Fall is time when there is an abundance of leaves and most families spend a large portion of their time raking up and disposing of leaves. What if these leaves could be put to work to enhance the landscape of the yard? There is no better time to turn to a backyard composter.

Anyone trying to grow a vegetable or flower garden for the first time almost always runs into nutrient problems. What may start off as a beautiful lush looking garden may quickly develop into a yellowed out disheartening mess. The reason is the lack of nutrients in the soil. The nutrients are required to sustain the plant’s growth for the season. It is therefore important to enrich the soil before starting a new garden plot and the simplest and sustainable way to do this is to start a compost pile and use a backyard composter.

Using a backyard composter is not a difficult process. Basically, composting is the acceleration of the natural process of decomposition. The idea is to take the nutrients available in backyard trash like leaves and convert them to nutrients. A backyard composter essentially sets up a chemical and biological reaction in the backyard. By taking the yard and food wastes, combining them with oxygen and water (moisture) in a semi-closed or closed situation, biological activity is started. Naturally occurring microbes contained within the trash would then convert the trash into compost. This chemical process puts off heat and carbon dioxide.

To duplicate the naturally occurring process the backyard composter must find readily available waste to compost and also find a suitable composting method. There are different ways to make compost but the first step is finding the right method that works for the gardener’s expectations, time and financial commitment.

Passive composting is the easiest composting method for the non-hands-on backyard composter. This process takes the least amount of effort but takes the longest time to get results, about a year. In this process, the gardener creates a compost pile in the backyard and waits for the process to occur naturally without much interference. Active composting is for the more ambitious backyard composter. The process takes the shortest time-anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks; requiring a good bit of work (turning the pile regularly). This process requires a composting container that can be home built or bought commercially. Sheet composting is an excellent composting method to start a new garden spot but requires both time and the backyard composter’s hands-on commitment. This method uses layers of compostable material, manure, decomposable light blocker like newspaper or corrugated cardboard that is placed over the future garden spot.

Compost is complete when the temperature of the pile is the same as the ambient temperature and no longer putting out heat. The compost should also have a nice earthy smell (no longer smells like trash), its color should be uniform and it should no longer be releasing moisture. The finished compost can then be added to the soil. It will not only supply nutrients to the plants but will also help with the soil structure; loosening compacted soil types and holding particles together in sandy soils. The compost will also increase the water holding capability of the soil which means less water wasted watering the garden. A backyard composter can let a gardener look upon their handiwork at the end of a growing season with satisfaction knowing they had a “hand” in it.