Tips for Preparing Compost Material

One of the secrets to quickly decomposing compost materials is to get them ready to compost. You can simply toss the raw material into your composter. However, preparing materials for composting allows the materials to decompose much quicker.

You have two goals, as you get materials ready to compost:

First, shred the material into fine pieces. Smaller pieces of compost provide more surface area, for micro-organisms to do their job of quickly decomposing the material.

Secondly, mix green and brown materials together. This combination translates to faster, more efficient decomposition.

If you have the luxury of a chipper-shredder, it’s cinch to send everything through it before putting it into the compost pile.

A lawnmower does a good job shredding leaves and plant matter. Set the materials on the ground. Next, go over them a few times with the lawnmower. Then, rake them up and it is ready to compost. 

Break branches and twigs into many pieces, the more the better. Use pruners, as needed.

Mix the different types of materials together as you put them into the compost pile. 

mix in a few shovels full of compost from a previous batch. It is rich in micro-organisms, which will rapidly multiply in a new pile.  

More on Mixing Nitrogen and Carbon Materials