Saving trash, piling it up in your backyard, waiting until it smells nice and ripe, and then putting it on your garden. It sounds pretty gross, right? Turns out, it’s not so bad. In fact, it’s quite easy and not as smelly as you’d think. And, the benefits definitely outweigh the cost. For one, we have far less trash than our neighbors. And, our trash doesn’t get all smelly. The best benefit, I think, has been the effect compost has had on our garden. We’ve tried gardening the same plot both with and without compost and the differences were stark! The compost garden was much healthier, plentiful, and produced larger fruit. Read more about the benefits of compost here.
I agree, though. Compost can be a bit gross. I’ve definitely seen examples of gross compost. In those cases, I’d say it just wasn’t worth it. So, here are the best, most reasonable, most non-icky ways to compost.
Basics: Compost fruits, veggies, yard waste, old flowers, and any food scraps as long as they don’t contain meat or dairy products (a little dairy has been okay in ours).
Storage: We use a gallon-size tupperware that has a well-sealing lid for inside the house storage. We keep it under the sink next to the trash can. The key to keeping it under control is to clean it with warm, soapy water after each disposal.
Compost Bin: Rather than purchasing a super expensive, super bulky compost bin, we made our own. We bought a large plastic trash can with a lid. Then, we drilled holes around the can to allow air circulation. Then, we began adding our compost. Super easy!
Turning: After we had collected quite a nice mound of compost material (a couple of months), it was time to turn it. You can do this one of two ways. 1) Buy a pitchfork and turn the compost while it’s inside the can. 2) Buy an identical trash can, drill holes in it, and dump one can’s contents into the other. Done! This is what we do and it’s much less involved than the pitchfork method.
Using: When it’s time to garden, turn your compost and use the stuff on the bottom. It should look like dark soil, but a little mushier, and it should smell very rich and earthy.
Good luck and happy composting!

A few sites about composting:

http://vegweb.com

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov

http://www.treehugger.com