Composting: A basic gardening activity
Distinct from mulch per se, compost is decayed organic material used as a fertilizer for growing plants. It is matter that is almost completely broken down or decomposed.
Compost is best aged a little like a fine wine. I mean, would you prefer to drink a nice 97 cabernet, or something that was made last Thursday.
Compost
The result of composting your garden is an earthy, dark, crumbly soil that is excellent for all plants due to the enriching provided by the decomposed materials.
So, in this energy conscious world, it is an easy way to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes, and is a critical step in reducing the volume of garbage needlessly sent to landfills.
Compost Bin
In the natural world, composting is what happens as leaves pile up on the forest floor and begin to decay. Eventually, the rotting leaves are returned to the soil, where living roots can finish the recycling process by reclaiming the nutrients from the decomposed leaves.
Today, in many countries, including the United States, you will find this practice increasing across households – not just with avid gardeners who have been always doing it.
Probably it will become as commonplace as recycling cans and paper is now.
Composting is a simple process that you can make as sophisticated as you like.
Basic composting requires minimal effort. You can choose a bin or a bin-less system.
Composting Fundamentals
Compost is done by billions of microbes (fungi, bacteria, etc.) that digest the yard and kitchen wastes (food)
If the pile is cool enough, worms, insects, and their relatives will help out the microbes.
Like people, these living things need air, water, and food. If you maintain your pile to provide for their needs, they’ll happily turn your yard and kitchen wastes into compost much more quickly.
The Basics For Composting
AIR
The waste will need to be aerated occasionally for the microbes to survive as they breathe air.
This will also help break up materials that tend to mat (e.g. grass clippings, wet leaves) and take longer to decompose otherwise.
Composting Bin
Just turn the compost periodically with a pitchfork – though some compost bins nowadays have inbuilt turning mechanisms operated by an external handle that does the mixing for you – aerating the compost.
Moisture
keep the pile fairly moist – like a kitchen sponge – that is wet but not soaked. Too much water mats the materials too much.
Include
Any mix of dead plants materials such as straw, autumn leaves, woodchips and sawdust (browns) – with “greens’ such as green weeds from the garden, kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps, green leaves, coffee grounds and tea bags, fresh horse manure, etc.
A good mix of what can be called browns and greens is the best nutritional balance for the microbes. The browns are bulkier and help keep the pile aerated and the greens maintain needed moisture. If too wet just add more browns.
Other Considerations
In winter your pile may go dormant – but will revivify in the Spring.
While hotter piles of compost do decompose somewhat faster, a temperature of about 50F is sufficient, provided aeration and the mix is correct.
Size does matter! The compost pile needs to be at least a cubic yard (3 foot high and wide) to heat up and stay hot for a long period of time.
When finished the compost will be dark in color and has an earthy smell (like the smell of soil). Although bits of hard-to-decompose materials (such as sticks) will still be evident they will finish decomposition in the garden bed.
Quick Boosting Compost
By making a tea out of your compost – combine equal parts of water and compost and let it sit for a while. – you can give your plants a boost by using the liquid as a foliage feeder. This also applies to worm wee which you can collect from your worm farm. Just dilute it all a bit though.
What to Compost
• Grass and lawn clippings –layer thinly with drier compost in between
• Hay – alfalfa composts very quickly. Grass hay may contain lots of seeds which can re-sprout. Moisten first.
• Kitchen wastes – Fruit and vegetable peels/rinds, tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells, and similar materials are great stuff to compost. Avoid composting meat scraps, fatty food wastes, milk products, and bones — these materials are very attractive to pests.
• Leaves – like lawn clippings – layer thinly.
• Straw – will help keep the compost aerated
• Weeds – can be used but avoid those that have begun to go to seed.
• Woodchips and sawdust – - although these can be used straight onto the soil as mulch, they can also be used in the compost pile. Don’t use chemically treated wood.
What Not To Compost
• Chemically treated woods
• Diseased plants – composting heat may kill disease organisms – but you can’t be sure all of it will die.
• Poo – from humans and pets
• Meat, bones, fatty food wastes
• Pernicious weeds – unless they are completely dead and not gone to seed.
