Composting 101: My "Piles"

Yesterday I introduced the concept of the compost 'pile' to you and shared that I use a composter that I purchase for my compost.  Sometime my composter is not big enough and last night was the perfect demonstration of that.  My husband mowed the lawn & there was no room for the lawn clippings in the bin so we started our backup pile.  I use the space between the composter, the garden, the shed and the fence to create a free-form, 'uncontained' compost pile. 

My composter & my 'pile'.

I do not invest any extra time & energy into this pile; it is just my overflow stock pile, but I could maintain it and get beautiful compost from it as well as my composter.  I use my stockpile as mulch in my garden or for 'green' material in my composter as the summer goes on and most often it does not last too long.  Sometimes it does get large and last awhile in the fall when I mow tree leaves and grass in our yard.

I'm sure you are curious about the term 'green material' I mentioned above... stay tuned!  Next week I'll share more about the 'green' and other organic material that you should add to your compost.

Happy Composting & Gardening! :)

All Posts in the Composting 101 Series:
-Introduction
-Check Local Waste Management
-The 'Pile'
-My 'Piles'
-Compostable Material
-Maintenance