April 2009 - Make Your Own Compost

The key to a healthy, productive garden is healthy, fertile soil. How do woodlands and meadows continue thriving without human intervention? Through a continuous process, Nature provides the material necessary for maintaining soil health in these "neglected" areas. Nature produces humus, a crumbly, nutrient-rich substance which nurtures plant life. Humus is the end result of decaying plant and animal wastes and is accomplished primarily by insects, bacteria and fungi.

How does this relate to the soil in your garden? Imitate Nature, and make your own humus or compost. When you build a compost heap, you can make humus quicker than Mother Nature! The benefits of composting far outweigh the effort involved in maintaining a compost pile.

Composting is the process of decomposition of organic material. When added to garden soil, compost improves soil's moisture content and pH level, controls some diseases, improves texture or tilth, reduces compaction, improves nutrient exchange, and slows soil erosion.

Select a site for the compost heap or bin adjacent to the garden for easy hauling. Some protection from the weather is required if the compost heap is not containerized; too much rain or snow can waterlog the heap, slowing its aerobic activity. Too much wind and sun can dry it out. A simple and inexpensive bin is made by forming a circle with a 4 foot tall section of woven wire fencing (chicken wire is too flimsy). Anchor the bin using three removable, push-in-the-ground fence posts.

When it's time to turn the heap, remove the posts to open the bin, set up the wire and posts again, and turn the pile into the new space. The fencing allows good air flow and the pile can be protected from the weather by setting any makeshift lid on top of the wire: plywood, sheet metal, tarp, etc.

As many methods exist for making compost as there are people who compost! Besides making a superb soil food for next to nothing, when organic wastes are recycled from your yard, garden and kitchen, tons of material normally headed for the landfill are reclaimed in an exceptional way.

When starting a new pile, think of the "30 to 1" rule which simply means for successful composting, use 30 parts of carbon materials to 1 percent nitrogen material. This is not complicated if you think of carbon in terms of "dead" or "brown" and nitrogen in terms of "alive" or "green." For instance, brown dried leaves, dead plants from the garden, shredded newspaper, dried cornstalks, etc. are considered carbon-containing materials. Farm manure, fresh grass clippings, and most kitchen wastes are nitrogenous or green. These are the "tinder" for your pile; you need just a little tinder to get a fire going.

Build the pile by layering your collected materials. Start with brushy, twiggy stuff such as cornstalks or shrub prunings, which allows a little airspace between the ground and the pile. Next, layer in 2 or 3 inches of carbon: dried leaves, shredded newspaper, spent garden plants. On top of the carbon, lightly layer on your nitrogen: farm manure, kitchen waste, etc. Then sprinkle a shovelful of garden soil, about 1 inch, on top, if you don't have finished compost available. Think of this step as the "seasoning" for your pile, just like you season a plate of food. The soil or finished compost will introduce the millions of microorganisms necessary to begin the composting process.

If the materials are dry sprinkle them with the hose or watering can but DON'T soak the pile. Moisture level should be the consistency of a squeezed-out sponge-moist, but not sopping wet. Here's what works for me: A gallon container in the kitchen receives all vegetable and fruit waste, coffee grounds and tea bags, egg shells, and unbleached paper products, such as paper towels and napkins. Meat, bones and fats are NOT composted since they may attract unwanted pests to the compost heap.

During the winter months when the container is full, a space is opened up in the pile, into which the container is emptied. During the warmer seasons, the contents are scattered over the top of the pile.

Go ahead, start your heap and begin layering. And next month we'll explain how the pile heats up, when to turn the heap, and when compost is ready for the garden.