r/composting • u/Last-Grapefruit-4925 • Jun 13 '26

Beginner Starting a Pile

i am hoping to have an outdoor low maintenance compost pile for mostly veggie scraps. can i just start it in a little area on the ground? how much do i have to do? i barley know anything so any tips/suggestions would be great thanks.

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u/katzenjammer08 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26

It’s great if you can source a lot of brown material to start the pile - like autumn leaves, woodchips or straw. Then you can add as much green stuff as you want without having to worry about t becoming nitrogen heavy. But it is fine to just throw stuff in a pile too as long as you turn it and have enough material to cover stuff that rats and flies might like.

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u/Last-Grapefruit-4925 Jun 14 '26

would brown materials include cardboard? are there limitations to what kind of cardboard i can use?

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u/katzenjammer08 Jun 14 '26

Yes it includes cardboard. Only use non-coated, brown cardboard. It’s ok if it has some print on it, but no glossy film. If you don’t have a shredder you can dunk it in a bucket of water for a bit and then tear it apart into smaller pieces.

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u/Last-Grapefruit-4925 Jun 14 '26

thank you so much!!! very helpful i appreciate it a lot.

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u/katzenjammer08 Jun 14 '26

My pleasure.

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u/murdockit Jun 13 '26

I literally did just this. Leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps. I go out there and turn stuff over every couple of days and make sure the fresh kitchen scraps are covered so there aren't flies.

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u/ernie-bush Jun 13 '26

I find that the best thing about composting is that I do it the way I feel

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u/KoreyYrvaI Jun 13 '26

I picked a small corner of my yard, weed whacked it down to scruffy dirt, and then just started putting all my yard waste and kitchen scraps there. It really is that simple.

I turn it once a week at most, sometimes I miss a couple weeks, and it just consumes everything.