Composting for the Home Gardener
PopCity's June 2007 survey "How Green Are You" indicated that only 27.8% of the Pittsburgh population always or often composted. Here are some sources to get the rest of us started.
Worms Eat My Garbage
SF597.E3 A67 1997x
If you live in an apartment and don't have a backyard for a compost bin, vermiculture is a good option. They can live in a 2X3X1 foot box in your kitchen or in a closet.
Eric Ebeling, editor
q S661.B38 2003
Let It Rot!: The Gardener's Guide to Composting
This popular book on composting has gone through 3 editions. Simply written and entertaining.
The Urban/Suburban Composter: The Complete Guide to Backyard, Balcony, and Apartment Composting
S661 .C84 1994
Cullen and Johnson are two Canadians that are involved in community composting projects. In this classic book they offer a wide range of composting options for the gardener, including worm composting.
Composting Inside and Out: To Fit Your Space & Lifestyle
Information on composting indoors and outdoors, with worms and without, by the Urban Worm Girl.
This Brooklyn Botanic Garden booklet is illustrated with many photos and tells you what you need to know to get started. A chapter on worm composting is also included.
Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web
Teaming with Microbes explains how vital the soil bacteria and fungi are to plants in breaking down organic matter into components they can use.
Mike McGrath's Book of Compost
Mike McGrath is a former Editor-in-Chief of Organic Gardening magazine.
The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
q S661.P54 2008
"Banner batches, grow heaps, comforter compost, and other amazing techniques for saving time and money, and producing the most flavorful, nutritious vegetables ever"
This garden guide from Storey Publishing (Books for Country Living) is not only very complete, it is interesting to read, offering intriguing asides like "Super-Size Your Night Crawlers".
S661 .R62 1992
From the publishers of Organic Gardening magazine and the monumental (1007 pp) Complete Book of Composting (1960, 1973), this smaller (278 pp) revised edition is geared to gardeners with limited space. It is still very complete.
At 106 pages, this later volume of Rodale's compost book is even shorter. Just the basics.
The Compost Specialist: The Essential Guide to Creating and Using Garden Compost, and Using Potting and Seed Composts
This British book should get you started with composting, if it is only to dig a hole and bury your garbage (pit or trench composting)...
Secrets to Great Soil
q S596.75.S74 1998
"A Growers Guide to Composting, Mulching, and Creating Healthy, Fertile Soil for Your Garden and Lawn"
Covers composting but also green manures, mulching and other techniques for soil improvement.
Browse the Catalog
Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC)
PRC has an office in Pittsburgh and runs workshops on backyard and worm composting.
The LaPorte Indiana Solid Waste District provides 4 plans for building your own compost bin, including a rotating bin.
Cornell Waste Management Institute: Composting
Cornell Waste Management Institute offers information primarily for commercial and municipal composters but also includes brochures for the home composter.
- Home Composting Brochure
Preventing Animal Nuisances in Small Scale Composting
How to avoid rats in the compost pile.
Fine Gardening: Six Tips for Effective Weed Control
Includes tips on composting weeds.
This website from the Santa Cruz (CA) County Department of Public Works offers lots of information on both worm composting and backyard composting.
New York Times: Compost News
Even the major urban newspaper is getting on the green living bandwagon. This page includes articles in The New York Times about compost, as well as links to outside resources (Compost Navigator) and books on how to build a compost pile.
University of Illinois Extension: Composting for the Homeowner
Nationwide, yard materials account for nearly 20% of all garbage generated each year but landfills in Illinois cannot accept landscape waste. Composting is a good way to reuse those garden wastes.
Whatcom County (WA) Publications on Composting
Includes plans for worm bins, compost bins, and rain barrels.