I produce a lot of vegetable kitchen waste since I enjoy cooking hearty plant-based meals. In the past, I would just throw the scraps in the trash (when I lived in town) where they would contribute to landfill methane emissions (which I was totally unaware of). However, I found that moving the waste outside to a properly constructed compost pile prevents odors and recycles nutrients to fertilize my garden beds. Win Win!

What Goes In My Pile

I compost fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, grass clippings, leaves, and a few fine chopped up sticks and twigs from pruning. I don’t add meat, bones, cheese, or oily foods as these can cause odor issues. I also leave out any diseased plants or chemically-treated yard waste.

One thing I don’t put in my compost that many other people do is eggshells.I just find that they don’t break down that effectively in a typical home compost bin. Instead I put eggshells in my wood stove, believe it or not. That way their calcium content is added to the wood ashes I take out of the stove later (which I spread around the edges of the field).

My Simple Cold Composting Method

I use a slow cold composting approach which just involves collecting scraps over time and letting nature break everything down. It’s simple but does take 6-12 months to produce finished compost. I have a plastic, modular compost bin that keeps pile contents contained. About once a month, I’ll mix in new scraps by digging a hole with a pitchfork and burying the latest food waste. This introduces some air to aid the decomposition process. If dry weather persists, I may also water the pile.

Keeping the cover off the bin lets in sufficient moisture from rain. I found that keeping the cover on kept the contents too dry and inhibited decomposition. Not sure why they included a lid with this model, because it’s not really needed. Maybe the lid is more for people that live in much rainier climates.

Avoiding Stinky Compost Odors

Compost only smells bad if the balance of ingredients is off. I find that avoiding soggy conditions is key. My mixture of paper (from the coffee filters), twigs, yard waste and kitchen scraps provides a mix of moisture-rich and drier brown materials. This prevents a dense, airless mass from forming.

My bin’s open slat construction also enables passive air entry. On very hot, muggy summer days, I do detect a faint whiff of overripe produce when I approach the compost bin. But it quickly dissipates once I stir things up, and is a rare occurrence. Keeping the pile oxygenated and not too wet heads off stinky rotting odors, for the most part.

The Benefits Outweigh Any Minor Drawbacks

While cold composting takes patience, I feel good about recycling waste instead of sending it to crowded landfills. Plus, I get to enrich my vegetable patches and flower beds with nourishing organic matter. The compost helps plants grow strong while conserving water. And using my homemade “black gold” reduces the need to buy synthetic chemical fertilizers. My compost isn’t perfectly pristine, but its relatively odor-free operation and soil-enhancing rewards make the undertaking well worthwhile.

Additional Tips for Odor Prevention

• Cover pile with tarp if rainy weather threatens to overly saturate contents
• Turn pile to introduce more air if any sulfur smells arise
• Don’t locate right next to patios or decks
• Use detached compost bin rather than indoor vermicomposting container

With a proper ingredient mix and some periodic maintenance, composting doesn’t have to be a smelly, unpleasant chore. A balanced compost pile should provide useful fertilizer for your home garden without offending neighbors. Give recycling food waste a try — your plants and the planet will thank you!