As a stay-at-home dad, I’m always on the lookout for family projects that teach valuable lessons and bring us closer to a natural lifestyle Growing a Vegetable Garden. This season, we decided to take on composting. It’s been a fascinating journey, turning our everyday kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich compost that our garden loves! Here, I’ll explain the steps we took to transform our waste into something valuable for the garden.
Compost Bins
This time we steered away from a DIY, and decided to purchase a beautiful pine fence kit. It was a great weekend project, and the bins made it so much easier to manage our compost.
Starting Our Compost Pile
We began by choosing a spot in our backyard for the compost pile. It needed to be convenient yet out of the way, so we settled on a cozy corner by the fence. We placed our new fence kit and started our pile with a balanced mix of greens, like vegetable peels and coffee grounds, and browns, such as dried leaves and cardboard. If you don’t have access to food scraps, you can try starting out with a good compost starter mix .
Maintaining Our Compost
Turning the compost became a weekly ritual. I got tired of using a shovel to aerate our compost bin, so I purchased an aerator tool. We watched as the scraps broke down, and the pile heated up—a clear sign that our compost was “cooking.” The kids were amazed at how scraps transformed into something so different over time.
The Results in Our Garden
After a few months, we had our first batch of homemade compost. It was incredible to see the difference in our garden. The vegetables were more robust, the flowers more vibrant, and the soil had a wonderful, earthy smell.
Composting has been a magical experience for our family. It’s taught us about sustainability, science, and patience. Plus, it’s given our garden a boost! We’ve truly turned our kitchen scraps into garden gold.
🤓 Speaking of science, check out our other post!
Soil Science: The Foundation of Healthy Plants – A Deeper Dive