Composting: 3 Unique Ways to Use Your Backyard Compost

1. Using Backyard Compost for Heat and Hot Water

As I described in my article about green building Kickstarter campaigns, a compost enthusiast from Wisconsin, Robert Frost, has met his $500 goal on Kickstarter. His plan? To generate enough heat from his compost pile to heat his home's hot water and to space heat his house with a water-heat exchanger. This works because as the organic matter in a compost pile decomposes, it produces heat, reaching temperatures of 160 degrees F. Frost will use simple materials for the experiment so that anyone with a sizeable backyard compost pile can replicate it.

2. Hugelkultur

Hugelkultur is a German term for a raised garden bed built with rotten wood. Essentially, it is a pile of fallen wood (including logs, branches, and twigs) and organic material (like kitchen scraps or leaves), covered in topsoil and mulch. Why build this raised garden bed, you ask? Hugelkultur allows plants to grow without irrigation or fertilzation! The pile is great at retaining moisture, and after two years, tall hugelkultur piles (about 7 feet) can retain moisture for an entire summer, requiring no watering. Shorter or younger piles can still greatly reduce irrigation needs. Plus, the pile is very fertile because of the nitrogen-rich organic matter in the pile, so it won't need any harmful fertilizers. Apparently, food grown on these piles tastes amazing because of the natural nutrients. Learn more about how to create your own raised garden bed here.

3. Cooking with Compost

Now, cooking a meal in compost may not exactly whet your appetite, but the method has been tried and tested by many, including the chef of Salt in Montpelier, VT, Suzanne Podhaizer. According to an article in Bon Appetit, she prepared an entire meal in a compost pile last November. It came out well, but it was tricky to time it so that all of the food came out at the same time, she said.

Cooking in compost works because the center gets hot - about 160 degrees, which is hot enough to safely cook food. It's even possible to cook meat overnight in a compost "oven". Jim McClarin of Mother Earth News has experimented a lot with cooking inside compost, and he has made a roast, cheese, and duck. He says the results are amazing, because it acts as a slow cooker, which makes it delicious.

Just be careful when cooking inside compost that the food is sealed in an air-tight container, to prevent the compost from coming in contact with the food.