Guide to Home Composting

So you’ve decided to try your hand at Home Composting. Congratulations! Sit back and relax, because composting is an amazingly easy way for you to make a difference. In
less than ten minutes a week, you can:

• Reduce the amount of garbage you generate by approximately 50% – that’s less tax dollars spent on collection and disposal.
• Create wheelbarrows full of valuable compost to add to your garden, lawn, trees, shrubs and house plants.

Assembly Instructions

Step 1 Twist and remove the lid.		Step 2 Place the bottom section on the ground, and set the top section on top of it. IMPORTANT: Make sure that the arrows on the the top and bottom sections line up. Also, the bottom of the top section should sit in the groove on the top of the bottom section.		Step 3 Check the outside and inside with your hand to ensure the 6 tabs line up with the 6 slots.
Step 4 To ensure the tabs are completely in the slots, push down firmly on the two halves of the composter starting at the arrows and working fully around the composter rim.		Step 5 To confirm that all 6 tabs are in place, turn the unit upside down and make a visual check.		Step 6 Slide the harvest door in place, bending slightly if necessary.
Step 7 Put the lid on by lining up the arrow on the lid with the arrow on the top of the composter. Twist the lid to lock or control ventilation.		Step 8 Once you have determined the location (see next page), you can anchor the composter to the ground by screwing the four pegs into the ground at a slight angle. To maintain correct hole spacing, ensure the harvest door is in place before screwing down the pegs.

Where to Put Your Composter

The most important factor for locating your composter is CONVENIENCE. You will be adding material several times each week, even in winter, so set it up as close to your kitchen as possible.

Some first-time composters make the mistake of hiding it in the back of the yard, thinking it will smell or attract pests, and then find it inconvenient. This handbook will show you how to compost easily and trouble-free, so don’t hide your composter – be proud of it!

Once you have chosen your location, just set your composter in the desired location and secure it with the four plastic screw pegs. You are now ready to compost.

TIP: It helps to put your composter in a well-drained spot. You can speed things up by cutting out the grass under the composter to invite worms and microbes in and improve drainage.

In The Kitchen

You can compost almost any organic waste that you create in the kitchen. For a list of what can and can not be composted please see below.

For your convenience we would suggest using a kitchen organic waste bin on your bench top, such as the Kitchen Collector, when preparing meals and disposing of scraps. This will enable you to easily collect your kitchen scraps for transferring to your Earth Machine composter.

Tip: To keep material from sticking to the bottom and sides, line your Kitchen Collector with a sheet of newspaper or paper towel. When you empty the Kitchen Collector into your composter every couple of days, it will all slide cleanly out. Then give it a quick rinse and re-line it. The newspaper or paper towel will compost fine.

What To Compost

Your composter will work best if it is fed a diet of green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) materials. Check out the list of kitchen and garden waste “greens” and “browns” that will keep your composter happy.

KITCHEN GREENS Fruit scraps, vegetable scraps Houseplant cuttings Coffee grounds Rice & pasta Egg shells Tea bags	KITCHEN BROWNS Coffee filters, stale bread Paper napkins & towels Dryer lint Hair
GARDEN GREENS Flowers Vegetables Plant trimmings Hedge clippings Grass (small amounts)	GARDEN BROWNS Leaves Straw or hay Small twigs/chips Dried grass and weeds

How To Compost

Composting is easy – it happens on its own. However, there are a few things you can do
to speed up the composting process. Just follow these four steps.

CHOP
It helps to chop up larger items like watermelon rinds or corn cobs before putting them in your Kitchen Collector.

EMPTY
Once your Kitchen Collector is full, empty it into your composter.





STIR
Mix the new material into the existing pile using a compost turner, pitchfork or other garden tool. This also adds oxygen, a key component to successful composting.




COVER
Cover your food waste with a handful of old leaves, other dried garden waste or soil. This will add carbon and reduce the chance of odours and fruit flies. Then put the lid back on and let it “cook”.




TIP: Keep the material in your composter about as moist as a wrung-out sponge.
 

Harvesting

After a few months, your kitchen scraps near the bottom of your composter will have decomposed to a point where you cannot identify the materials you added, and will look much like soil. There are two ways of harvesting this finished compost, one when you just want a few shovels of compost, and another when you want as much finished compost as possible, or to make maximum space for fresh scraps.

Harvesting Small Amounts
Your Earth Machine composter comes with a door at the bottom for quick access to finished compost. Just lift the door and dig the material out of the bottom. What could be simpler?



Accessing The Pile
There are times when you want to access the entire pile. All you do is:

• Unscrew the four pegs
• Lift the composter up and off the pile, and set it aside
• Place any unfinished compost in a container or pile
• Load the finished compost into a wheelbarrow
• Replace your bin in the original footprint and screw it down
• Put the unfinished compost back in the composter

You may want to use a compost screen to help separate the unfinished material from the finished compost.

TIP: You can make your own compost screen in minutes with chicken wire and a square wooden frame.

Using Compost

Compost is a nutrient-rich soil amendment, created by the natural decomposition of kitchen and garden waste by microbes, worms and other organisms. When mixed with your soil, it will revitalise it, make it healthier and more productive, and increase moisture retention.




IN YOUR GARDEN
Spread compost in your vegetable or flower garden in Spring or Autumn, and work it into the soil.

ON YOUR LAWN
Top-dress your lawn with compost in the Spring or Autumn. This will help maintain healthy soil structure and build your topsoil. It helps to screen the compost first so it spreads easily.

AROUND TREES & SHRUBS
Spreading compost around the base of trees or shrubs is another easy way to put your compost to use. Your trees and shrubs will love you for it.

The Big Picture

Glad to have you composting!

By composting and recycling, you can reduce the amount of garbage you generate by up to 80%. It quickly becomes routine and makes a big difference.

The added bonus is that the compost you generate will make your garden and lawn healthier and less dependent on chemicals, fertilisers and watering.

Congratulations

A family using an Earth Machine™ can divert on average 470 kg of kitchen scraps and garden waste each year.

That's over 940,000 tonnes of garbage transformed into valuable compost for our gardens each and every year!