Composting...

In our society we spend a lot of time, energy and money and natural resources stopping, controlling and ignoring decay. We spray and otherwise treat foods to inhibit it. We have frequent garbage pick-ups to remove decay, and we send our refuse to out-of-sight landfills so it can rot elsewhere.
At the same time we are throwing away garbage, we are also depriving the land of valuable materials. All that rotting, natural stuff is not only good for the soil, its essential to soil health and plant growth. We may go to great lengths to bag up dead leaves and garden cuttings in the autumn, only to buy new topsoil ad fertilizers in the spring.
-The first two paragraphs from The Urban/Suburban Composter by Mark Cullen and Lorraine Johnson

Really those two paragraphs say it all.  Composting is gratifying on so many levels. Putting spoiled food/food waste to use and creating a really rich soil amendment that my plants love. I wish I could say that I never have spoiled fruits and veggies but unfortunately it happens. There is a lot less guilt when I can put that food to good use to nourish my future veggies.

I'd really been thinking about composting for a while but really took the plunge after reading  the book Lassagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza. She basically explains that you can compost straight into your garden, by layering various types of "mulches" (i.e. compostable materials). She goes on to say you can even grow straight into your Lassagna garden. It sounds a bit messy but its really not. It really was very easy and honestly I was surprised by the results. I had black rich soil (i.e. compost) in a matter of weeks, and my plants loved it.

This book wasn't really great at explaining composting itself, just demystifies it and simplifies it, no expensive bins, no thermometers, no turning required (although I do turn mine a little). I do recommend doing a little bit of reading to understand the difference between greens and browns and the basics of composting. Lasagna gardening is basically sheet composting.  There are a lot of great resources online about this. A few of my tips on the topic :

• My favorite things to compost are coffee grounds and egg shells. 
• Eggs: I know the egg shells sound gross but we (yes we, I got my husband to do this to) microwave the egg shells for 3 minutes (to sterilize and de-grossify them). Then crush them into little pieces. Along with being a great calcium source for preventing blossom end rot, it works like Diatomaceous earth to keep away slugs, snails and cutworms and is alkaline and great for neutralizing acidic items like coffee.
• Coffee grounds are awesome because they look like dirt so I don't have to bury it (or layer it underneath something). Also coffee grounds smell nice (if I am composing something rather rotten and smelly I  I throw some coffee grounds on them because it kills the smell till the good composting bacteria can break it down, at which point it doesn't smell). Starbucks has this Grounds for your garden program. You can ask any Starbucks to save you coffee grounds. Note: used tea leaves are actually better than coffee b/c coffee tends to be acidic. So tea works just as well.
• Having a kitchen bin is worth it.  I went for months without one then ended up buying this green one. In the winter it was essential to have this b/c it was too cold to go outside all the time to empty my compost. I love this one and it there is absolutely no smell.
 

After you've started composting for a while you see things differently... eggshells become a calcium source, banana peels become a potash source, the fall leaves are an abundant source of carbon, grass clippings become a easy nitrogen. No osmocote or other fertilizers.