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Gardening Tips & Advice
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Special Benefits of Composting
What is compost?
Compost is the finished decomposed product of
organic material from your garden and household, such as leaves, grass
clippings, fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells and even fluff
from your dryer! Given the proper conditions these materials will turn
into a rich earthy material that will enrich your soil and add
nutrients to your plants. Best of all, this compost is free!
Composting is not new. But more gardeners are
discovering that it is an excellent way to recycle green material from
your garden, reuse household vegetable waste while at the same time
reducing the amount of material sent to landfills.
Basically to make compost successfully, you need
three things:
 | Air The microbes
that break down and decompose the material, need air. Otherwise your
compost pile could end up smelling like a garbage heap! This means if you
are adding things like wet leaves or grass it is essential that you
turn and “fluff up” your pile each week or add straw or similar
material to add bulk and prevent the leaves and grass from matting
down into a slimy solid layer.
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| Water The material in your compost
pile should be slightly moist, like a wrung out sponge. This
moisture is what the microbes need to flourish and do their job of
breaking down the compost materials. If you add a lot of dry
ingredients to your compost pile like straw or autumn leaves, then be sure to add some
moisture. However, don’t let your pile get too wet as that will pack
down the materials too much and prevent decomposition.
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| Food The microbes need a
good mixture of two basic materials. Green plant materials such at
green leaves, tea bags, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable scraps
and brown plant materials which are dry and dead. These include
straw, dry weeds and leaves and even sawdust. Things to avoid are
cooked vegetables and meat products. Although some people can
successfully add just about anything to their compost piles, cooked or processed vegetable
matter and meat may attract vermin. |
Depending on the temperature, and how often you turn
your compost pile, your finished material could be ready in just a few
weeks. In colder areas, your pile will go dormant in the winter but as
soon as it warms up again in the spring, the microbes get right back
to work breaking down the garden wastes.
What kind of compost bin do you need?
There are dozens of types of compost bins. All you
really need is a pile, but most gardeners prefer a contained area. You
can readily build one yourself from slats of wood and some chicken
wire. These are great because they allow more air circulation. More
sophisticated types are made from plastic and they intensify the heat
and speed up the process of decomposition. Some even come with cranks
built in so that the job of turning is made simple.
Gardeners who are really serious about composting
will generally have two compost bins going at once. That way,
they aren't adding new fresh waste to a pile that is almost finished
decomposing. If you build your own, you can
make two or three compartments, one for each stage of decomposition.
Whatever you choose, give composting a try and you,
your garden and the landfills will reap the benefits.
Visit these merchants to view their selection of
compost bins.
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