The Backyard Compost Timeline

Turn kitchen scraps and fall leaves into dark, crumbly compost, and know exactly what to do each week until it's ready for your garden.

Most composting books explain the science. The Backyard Compost Timeline gives you a schedule: a hot pile followed week by week, a slow pile month by month, and a compost year that lines up with your garden calendar.

• The four ingredients: browns, greens, water and air, with a simple squeeze test and the carbon-to-nitrogen ratios of everyday materials
• What goes in and what stays out, including the weedkiller residues in some grass, hay and manure that most beginner books skip
• Bins for small yards: wire, pallet, three-bin, tumbler and enclosed bins compared, plus rodent-proofing and a step-by-step wire bin build
• The hot pile, week by week: when to turn, what the thermometer should say, and how long to cure
• Worm bins, leaf mold and winter composting
• Troubleshooting smells, soggy piles, cold piles and pests
• Is it finished? The signs, the bag test and the bean test, then exactly how much compost to use on beds, pots and lawns
• Fill-in compost log, temperature log and materials planner

Every number is drawn from university extension services and USDA guidance, with sources listed. Book 3 in the Seedlark Backyard Garden series, after The Seed Starting Countdown and The Raised Bed Calendar.

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed in the book.