Q&A for How to Add Nitrogen to Compost

Composting takes several months to turn scraps into usable compost. A rest period, meaning nothing new is added to the compost, is necessary for the process. For example, spend the winter and spring adding material to your compost and then let the pile rest for the summer and fall. Or add compost until your scraps are large enough to use once they are broken down. Then let your pile rest. Having two or more compost areas is helpful and will allow for rotation.

You can, but it will reduce the rate at which your compost decomposes and can take away the nitrogen that's needed to break it down. Adding lime to finished compost is fine though.

It is planting a legume (or other nitrogen-fixing plant) on a plot of land and then, once it's well germinated, tilling it back into the soil as a fertilizer before planting your next crop.

It really depends on how nitrogen-rich your fertilizer is and how carbon-rich your compost is already. Start by adding a small amount of it to your compost, wait a week, and see if it continues breaking down.

We have done this in our greenhouse dirt for years with excellent results. We use a post hole digger. This is dirt that never freezes so it remains active all year.