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.

Selected Books | Websites

Selected Books

For additional titles, browse the library catalog under the subject heading Compost.

	Appelhof, Mary Worms Eat My Garbage 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. SF597.E3 A67 1997x
	Basic Composting: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started Eric Ebeling, editor q S661.B38 2003
	Campbell, Stu Let It Rot!: The Gardener's Guide to Composting This popular book on composting has gone through 3 editions. Simply written and entertaining. S661.C35 1998
	Cullen, Mark and Lorraine Johnson The Urban/Suburban Composter: The Complete Guide to Backyard, Balcony, and Apartment Composting 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. S661 .C84 1994
	Easy Compost: The Secret to Great Soil and Spectacular Plants 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. S661.E27 1997x
	McGrath, Mike Mike McGrath's Book of Compost Mike McGrath is a former Editor-in-Chief of Organic Gardening magazine. S661.M23 2006
	The Rodale Book of Composting: Easy Methods for Every Gardener From the publishers of Organic Gardening magazine and the monumental Complete Book of Composting, this smaller revised edition is geared to gardeners with limited space. It is still very complete. S661 .R62 1992

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Web Sites

Pittsburgh Region

• Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC)
  http://www.prc.org/
  PRC has an office in Pittsburgh and runs workshops on backyard and worm composting.

United States

• Compost Bins
  The LaPorte Indiana Solid Waste District provides 4 plans for building your own compost bin, including a rotating bin.

• Composting for the Homeowner
  This online publication from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Extension Service covers the why and how of composting.

• Home Composting
  This Montana State University Extension Service guide provides all you need to know for setting up a home composting system. They also offer instructions for building a composting bin.

• Small Scale or Backyard Composting
  http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/smallscalecomposting.htm
  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.

• Home Composting
  http://www.compostsantacruzcounty.org/Home_Composting/
  This website from the Santa Cruz (CA) County Department of Public Works offers lots of information on both worm composting and backyard composting.

• Whatcom County (WA) Publications on Composting
  http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/mrcpubs.htm
  Includes plans for worm bins, compost bins, and rain barrels.