Composting
Composting is the natural method of recycling organic matter to decompose scrap that would otherwise be waste, and it’s turned into a soil conditioner and fertilizer. This is one of the most beneficial things you can have on hand when needed. Composting is semi low maintenance, meaning you need to do little to no hard labor on a weekly basis, but it’s not something you can ignore completely. Just constant mixing and adding to it, will help keep your compost alive and well. “Black Gold” we call it, because that’s about how sought after really good compost is. The benefits of healthy compost far outweighs any store bought unnatural fertilizer, and even a small pile in your backyard will be enough to feed your plants for as long as you need it. We have 2 compost piles here, but the smaller bin in the front yard, is more for convenience. Once annually that pile gets dumped into the bigger heap in the backyard and mixed in.
You need to add organic food scrap, and other organic products as well, such as cardboard, newspaper, old flowers, even hair that gets cut, or caught in your drain, or dryer lint if you use clean detergents and wash products. Gather your grass clippings to put in the compost, and leaves when you rake them up, although I wouldn’t recommend raking in the spring and fall, as those leaves are homes and safe havens for many of our little creepy crawlers and other beneficial garden friends. Just be sure to keep any meat, dairy, citrus and all processed foods out of the compost pile! Also no cooked foods, even fruits and veggies. ONLY RAW FOODS may go into the compost. No exceptions. Other foods can cause the wrong kind of mold and microbes to flourish in your soil, and you don’t want that! Here, we have the convenience of divvying up our scrap between the rabbits, chickens, worm bin, compost, and freezer for stock scrap. For most, the rules remain the same, as listed above, raw only (with the exception of the chickens and cooked rice, noodles, and fruits and veg…. raw is still best)
I’m a firm believer about worms, that ‘if you build it, they will come’. However if you need to purchase worms for your compost, there are many recommendations, with red wigglers being at the top of that list. I personally enjoy seeing common earthworms and night crawlers as well in the compost pile and I think all species of worms and composting insects like beetles, add benefits to the compost either way it goes, so I do not discriminate!
One of the most important things when finding a spot for your compost, is space. As much as you want to keep it small, it will grow! And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the more you have, the better. You want a nice big steamy pile of compost in the summer to really get those soils and scraps cooking enough to attract the right bugs to break that stuff down. So if you’re looking to keep your space small, that’s when composting becomes high maintenance, especially if you’re using a bin or something enclosed rather than a pile. We built a pallet compost section, and in no time we needed more room, and those wood pieces rotted at the bottom, or essentially composted themselves, and we took it all out and just went with a pile. We mix often, and I use 3 times annually. Early spring, mid summer, and late fall.
Too many people get overwhelmed with the thought of composting, and let me assure you, there are many ways to be a success, without letting the method you choose intimidate you. Do not fear failure……
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried” ~Stephen McCranie~
Another added benefit of composting, is the space you’ll save in the trash when you have something to do with your fruit and veggie scraps. Even if you don’t cook large meals or for a lot of people, everyone has leftover strawberry tops, onion peels, potato skins etc. We all have mail, and cardboard packaging waste, as well as access to grass clippings, leaves, and other natural yard waste. Being advanced in these good habits, helps with personal growth and awareness of what you consume, as well as what you ‘waste’. You can even take it a step further once you become familiar with composting, and start making compost tea, which is a quick way to get the added benefits of the compost into your soil without digging and transferring compost directly, which can throw your pH off balance. So let your desires and intentions guide you to the reality that it will manifest, your garden will thank you, start that compost pile today!!
