Multi Stage Composting, An Overview

Submitted by: genwright

Multi Stage Composting

Do you have a lot of compost? If so, your compost bin may be full to overflowing. When a compost bin is full, there's a temptation to avoid aerating it. It can also be difficult to cram enough brown material into the compost to balance out all of the fruit and vegetable matter. To avoid getting into bad composting habits, you can turn to multi-stage composting instead.

What is Multi-Stage Composting?

Multi-stage composting is the use of more than one compost bin to create finished compost. In this composting system, you might fill up one bin quickly with layers of green and brown compost, aerating as you go. Then you turn to another bin, leaving the first to complete the composting process. Of course, you can still aerate the first and watch it closely to ensure that it is not too wet and that it is heating up well. However, your attention turns from the first bin to the second and from the second to the third, if the first bin is not yet finished.

On a small scale, you can also do multi-stage composting if you have a tumbling compost with compartments, since you can place food waste into each compartment, leaving the others to compost. The same process works with multiple worm bins if you are in an apartment or another area where you must compost indoors or on a deck. It's possible to rotate the bins so that you don't overfill a single bin, moving from bin to bin as they fill up, emptying the finished compost, and using the bin again.

Who Should Compost in Stages?

Some people create a lot of food waste. Perhaps you're a vegan or a vegetarian, or perhaps you have a large family. This food waste is considered a green item for the compost bin. It is rich in nitrogen and is also full of water. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, an overdose of nitrogen and water can make a compost into a stinky, slimy place. You need to add brown materials like leaves and paper to ensure that there is a carbon and nitrogen balance. Yet when you have exceeded the capacity of your bin with fruit and vegetable peelings, it can be hard to find enough room for the brown material, and your composting strategy goes awry. Get another bin so that you always have space to compost properly.

Others who are avid gardeners may have the opposite problem. You may have a lot of leaves and other brown material, or perhaps you'd like to compost most of your shredded office paper. This may also call for multiple bins.

You don't need to get fancy with compost bins when you're composting in bulk. Use wooden bins to save money, or if you're in a rural area, use wire mesh bins. Finding a place for all of your food and yard waste can be difficult, but a multiple bin and multi-stage composting system can yield much more compost in a shorter period of time than you would produce by overloading a single bin.

About the Author

Lars Handley is a certified master composter based in Dallas, Texas. Visit his Composting site to see text and video that teaches how to make compost. Dont miss the Dont miss the Methods of Composting page where you can learn about different ways to compost.

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