HENRIETTA, N.Y. — Neighbors of a growing, commercial compost pile in Henrietta are fed up. It’s not only the smell that’s keeping them up at night, but the possible environmental impacts of ...

Small home compost piles often don’t have enough mass to heat up, so Daryl Beyers, who has taught gardening fundamentals at New York Botanical Garden for over a decade, composts in three ...

Composting can be done in an open, uncontained pile, or in bins made of woven wire fencing, snow fencing or even wooden shipping pallets. The ideal size of a compost bin is approximately 3 feet ...

When people compost, the last thing they want to do is harm the environment. If they forget to add an important ingredient to their mixture, it may create harmful methane gas that contributes to ...

Diatomaceous earth sprinkled over your compost pile will kill insects and soft-bodied critters, like slugs. Unfortunately, it will also kill beneficial insects and worms, so use it sparingly.

Turning the pile at least once a week allows oxygen to reach microorganisms that break down organic matter. Turn the pile with a pitchfork, compost tumbler or by rolling a sealed bin on the ground. 3.

If you haven’t touched your compost bin or pile all winter, don’t worry, you are not alone. It could be filled with kitchen scraps or left untouched since the fall.

Start a compost pile with falling leaves and use it to enrich your garden beds. Here's how. ... homemade compost is, perhaps, the very best. Most commercial products have been pasteurized (heated) ...

In hot weather a compost pile can dry out quickly, so you may have to water it to get things going. Ideally, compost should feel like a well squeezed-out sponge – not too wet and not too dry.

Although you can compost just by stacking organic matter in a pile, most gardeners prefer to enclose the pile in a bin. There are many commercial bins on the market, but you do not need to spend a ...