scaled" width="345" />Autumn has arrived in Charlotte with plenty of wind and rain, and leaves have ...

1. Now is an excellent time to start or feed your compost pile -
Charlotte Gardening
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Autumn has arrived in Charlotte with plenty of wind and rain, and leaves have been turning and
dropping all over the city. The leaves made a lovely show of color a few weeks ago, and now they can
be used to make excellent compost.
Compost piles can be freestanding piles of brown and green plant materials. You can also buy
containers for the composting materials. The bottom of the container must be open, and the top
must allow rain to come into the pile and keep the pile moist.
Mary Moore
Compost piles are built using water, green matter and brown matter. Most green plant waste and
kitchen vegetable scraps contribute nitrogen and moisture to your compost bin. Brown matter
consists of leaves and other brown, dry waste from the garden. Newspapers are also brown matter.
(See the attached video for more information about green and brown matter.)
A compost pile can be as simple as layering green and brown matter and leaving the pile alone for a
year or so. However, if you have a small garden or prefer an orderly looking compost pile, compost
bins can be purchase at many home and garden stores. One option is to simply purchase a large
plastic trash can, cut out the bottom so the compost is directly on the ground, layer with compost
materials, add organic fertilizer every few layers and water thoroughly until water is running out of
the bottom of the pile. If you want to place the lid on the container, punch several large holes to
allow rain to go into the compost bin and retain moisture.

2. When built correctly, a compost pile can basically take care of itself. You can turn it with a pitchfork
or shovel from time to time if you want to speed the process up, but eventually nature takes care of
the composting. Worms and small bugs are quick to move into a healthy compost bin because you
have created a healthy environment for them to live, eat, grow and procreate. If you have created a
pile of brown mulch and neglected it for a year or so, you've seen this in action. When you finally
returned to the mulch, you probably found more broken down humus than mulch. The humus can
then be used to enrich and fertilize your garden.
The basic recipe to make a compost pile is as follows:
If you wish to set up a compost container, put the container where it will get some sunshine and
rain.
Place a layer of newspapers about 1/4 inch deep or so on the bottom.
If you have twigs or bark, add the layer at the bottom.
Add a layer of leaves or brown matter about 3 to 6 inches deep
Add a layer of green matter (kitchen waste, food scraps, plant material from your garden)
Sprinkle some organic fertilizer or add organic compost starter
Water
Repeat steps 4 to 7 until the compost bin is complete
The following ingredients make excellent
compost materials:
Brown matter: leaves, small twigs,
newspaper, bark, coffee grinds, tea leaves
or bags
Green matter: kitchen waste (NOT meat, fat
or bread), plant trimmings or green waste
from your yard
Other: Crushed eggshells are also great and add calcium to your pile
If you cannot take advantage of the free compost material, be sure to bag the leaves up. The leaves
will be taken to be composted and made available to gardeners in Charlotte through Compost
Central.
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3. http://www.examiner.com/article/now-is-an-excellent-time-to-start-or-feed-your-compost-pile