These are everyday items found in your kitchen that most of us just throw away. What you don’t realize is that these items can be used as food for your garden. So what is compost you say? Compost is organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. Buying compost at the store can be pretty expensive, so why not make your own?
Here are my top items that you should be composting:
Cardboard
So many things contain cardboard that most people just throw in the trash. Toilet paper rolls and ESPECIALLY Amazon boxes are perfect for putting in the compost. I also use them in and around my garden beds to keep weeds away. Just make sure that they’re no shiny parts on the boxes, this means that those parts contain plastic and will not degrade.
Coffee grounds
As a person that drinks a lot of coffee, I have gone through tons of coffee grounds. I never thought of putting them in my compost until recently though. Coffee grounds contain lots of nitrogen and minerals that plants need to be healthy. Adding them to your compost will provide green material that is very important to achieving a successful compost.
Egg shells
Whenever you’re done making your omelet, save your eggshells. Adding eggshells to compost will help add calcium to your final compost. This important nutrient helps plants build strong cell walls. I also use them to keep snails and slugs away by sprinkling the shells around my plants.
Fire place ashes
Don’t know what to do with your excess ashes from your fire place? Adding ashes to compost can help maintain its neutral condition. Decomposing materials in the compost pile can become somewhat acidic, and wood ash can help offset this, as it’s more alkaline in nature. Adding wood ash compost around plants may also be beneficial in repelling some types of insect pests too!
Stale bread or Moldy bread
If you have ever bought a loaf of bread, you know that it tends to go bad or stale before you get a chance to use all of it. Well, before you think about throwing it away Stop! Moldy and stale bread is a perfect addition to your compost. While you probably shouldn’t eat mold, your compost pile will love it! Mold contributes further to decomposition, which helps break down all the material in you compost.