ABC's of Composting

Composting is a "green" activity that will make your
garden produce more, hold its moisture, till better,
be easier to hoe and generally be more productive. It uses
natural, organic materials that decompose to become
fertilizer and organic matter in your soil.

If you have enough compost, you can say goodbye to chemical fertilizers and know you are doing your environment a favor. Number one, you will be using your organic waste instead of sending it to the landfill, and number two, you will enrich your soil with needed nutrients so your plants can thrive. You will also be adding organic materials that improve your soil's texture and moisture-holding capacity.

How do I start?

Composting can be achieved in two ways. If you have a small lawn and little room for a large compost pile, you can make a small pile by using an end of fencing formed into a circle about two feet or so in diameter. Or, you can use a slotted wooden frame, a three-sided concrete block structure or a simple pile in an unobtrusive corner of the yard.

If handled properly, compost piles do not have odor.

What can you compost:

Grass clippings
Leaves
Weeds
Old vegetable plants
Old flower plants or blossoms
Plant clippings (preferably fine chopped)
Hair trimmings
Garbage such as peelings, unusable portions of fruits and vegetables
Straw and old hay
Animal manures
Sod
Anything that will decompose

(Do not use food items that would draw rodents or stray pets,  large branches from trees or shrubs, bones, and preferably no diseased plant materials.)

To Turn or Not to Turn

Although you do not have to turn your pile to make compost, by mixing its contents once or twice a year you will complete the composting much quicker and mix the different types of organic materials. If you have to do this by hand, keep your piles very small. Use a pitch fork to help you turn the pile.

If you have some mechanical means to turn it, that works great. If you have access to a skid loader that will complete the process very quickly. By turning your pile you are adding fresh materials to the decomposing process and the heating will continue for faster composting.

If you simply do not want to turn your pile, you can place your compost over a pile of loose brush, a pallet or a wire frame. This will allow air to circulate a little better and make the process work.

How Does It Work?

Your compost pile will go through a heating process to decompose. Decomposition is a natural process where many organisms help natural materials decay. Compost piles heat to as much as 150 degrees in the center of the pile.  Poking some airways through the edges may also get some air into the pile for quicker composting. Regardless, you really don't have to do much, it will decompose on its own even if you don't turn your pile, it will just take longer.  

No Place for a Compost Pile?

Don't despair. If you just don't have a place to add a compost pile in your yard, you can simply add your organic materials directly into the garden, winter or summer. Working them in during summer will hasten the decomposition.

One thing to remember if you use this method in the fall, especially with leaves, is to work them into the soil so they are not compacted over the top. If you don't your garden will take forever to dry out enough to plant in the spring. In other words it will be wet, wet, wet! Working leaves and grass clippings into the top layer will make it work!

Using Your Compost

Once your decomposition is completed, your pile should look like a black, loose, crumbly mixture containing a lot of organic matter. Layer it over your garden, flower beds or lawn. Put about one or two inches over the gardens, maybe less over the lawn. Work it in and before long, your plants and your soil will respond with good growth and good texture.

Happy Gardening!

The Clean & Green Team