- 1). Place your composter in a location convenient to your home for quick access year round. Make sure the area receives full sun for four to five hours each day to heat the contents inside.
- 2). Gather together "brown" material such as sticks, woody stems, dried grass, dried leaves, twigs, shredded newspaper, and shredded cardboard. Collect together "green" materials like pruned plants, fresh leaves, fresh cut grass, and kitchen scraps like vegetable peels, coffee grounds, and eggshells.
- 3). Bring together your green and brown materials in equal amounts. Place about half of the brown material along the bottom of the composter to get it started followed by all of your green materials. Layer the second half of the browns to cover over the fresh green material.
- 4). Pour 1/2 gallon of water over the layers to wet the material and make it moist inside the composter. Close the lid of the composter, if available. Allow the material to rest for a week to begin to heat up and start to break down.
- 5). Open the composter and use a pitchfork or spading fork to turn the material over, bringing the lower brown layer up, while turning the green and the upper brown layer to the bottom. Look at how moist or dry the material is to see if a 1/2 gallon of water was enough to keep the material damp for a week. If the material is soggy, then a 1/2 gallon is too much water.
- 6). Add green material over your turned mixture, followed by an equal amount of brown material. An equal quantity of each substance ensures that your final humus ends up with well-balanced nutrients. Add the amount of water you need to keep your pile moist.
- 7). Add new material in equal amounts anytime you have it available. Repeat turning the existing material and adding water at least weekly to keep the material cooking. When it resembles a black, rich soil, the humus is finished.
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