Composting is easy. Once you set up your process it becomes just another good habit. (Tip: I found that if I do things in pairs - aka a dyad - I get twice as much done. Example: Get in the car -> put my seat belt on; come in the house -> wash my hands; wash the dishes -> take out the composting pail, etc. The second action in a dyad becomes automatic, accomplished with little, even no deliberation, no thinking. Try it! Start by writing some dyads on a piece of paper then hang it somewhere prominently.)
I keep a c. two-gallon, covered, plastic pail next to our recycling pail in our kitchen. I scrape plates, etc. into the small pail before I put them into the sink (and wash them by hand, mindfully). I also scrape/dump food prep peelings, etc., into it from the kitchen counter. (The dyad here: finish a meal -> scrape the plates into our kitchen compost pail)
You can use any shape or size pail, metal or plastic. Just be sure it doesn't leak. My wife insists that I not throw liquids (broths, soups, cooking oil, boiled veggie water, etc) into the kitchen pail, but I can't see dumping what I call "good stuff" down the drain (like boiled vegetable water)
Whenever I feel like it I take the kitchen scraps pail out onto my patio, or into the garage, and dump it into my five gallon bucket. When that's full, or, whenever I feel like it, I take the bucket out to my composting area in my yard and dump it right on top of my unmixed pile. I rinse both pail and bucket out and throw the rinse water onto the pile, or onto the lawn, whichever is closer
Each week or so, or, whenever I feel like it, or, when the unmixed pile is about two feet high, I fork it into a circular piece of wire fence which I've fastened into a kind of small, c. three foot wide “silo" shape. (I made several of these years ago and reuse them for each new pile.)
I add anything organic (now dead) to the pile, whenever I need to: yard sweepings, weeds, dead leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, etc., whatever will break down into "humus" over time
My compost piles/silos are not immediately obvious to a backyard visitor but upon inspection they would see several little silos of mixed organic material, and one unmixed pile upon which I throw new stuff
You will figure the best process to fit your needs, but essentially, I have several silos/piles/stacks, each in its own state of decay. You can leave them there forever, or actually use the humus - into which they ultimately turn - in your garden and planters as either a soil additive or a mulch (the absolute best, IMO). Each silo will decay at a rate that will depend on what you have put in it, and how much warmth and moisture it receives
I made a 2′x2′ square sieve out of 1"x 4″ pine and “hardware cloth.” I fastened it with screws, but you can staple the hw cloth to the sieve frame, which is screwed, dovetailed or shiplapped at its four corners. I also made a few bigger ones of different sizes that I can stand on the ground and prop up with a garden fork or 2x4. etc., kind of like an A-frame: /\. The bigger ones have 2x4 frames and are 2'x4', 3'x5'. In any case, the fastened hardware cloth keeps the sieve square and rigid
I use whatever humus falls through the sieves, tossing the remaining material back onto my newest/unmixed pile (I shake the sieve a little to help separate the humus from the material) then I mix the sifted humus with sifted garden soil at a ratio of 1 part humus to four parts soil. Sifting soil removes roots, rocks & weeds, but not seeds. (My mom used to bake her sifted soil in her porch oven to kill any seeds and pathogens therein)
It all seems complicated, but it's not, really, once you get into a routine, and, you're serious about helping #Earth. (The dyad: compost->help Earth :)
One other benefit of composting: whenever I feel like it, I go out and turn over my piles (aerate them). It helps to reduce any smells and gives me a free workout. See How To Compost here on Good Humus
Try asking others to help you; everyone has an opinion on how best to compost, so it may get interesting :)
It's no life, without Mother Earth.
