How to Compost at Home
Composting turns kitchen scraps and yard waste into free, nutrient-rich soil for your garden. Here's how to build a pile, what to add and avoid, and when it's ready to use.
7. Turning Compost
A healthy pile heats up fast, reaching about 140 degrees Fahrenheit within the first week to ten days, and a well-managed pile can climb to 130 to 160 degrees. Those high temperatures help kill weed seeds and reduce pathogens. Eventually the most active bacteria start to die back as the heat peaks and the oxygen in the pile runs low. The pile then begins to cool, which is the signal that it's time to turn it. A compost thermometer takes the guesswork out of tracking the temperature.
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