures the mixture remains moist without being soggy.
Popular Set-Ups for Summer Composting
The type of composter you use depends on your space, climate, and availability. Some of the more popular options are:
Compost Tumblers
These sealed barrels are on a stand and may or may not have a handle. There are often two chambers, and each has a sliding door. Add your browns and greens, and spin the handle or use the built-in notches to hold onto the bin and spin it around.
Ideally, spin it every time you add more materials. Or, make sure you’re spinning it three or four times a week. A compost tumbler is a popular choice because:
- Aeration takes just a few seconds with no digging required.
- Minimal space is required.
- Rodents and raccoons have a harder time accessing it.
There are a few downsides to consider.
- Black plastic can heat the contents fast, especially if it’s in the sun.
- Microbes may die if you allow the compost to get too hot.
- Removing finished compost requires placing a container under it and then spinning it with the door open, which can get messy.
Open Piles or Bins
If you have space, an open-pile or chicken-wire-framed compost bin is easy to set up. Add materials as you have them to the top and mix them in once or twice a week. It’s a popular choice because:
- Heat management is simplified.
- Large amounts of food scraps are welcome.
- No money is needed to get started.
There are downsides, however.
- Bears, opossums, raccoons, and rodents are more likely to find it.
- Insects are more likely to infest it.
- Manual turning is required at least twice a week.
Trench Composting
A trench compost system is one of the easiest to maintain. Dig a foot-deep trench directly into your garden beds, add the food scraps, and cover them with soil. The soil eliminates odors, and microbes and worms help break them down.
Less Traditional Composting Options
If traditional setups don’t fit your lifestyle or living space, several alternative methods shine particularly bright during the summer months.
Bokashi
The Bokashi system originated in Japan. Instead of composting food scraps, you ferment them in an airtight bucket. Within the bucket, you add a specialized bran product called “Effective Microorganisms.” It offers a specific benefit – compost bread, dairy, and meat scraps, too.
Bokashi seems great, but there are a few issues.
- The cost of the bran and the initial composter may not be affordable for everyone.
- Fermented material must be buried and needs about 14 days to break down into the soil.
Vermiculture (Worm Composting)
Set up a vermiculture bin and have worms break down your kitchen scraps. Generally, you use a worm known as a red wiggler, but I’ve had success with the worms in my yard.
Add ventilation to a standard plastic bin and layer damp, shredded paper and coconut coir. Place food scraps on top and cover them with a sheet of damp cardboard. Worms will eat everything and leave you with nutrient-rich worm castings and compost. The downside is that they need temperatures in the 55°F to 77°F range.
My setup is a plastic bin with the bottom cut off, set on a patch of turned earth near my gardens. I have a plastic lid that has air holes. I covered the ground with wet cardboard and some garden soil. I freeze food scraps and add them as needed. Because they can go underground, I don’t have to worry about the worms overheating and dying.
Troubleshooting Summer Composting Issues
Sometimes, summer composting proves challenging. The heat, humidity, and lack of rain all pose issues. If you have problems, it’s most likely one of these issues.
- Ammonia smell: There are too many greens. Add browns.
- Animal intrusions: Place a fence or cover over your compost pile. Make sure you turn it frequently to keep food odors from attracting them.
- Dry compost: Heat led to evaporation of moisture. Water the compost until it’s moist but not soggy.
- Insect swarms: Sugary food scraps are sitting on the surface. Cover green additions with browns.
- Rotten animal or egg smell: It’s too wet and doesn’t have enough oxygen. Add browns.
Tips for Managing Your Summer Composting Routine
Help your composting system work effectively by using a few tricks to make things go smoothly.
- Chop Up Kitchen Scraps: Larger scraps, like watermelon or melon rind, compost faster when chopped into smaller pieces.
- Cover Your Compost: If you have an open compost pile in a dry climate, your compost will dry out. Get a heavy-duty tarp or cover your bin to retain moisture. Remove the cover when it’s supposed to rain to let nature dampen the compost.
- Invest in a Kitchen Compost Bin: Instead of making multiple trips to the compost system each day, collect kitchen scraps in a sealed container. Purchase a countertop container that is designed to keep fruit flies out, allow oxygen in, and eliminate odors with a charcoal filter.
- Store Scraps in the Freezer: Instead of a kitchen compost bin, consider putting scraps in a gallon freezer bag and keeping them in the freezer. When it’s full, you can transfer it to the composter. Frozen scraps help lower the temperature of the compost pile, too.
- Turn Compost at Least Once Per Week: If you usually turn your compost twice a month, move to weekly turnovers for the summer. It ensures that oxygen remains incorporated when the compost pile is hotter than normal. If you have time, boost it to twice a week.
- Water the Compost During Dry Spells: If it’s dry for days or weeks, water it to keep your compost damp.
What do you do if you can’t compost in your yard or lack the yard space for compost? Recycle Nation’s online directory can point you to a facility that accepts food scraps for composting. You can also check with local farms, as many welcome food scraps for their chickens and pigs.
