Fertilizing your garden with commercial fertilizer is expensive and is not ideal for the environment. Runoff can contaminate rivers, lakes and streams. Everyday households throw away pounds of food waste while sending yard and garden waste to the dumps. Composting will recycle yard and garden waste along with household waste into usable environmentally safe fertilizer for the garden.

Pruned garden plants and dropped fruits or vegetables, if they are not diseased can be recycled. When doing winter or spring pruning branches and stems can be recycled and used as fertilizer. Composting can be done anywhere there is room for a small bin. Do not recycle dog or cat waste, bones, fat or meats. It is never a good idea to compost chemically treated trees, or grasses. Last year-s garden will be this year-s fertilizer with remarkably little effort.

Any fruit or vegetable bearing plant or tree can be recycled. Sunflower stalks, grass clippings and the entire flower garden can all be recycled. Hay and straw that was used as mulch can be composted adding to the green portion of the compost. Brown compost is dried leaves, pine needles, and wood chips. Good composting includes both green and brown matter for a healthy mix. Banana peels, coffee grounds and egg shells can all be recycled for fertilizer.

Using a good composting technique will break all matter down organically resulting in rich dark compost. Spade the compost pile on a regular basis it should be warm in the center heat indicates breakdown is occurring. After fall harvest pull up all annuals, trim perennials, and toss onto the compost pile. If the compost appears dry sprinkle with water, moisture helps in the composting. Keep covered with a tarp because saturated matter will not generate the required heat.

The compost pile can be ignored and it will breakdown. To speed up the process, turn over the material once a week and add moisture as needed. Special bacteria can be purchased to accelerate the composting process. Depending on the size and how much attention it is given, the compost may take a season to be ready up to a year or more.