Composting is nature's way of recycling organic materials.

All living things are organic and will naturally decompose. In natural systems, dead plants and animals fall to the ground and are decomposed by bacteria, fungi and other organisms. When people manage this process to turn organic materials into soil amendments, it is called composting.Compost is the dark, loose, earthy-smelling material found on the forest floor, under the grass in a meadow and under a pile of old leaves in your garden.

Compost includes both stabilized organic material and the living organisms which continually recycle nutrients from dead plants and animals. The finished compost and the organisms that make it are each vital to the health of plants, soil and entire ecosystems.

• Backyard Composting
  
  
  • Benefits of Backyard Composting
    
    
  • How it works
    
    
  • Physical Decomposers
    
    
  • Microbial Decomposers
    
    
  • Compost Pile Ingredients
    
    
  • Factors
    
    
  • Carbon:Nitrogen Ratio
    
    
  • Particle Size
    
    
  • Moisture & Aeration
    
    
  • Volume
    
    
  • Time & Temperature
    
    
  • Recipes
    
    
  • Hot Composting
    
    
  • Cold Composting
    
    
  • Troubleshooting
    
    
  • Checkpoints for Finished Compost
    
    
  • Mulch
    
    
  • Soil Amendment
    
    
  • Potting Mixes
    
    
  • Compost Tea
    
    
  • Composting Glossary
    
    
• Vermicomposting
  
  
  • Setting Up a Worm Bin
    
    
  • Feeding Your Worms
    
    
  • Bin Maintenance
    
    
  • Troubleshooting
    
    
  • Harvesting
    
    
  • Dump & Sort
    
    
  • Migration
    
    
  • Divide & Dump
    
    
  • Other Methods
    
    
  • Using Castings
    
    
  • Anatomy & Physiology
    
    
  • Reproduction & Development
    
    
  • Commonly Asked Questions
    
    
  • Vermicomposting Glossary
    
    
• For Teachers