What’s the Best Composting Method for a Homestead?

At some point along your homesteading journey you may wonder what the best composting method is. There are so many ways to turn organic waste into nutrient-rich “black gold” for your garden beds, but which method works best for you depends on your space, time, and how much effort you want to put into it.

Whether you’re dealing with kitchen scraps, yard waste, or lawn clippings, finding the best composting method can make a huge difference in your soil structure, plant growth, and overall garden health. Let’s dig in (pun totally intended) into the different methods of composting to help you decide which is the best way for your homestead.

Why Composting Matters on a Homestead

First off, composting is about as homesteady as it gets. Turning organic materials like food scraps, garden waste, and yard trimmings into good compost is the ultimate way to close the loop, helping you to build better garden soil naturally.

Not to mention, composting helps reduce landfill waste, especially food waste, and cuts back on methane emissions. Composting is a win-win for the environment!

Not only that, but good compost can bring so much life and abundance to your vegetable garden, flower beds, and even your community garden plot if you have one. Good compost adds valuable organic matter to your soil, improving drainage, water retention, and feeding beneficial soil microbes. All of that leads to healthier, more productive gardens.

So, How Does the Composting Process Work?

Before we jump into the best composting method, it’s helpful to understand how the composting process works. And I’m here to tell you, it is not complicated.  Don’t get too hung up on the process!

Composting is essentially the controlled breakdown of organic materials like kitchen waste, grass clippings, dead leaves, and yard waste into a nutrient-dense soil amendment. This breakdown happens thanks to a balance of carbon-rich material (known as browns) and nitrogen-rich materials (known as greens).

Common “Greens” (Nitrogen-Rich Materials):

• Vegetable scraps
• Fruit peels
• Coffee grounds
• Tea bags
• Lawn clippings
• Food scraps
• Kitchen waste
• Clean Urine
• Chicken manure

Common “Browns” (Carbon-Rich Materials):

• Dry leaves
• Wood chips
• Egg shells
• Straw
• Shredded newspaper
• Cardboard
• Sawdust (untreated wood only)

The secret to making great compost is balancing green and brown material while having the right temperature range, moisture, and aeration in your compost pile, no matter which method you use on your homestead.

What is the Best Composting Method?

While all these methods will end up giving you great compost for your garden, you may find that one works better than another.  Just like all the different gardening methods, you’ll have to choose what the best composting method is for your space, time, resources, and your homestead.

Personally, Hot Composting is the Best Composting Method for my Homestead

Around here, I’m after fast, high-quality compost. If that sounds like you, hot composting might be the best composting method. 

The hot composting method involves creating a hot compost pile that reaches high temperatures (between 130-160°F). These temperatures help kill off weed seeds, pathogens, and even some pests, giving you that black gold quickly.

Pros:

• Finished compost in as little as 4-8 weeks.
• Kills most weed seeds and diseased plants.
• Breaks down a lot of material quickly.

Cons:

• Requires a bunch of material to start.
• Needs regular turning (a.k.a. work!).
• You need to keep a close eye on the moisture level and temperature with a compost thermometer to keep a good temperature range.

Hot Composting Tips from My Homestead

This is a great option for homesteaders who have plenty of yard waste, lawn clippings, and a little time to tend their pile. I have found that the best way is to start a bulk collection of green and brown ingredients to start a large pile.  The browns I will simply pile up in the yard, while the greens get thrown into a bag and into the deep freeze until I have enough.  

Building a Hot Compost Pile

Aim to collect enough to start a pile that is 3x3x3 cubic feet. I know it sounds like a lot, but you’ll end up with a nice bulk batch of compost for the garden.  You’ll need to layer your green and brown ingredients at the ratio of two browns to one green.  As you add each layer, be sure to water it as well. Just enough to make it damp. 

