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Editor’s note: I’m not the sort of person who feels guilty about very much. But one thing I do feel guilty about is that my kitchen scraps at home go into the garbage, and hence into a landfill. Not good. I plan to change that when, in the near future, I move from being a renter to home owner. To get me (and maybe you) up to speed on composting, I asked Paul Schmitt, our composting guru in Palo Alto, to do a guest post explaining how he makes compost. Paul not only composts his own kitchen odds and ends, but also everything from our Monday night dinners where he is a prep cook, and sometimes a musician. In his other life, Paul is a professional gardener who has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. Here, in words and photos, Paul shares his composting wisdom:
Composting can be done anywhere, anytime. It’s happening in the wild everywhere, always. Of course, you won’t want to do this when it’s unpleasant to work outside, but the compost will still work. Composting slows down in the winter and speeds up in the summer. It is common for people in snowy locales to build compost piles in the fall, when the trees contribute their leaves, and leave the pile alone until spring, when the air and soil are warm enough to work. In moderate and hot climates, you can build a compost pile any day of the year. Continue reading
