By William Ezell
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If you've ever thrown a banana peel in the trash and felt a little guilty about it, you're already halfway to being a composter. The other half is just knowing what to actually do with it — and it's a lot simpler than the internet makes it look.
Whether you've got a big backyard in Brentwood, a small raised bed in East Nashville, or a balcony apartment with a farmers market habit, there's a composting setup that works for your life. Here's what you actually need to know to get started.
What Is Composting, Really?
Composting is just controlled decomposition. You collect organic material — food scraps, yard waste, that mountain of leaves that piles up every fall — let it break down over time, and end up with a dark, crumbly, nutrient-rich material called finished compost that plants absolutely love.
Nature does this on its own all the time. Composting is just speeding it up and giving it a home in your backyard instead of the landfill.
What Can You Compost at Home?
This is where most beginners get tripped up, so let's keep it simple.
Yes:
- Fruit and vegetable scraps
- Coffee grounds and paper filters
- Tea bags (paper ones, not plastic)
- Eggshells
- Grass clippings
- Paper napkins and cardboard torn into small pieces
- Garden trimmings
No:
- Meat, fish, or bones
- Dairy products
- Oily or greasy food
- Pet waste
- Anything treated with pesticides
The general rule: if it came from a plant, it's probably fine. If it came from an animal (other than eggshells and coffee grounds), leave it out of the backyard bin.
Backyard Composting: The Basics
A backyard compost bin or pile is the classic setup, and it works great for Middle Tennessee yards. Here's the short version:
Layer your materials. Compost needs a mix of "greens" (nitrogen-rich stuff like food scraps and fresh grass clippings) and "browns" (carbon-rich stuff like dry leaves, cardboard, and paper). Aim for roughly 2-3 parts browns to 1 part greens. Too many greens and your pile gets slimy and smelly. Too many browns and it just sits there.
Keep it moist, not soggy. Your pile should feel like a wrung-out sponge. Nashville's summer thunderstorms can waterlog an uncovered pile, so a simple lid or cover helps during heavy rain.
Turn it occasionally. Turning the pile every week or two introduces oxygen, which speeds up decomposition significantly. You don't have to be religious about it — even once a month makes a difference.
Be patient. Depending on how often you turn it and what you're putting in, finished compost takes anywhere from 2 months to a year. Hot, active piles that get turned regularly finish fastest.
No Backyard? No Problem.
Composting in Nashville doesn't require a yard. A few options that work in smaller spaces:
Worm bins (vermicomposting). A small bin of red wiggler worms can live under your kitchen sink or on a balcony and process food scraps faster than a backyard pile. The finished castings are some of the richest compost you can get, and the whole operation is surprisingly odor-free when managed right.
Countertop collection + drop-off. Keep a small container on your counter for food scraps, and drop it off at one of our compost drop-off sites around Middle Tennessee. It takes about as much effort as a recycling run, and your scraps come back as finished compost used by Nashville-area gardens and farms.
This is honestly one of the easiest ways to compost in the city, and it's free to use.
What To Do With Finished Compost
Once your compost looks dark, crumbly, and smells like fresh earth (not like rotting food), it's ready to use. In Middle Tennessee, where we're largely working against heavy clay soil, finished compost is one of the best things you can add to a garden:
- Work it into beds before planting — a few inches mixed into the top layer of soil makes a noticeable difference in how well plants establish.
- Top-dress existing beds by spreading a thin layer around plants without disturbing roots.
- Add it to raised beds as part of your annual soil refresh — compost breaks down over a season and needs to be replenished.
- Topdress your lawn with a thin layer in early fall to improve the soil underneath without a full renovation.
If you're not quite ready to make your own but want the benefits, our finished compost products are available in bulk for pickup or delivery across Middle Tennessee — screened, cured, and ready to go straight into your garden.
The Easiest Way to Start Today
If all of this sounds like a lot, start with just one thing: put a small container on your kitchen counter and start collecting fruit and vegetable scraps instead of throwing them in the trash. That's it. Figure out what to do with them — backyard pile, worm bin, or drop-off — once you've got the collection habit down.
Most Nashville composters we know started exactly that way. One counter bin, one farmers market's worth of produce scraps, and a curiosity about where it could go instead of the landfill.
Have questions about getting started, or want to know more about our drop-off sites and finished compost products? Get in touch — we're locals too, and we're happy to help you figure out what works for your setup.