On my homestead, I use a broken chest freezer as my bin for hot composting. I like to start my pile on one side of the chest freezer, flipping it to the other side when the temperature drops or if it gets too hot.  If you want your finished compost fast and don’t mind the extra work, this might be the best composting method for you.  To get a better idea of the process, you can check out my short YouTube video.

Swamp Water Could Be One of the Best Composting Methods

Ok, you may or may not have heard of swamp water.  It is an extremely easy way to compost and comes in at the top of my list.

Making Swamp Water

You can start by filling a five or even a fifty-five-gallon barrel with ANY organic matter, fill it up with water, put a top on it, and let it break down.  The longer you let it sit, the better.  

After just a few short weeks, you can use the strained swamp water to water your garden. Since it’s a liquid, the nutrients are readily available for your plants, making it a very fast-acting fertilizer.  And let me tell you, your garden will love it. 

Making swamp water is an anaerobic form of composting, meaning oxygen is not needed. With that being said, I will warn you, it stinks really bad unless you let it sit for a year or so.  The smell is worth it though!

Ingredients You Can Use to Make Swamp Water: 

• Weeds
• Spent Crops
• Landscape Clippings
• Collected Blood from Butchering an Animal 
• Fish Heads and Bones
• Chicken Manure
• ANYTHING ORGANIC!

Cold Composting Might Be the Best Composting Method for Your Homestead

On the flip side, cold composting or a static pile, is the “set it and forget it” approach. You simply pile up organic waste like kitchen scraps, dry leaves, and garden waste, and let nature do its thing.

Pros:

• Less work, minimal turning required.
• Easy to start with small amounts of material.
• Perfect for a cold compost heap in the corner of your garden.

Cons:

• Takes a long time, sometimes a year or more.
• May not kill weed seeds or pathogens.
• Can attract fruit flies or pests if not balanced properly.

This is a good choice if you’re looking for the easiest way to compost without too much work and maintenance. You have to have a ton of patience, though. It’ll be a long time before you have finished compost.  

Compost Tumblers are Great For Small Batches of Compost

If you’ve got small spaces or want to keep things tidy, a compost tumbler is a good option. These are enclosed bins that easily turn, allowing you to mix your green and brown materials.  Compost tumblers are a popular choice for the best composting method for small backyard gardens.

Pros:

• Keeps pests and fruit flies out.
• Speeds up composting with regular turning.
• Neat and space-efficient, great for urban or small spaces.

Cons:

• Limited volume of materials, not ideal for large homesteads.
• Can dry out quickly if not monitored.
• Requires purchasing or building a DIY compost bin tumbler.

For folks with limited space or just starting their own garden, compost tumblers are a great way to manage kitchen waste and small amounts of yard waste.

Vermicomposting is One of the Best Composting Methods

Want compost AND bonus fertilizer? Worm composting, or vermicomposting, uses special red worms (like Eisenia fetida, also known as Red Wrigglers), to break down organic materials into rich worm castings. Basically, this gives you supercharged compost.  It is an excellent amendment to feed and build your soil, no matter what size garden you have.

Pros:

• Produces worm castings, excellent for plant growth.
• Great for kitchen waste, veggie scraps, and coffee grounds.
• Can be done indoors or outdoors.
• Minimal space needed, perfect for small spaces.

Cons:

• Worms can’t process meat scraps, dairy products, or oily foods.
• Can be sensitive to much water or temperature changes.
• Needs a proper worm bin setup.

If you’re looking for a good idea for composting in an apartment, small garden, or even a community garden, a worm farm is a great option.  Check out my friend, Elise, at The Urban Harvest on YouTube.  She has vermicomposting nailed down and is a great resource if you want to learn more. 

Could Bokashi Composting be the Best Composting Method?

If you’ve never heard of Bokashi composting, it’s worth checking out. This is a composting method that uses a fermentation process to pre-process kitchen waste, including meat scraps and dairy products, which other methods can’t handle well.

Pros:

• Can compost almost all compostable materials.
• Fast process, just a few weeks.
• Can be done indoors with a special bucket and plastic bag liners.

