1. By: Sarah Drayton

2. What is Compost? A mixture of decayed organic material with loam and/or other ingredients used as a growing medium (Oxford, 2014).loam Simply put-A mixture of food scraps, leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, tea bags, ect…

3. Why should one make compost? It’s good for the environment. But why? – Reduces landfill waste – Improves the condition of the soil in the garden – Improves the fertility of the soil (it amends the soil) – When you make compost at home, it lowers the carbon foot print of your soil. In other words, the store bought kind is bagged in plastic and shipped, and costs money. When you make it at home or school, you save the plastic from being used, the fuel that it costs to ship, and they money you would spend at the store.

5. Ingredients Brown Matter (Carbon Sources) Straw Hay Cornstalks, peas and bean vines Autumn leaves Wood shavings and sawdust Pine needles Green Matter (Nitrogen Sources) Fresh plant matter: grass clippings Vegetable scraps Fruit scraps Seaweed

6. What not to Compost Meat or Dairy products Diseased plants Plants that have gone to seed, or they have flowered Ashes Dog or Cat manure Lawn clippings that have been sprayed with herbicides

7. How is compost made?

8. Types of Compost Bins Enclosed BinsCompost Tumblers

9. Types of Compost Bins Con’t. Three section BinOpen Pile

10. Let’s Build a Compost Pile!

11. References [compost cycle][photograph] Retrieved from: http://exploringsciencewiki.wikidot.com/sustainability:compost [compost tumbler][photograph] Retrieved from: http://compostmania.com/blog/how-to-build-a-hot-batch-in-a-rotating-compost-tumbler/ [corn stalks][photograph] Retrieved from: http://publicphoto.org/plants/dried-corn-stalks-autumn/ [enclosed bin][photograph] Retrieved from: http://www.compostinstructions.com/composter-designs/ [fruit scraps] [photograph] Retrieved from: http://fitnessyourhealth.blogspot.com/2012/02/healthy-fruits.html [globe][photograph] Retrieved from: http://www.infiniteconstruction.com/recycling-for-a-cleaner-planet/ [grass clippings][photograph] Retrieved from: http://www.deerwood.bc.ca/tag/grass-clippings-mulch/ [leaves][photograph] Retrieved from: http://news.discovery.com/human/roof-diving-onto-a-leaf-pile-gotta-see-video-121126.htm [pine needles][photograph] Retrieved from: http://www.123rf.com/photo_265131_forest-floor-covered-in-pine-needles.html [plant in hands] [photograph] Retrieved from: http://galleryhip.com/childs-hand-planting-seeds.html [sawdust][photograph] Retrieved from: http://www.xgzent.com/products/wood-sawdust-shavings-powder/ [seaweed][photograph] Retrieved from: http://earthsky.org/human-world/a-breakthrough-in-making-biofuel-from-seaweed [three section bin][photograph] Retrieved from: http://www.southgatechamber.com/how-to-make-your-own-backyard-compost-bin.html [vegetable scraps][photograph] Retrieved from: http://neighborhoodfarminitiative.org/composting-in-small-spaces/