Composting: How and Where to Get Started in Londonderry

If composting is an activity on your list of ways to live greener, here's a how to get started in Londonderry.

Emily Bishton, a designer of sustainable landscapes and an environmental educator for children and adults, says, "Home composting is a fun and easy way to make fabulous and free soil amendments to make all the plants in your garden healthier," Bishton says. "It also eliminates the carbon emissions that are needed to truck your food and yard waste to composting facilities, truck the finished compost back to a retail outlet, and then to your home.”

Collecting Kitchen Compost

Composting starts in the kitchen. First, you'll want to set up a system for catching compostable materials during your meal and snack clean up process. These include vegetable scraps, grains and pasta, fruit rinds and peels, breads and cereals, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, egg shells and paper napkins. Here's a list of things you can or cannot compost.

You'll need a small container with a tight fitting lid for the kitchen that can be easily cleaned once you transfer the compostable materials to your outside compost bin. You'll want to keep the outside of the container clean, and empty it frequently to avoid excessive odor and fruit flies. You can purchase compost pails online from Gardeners Supply Company or a stylish pottery one from artist Kim Berger. Or see the below list of local resources.

Outdoor Compost Bins and Piles

It's fast and easy to create an outdoor compost bin, says Bishton. “You can create a yard waste compost bin in 10 minutes, with a 10-15 ft section of wire fencing made into a hoop, to toss all your trimmings and leaves into. Wet it down until it's like a damp sponge, and cover with some cardboard or old plastic, and you're done!  Turn and re-wet it every few weeks to speed up the composting, or just let it decompose as is." 

Or, if you've got a small yard, you might want to buy an enclosed compost bin. See the list of Local Resources below.

Worm Bins

It turns out, if you're a passionate gardener who's after really great compost, you need a worm bin. If you're already collecting kitchen scraps (vegetable, fruit and grains only, no meat or dairy), this is where the kids come in. They can help manage the worm bin. It's easy once you get started with the proper bedding and feeding method. You can build your own worm bin or purchase worms and bins at one of the Local Resources listed below.

A Family Affair

Composting as a family is a fun activity and a great way to help kids learn to be better stewards of the environment, says Bishton. “Decomposition is a very interesting and fun-to-observe natural process for kids, as they typically enjoy exploring the 'unseen world' of roly-polys, worms, and potato bugs," she says.  

She says getting the whole family involved is one of the easiest and most empowering ways for kids to make an earth-friendly impact at home. "Get them involved in checking the progress of the compost by occasionally tossing some out onto a piece of tarp for them to poke around in. Spreading the beautiful 'black gold' of finished compost over the roots of their favorite garden plants is fun too!”

Earth Machine Composting Bins are available for purchase at the Public Works Department at Londonderry Town Hall. The Public Works Department also has a wealth of information on composting in Londonderry on its website.

LOCAL RESOURCES

Hardware Stores:

Benson Lumber & Hardware

20 Orchard View Drive

603-432-9863

The Home Depot

41 Nashua Road

603-537-1927

Harvey Building Projects

30 Jack's Bridge Road

800-492-4232

Garden Stores:

Shady Hill Greenhouses & Nursery

1 Adams Road

603-434-2063

Orchard Hill Greenhouses

92 Pillsbury Road

603-437-3906

Ready to get started? Here are some of our favorite resources from around the web. 

Make Composting a Weekend Project

Sustainable Gardening Made Easy

Composting Tips from Martha Stewart

Tell Us: Do you compost at home? Or are you thinking of starting to compost? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.