🌱 The Phases of Composting

When we first start a compost pile, it’s full of materials you can still recognize — straw, leaves, wood chips, maybe some grass clippings or bits of vegetables. This is the beginning stage of composting. The materials are mostly dry and light in color. At this point, the pile is just getting started — it needs water, oxygen, and a mix of “green” and “brown” ingredients to wake up the tiny decomposers that will do all the work.

As time passes, the compost begins to transform. This is the middle stage. The pile feels warmer and looks darker. You might notice steam rising on cool mornings or see fungi growing — thin white threads weaving through the wood chips — and if you look closely, there are insects and worms moving through it. These are signs that the decomposers are busy! They’re eating, breaking down, and mixing everything together. This stage smells earthy — not bad, just alive.

Finally, after weeks or months, we reach the finished stage. The compost no longer looks like what it used to be. It’s dark brown, crumbly, and damp, like rich forest soil. This is the moment nature’s recycling process is complete — all that old straw, leaves, and food waste have turned into new soil.

We can use each stage in a different way. The fresh materials can be spread around garden beds as mulch to hold in moisture and protect young plants. The partially composted material is great for building soil structure or layering in raised beds — it continues to break down while feeding the soil. And the finished compost is the garden’s gold — full of nutrients that help our plants grow strong and healthy. When we mix it into the soil or sprinkle it around our vegetables, we’re completing the cycle — returning life back to the earth, ready to begin again.

🌱 Discussion Questions

🧩 Before the demonstration

1. What do you think happens to leaves and plants after they fall to the ground?
2. Why do you think composting is good for the environment?
3. What kinds of materials do you think will break down faster — green, wet ones like grass, or brown, dry ones like straw? Why?
4. Have you ever noticed anything growing or crawling in compost, soil, or mulch? What might those things be doing?

🔍 During the demonstration

5. What differences do you see between the fresh materials and the finished compost?
6. What do you notice about the color, smell, and texture of the compost as it changes?
7. Why do you think the compost gets warm in the middle stages?
8. How do fungi, insects, and worms help with the composting process?

🌿 After the demonstration

9. How can we use compost to make our raised bed garden healthier?
10. What might happen to our garden soil if we didn’t add compost?
11. Composting is sometimes called “nature’s recycling.” What do you think that means?
12. How does composting help reduce waste in our community?