I simply love the idea of composting. You mean I can take my trash and turn it into something highly useful? Awesome!

When we move into the new house in Tennessee, I’m planning to build a permanent compost bin. While we’ve been at our rental house in Atlanta, I wanted to compost, but also wanted to be able to keep it when we move, so I’ve been composting in garbage cans.

I started with a big trash can (I don’t remember the gallons, but it’s about 3 feet tall) with a good lid. I drilled holes in the bottom and sides for air flow and bug access. Then I started dumping in our waste.

Some things that DO go in the compost:

• Egg shells and cardboard egg cartons
• Fruit rinds, peels, seeds, and pits
• Veggie tops, bottoms, and wilted stuff
• Coffee grinds and our eco-friendly coffee filters
• Paper towels, cardboard toilet paper rolls
• Swept up random debris and dog hair

Some things that DON’T go in the compost:

• Meat, cheese, or any dairy
• Greasy or saucy stuff
• Bread, pasta, and rice are kept to a minimum
• People or dog manure

In addition to the kitchen and household stuff, which is mostly in the nitrogen/green category, I added yard stuff which is mostly in the carbon/brown category: dead leaves, pine straw, small sticks.

At one point my compost got maggots, which is okay and not a problem, but it is a signal that the compost may be too wet. I worked in a LOT more dried leaves than I had previously been using, and the maggots declined.

Another sign of a problem I enjoy looking out for is the smell. Apparently, contrary to popular belief, compost should smell good. It should not smell like a rotting mess. It should have a clean, earthy, dirt smell. During the maggot period, my compost smelled like shit. Literally. After working in more brown yard stuff, the smell came back to the pleasant earthy smell (with heavy coffee smell overtones!) I really love smelling my compost, both to check in on it and just to get a big nose-full of the earth-happy project I’m working on.

I’m up to two trash cans now, because the first one finally got full, and I’m letting it sit now and do its thing.

Stay tuned for more details of my composting as it moves to its new home in a permanent location and hopefully is ready for adding to the garden in the spring!