Cons:

• Requires purchasing Bokashi Bin & bran (fermented grain).
• Compost isn’t “finished.” It needs to be buried directly into the garden or added to a hot compost pile to fully break down.

This is a good place to start if you want a quick method for using food waste. The Bokashi Bin can be kept right in the kitchen, saving you time. 

While it doesn’t fully break down the waste, you can simply take the fermented waste, dig a trench in your garden beds, bury the waste, and it will feed your garden slowly as it continues to break down. 

Static Piles of Leaf Mold

Sometimes the best composting method is the simplest. A static pile is basically a pile of organic waste that you don’t turn. Over time, it breaks down — especially if you keep it moist and cover it.

Likewise, creating leaf mold from dead leaves and garden clippings is a great way to improve soil structure naturally.

Pros:

• Less work — just pile and wait.
• Perfect for garden waste and dry leaves.

Cons:

• Takes a long time, like cold composting.
• Lower nutrient content compared to other methods.

This is a good option if you have space to spare and don’t mind waiting. Personally, I am not patient enough to see a static pile pull through, I also don’t mind the extra work that comes with the other methods of composting. 

Which is the Best Composting Method for a Homestead?

So, what’s the best composting method for a homestead? The truth is, it depends on your goals, space, and time.  Swamp Water does seem to be at the top of the list, though.

• Want quick compost? → Hot composting with a hot compost pile and Swamp Water
• Need a low-maintenance system? → Cold composting, static piles, and Swamp Water
• Short on space? → Compost tumblers, Bokashi Bin or worm composting, and Swamp Water
• Don’t stop there, try combining worm composting with a compost pile for diverse compost tea and worm castings.

If you’re like most homesteaders, making the most of what you have will make for an efficient homestead. Making compost is one of those things that fits the bill.  Not only is it great to add directly to the garden beds, you can also make nutrient rich compost tea, which will add beneficial microbes to your soil while feeding all those plants organically.  

Bonus Tips for Great Compost

No matter what method you choose, keep these tips in mind for the best results:

• Chop materials into smaller pieces, making for a faster breakdown.
• Keep a balance of browns and greens. Too much nitrogen can make for a slimy and stinky compost pile, especially grass clippings.
• Keep your moisture in check. Your pile should feel damp, like a wrung-out sponge. If it smells, wet compost could be the probpem’
• Avoid adding diseased plants, meat scraps, and dairy products to regular compost piles. While composting meat and dairy can be done, it will be stinky, attract pests, and harbor bacteria.
• Use a compost thermometer for hot composting to ensure it stays in the ideal temperature range, 130*-160*F.
• Turn your pile regularly for aeration — unless you’re doing a static pile.
• Use your finished compost in your vegetable garden, flower beds, or even to top off your community garden plot.

What Do You Think the Best Composting Method Is?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the best composting method, but with all these different methods, you’re sure to find a good choice for your homestead. Whether you’re dealing with yard waste, kitchen scraps, or just a desire to stop tossing everything in the trash, composting is a great way to give back to your soil. In return, your garden will thrive.

So go ahead, pick a method, gather your compostable materials, and start creating that black gold for your own garden. It might take a long time or a little extra work, but the end result is always worth it.

Happy Homesteading & Composting,

Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm

Jenny and her family have been homesteading for more than two decades. They currently live on a 10-acre farm in Northeast Florida, which they built from the ground up, nine years ago.

On their farm, they grow 100% of their meat and most of their vegetables. With a small herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle, pastured poultry, sheep, and seasonal pigs, they not only meet their family’s meat needs but also sell their surplus to the local community.

They are dedicated to sustainable practices like making compost, seed saving, and processing much of their garden and animal harvests at home. You can find Jenny wandering through her garden, making herbal tinctures, preserving food, making bone broth, and one of Jenny’s favorite hobbies, tanning all types of hides.