How to Make Compost in Five Gallon Buckets

Put a 1-inch layer of brown material at the bottom of your bucket. Brown material is considered organic material that will help the food scraps compost quicker. This includes leaves, grass clippings, sawdust, hay,soil or finely shredded mulch. The layer at the bottom will help jump start the compost process in your bucket.

Fill the bucket as needed with "green" organic material. This includes any food scraps that aren't meat, fats, oils or dairy. Meats, fats, oils and dairy will attract scavengers and will slow down the compost process as they take much longer to break down. Vegetable, grain and fruit scraps are perfect for your compost bucket.

Layer brown material on top of the green material once you have a layer that is about three inches. The layering will speed up the composting process so that you have fertilizer sooner. Stir the contents of the bucket with a long stick at least once a week to help spread the good bacteria that eats the food scraps and to allow the compost to aerate.

Replace the lid each time you put material in the bucket so that fruit flies or rodents don't get into the compost. Line the lid with wet newspaper to discourage fruit flies from breeding there.

Stir your bucket at least once a week to give your compost air, even when it is full so that the process of heating up and breaking down is spread throughout the compost. Once the compost looks like very fine mulch or large soil pieces, it is ready to use as fertilizer. Incorporate the fertilizer into your garden soil as needed.