Compost - Food For Your Garden
Composting can develop a most rewarding garden, whether it is an ornamental garden or vegetable garden.
You can either start a compost pile, or get one of the many commercial composters available in garden catalogs, which ever you choose, you will increase the overall health, and yield of your garden.
There are two types of composting, cold composting and hot composting, most of us use cold composting which is much smaller and easier to manage than hot composting, to attain hot composting you need to build a compost pile that is at least 4-5 feet high and just as wide, the advantage of hot composting over cold is, hot composting takes less time, and will kill weed seeds, and insect pest eggs, but it would probably require a bobcat or tractor plow to turn over properly, if you choose your materials intelligently you will not have an issue cold composting, just do not add materials that are going to seed, or are infested with insect pests, for instance, aphids on your rose cutting are easily removed with a sharp spray from your hose before putting them in to compost, another example, use straw instead of hay, as hay has seeds, branches fallen from trees, or pruned from shrubs will take a long time to break down (2-3 years) unless shredded or chipped, and even then at least a whole season, I usually have a smaller separate pile for these slow to break down materials.
Whether you go with a pile, tumbler, or bin, you must place it away from direct sun (tends to dry it out too much) and add moisture when needed, but most importantly you must aerate it, you see there are different kinds of bacteria that break down organic matter, aerobic bacteria will result in compost that smells sweet and earthy, which is ideal, but if you starve your compost of oxygen (or over water) you will develop anaerobic bacteria which will cause the rotting organic matter to smell because these bacteria produce methane, and can cause it to smell sour, and almost like a sewer, (sewerage treatment and septic tanks use anaerobic bacteria, hence the smell) to prevent your composting from souring you must aerate it by turning the organic matter over every week or so, unless you get a tumbler, then just one crank a day will do it. Compost piles and bins, will take a few months to produce usable compost, but the tumbler can do it in about 4-6 weeks. Using compost pills, which are condensed aerobic bacteria that will accelerate the process, can shorten both methods. I would recommend, for either a pile or bin, because of the time needed to completely compost your materials, to start two, when the first is filled and beginning to break down, and you can still generate compostable materials, start the second one about half way through the process of the first one, doing this will ensure a steady supply of compost year round by cycling between the two, and instead of waiting 4-6 months for a pile or bin to completely compost, you will have a supply every 2-3 months after the first one is completed of course.
First a few notes - Green matter like grass clippings will add nitrogen, brown matter like leaves and twigs, will add carbon, try to regulate the amounts of each to maintain a balance, for instance, only add brown matter when you have green matter, because the bacteria need the nitrogen to process the brown matter, a way to increase the breakdown and reduce the need for nitrogen is add worms, (not recommended in a tumbler) This is why you NEED to compost this stuff rather than just add it to your garden in it's raw form, the composting process will actually starve your plants, a compost pile will actually COOK, as evidenced with a long thermal probe, in a compost pile, in the middle of winter, showing a temperature of 160f degrees!
How to Start Composting
Begin by adding the first materials you have at hand to a depth of about 6-8 inches, and then layer about a half an inch of soil, the added soil will seed the new materials with all the needed micro organisms, by layering in this manner you will expedite the composting process. After the first month or two of adding layers to your pile or bin, you will need to begin turning or aerating your materials to ensure an even breakdown of the materials and a healthy environment for the microorganisms. I have found a pitchfork will work best for turning and aerating your compost, but you can do what works best, or is easiest for you.
What to compost and their effects:
Kitchen scraps - egg shells – adds minerals (allow to dry in the sun then pulverize or grind into a powder), any vegetable scraps such as banana peels, leaves from greens, carrot tops and peels, orange, lemon, or grapefruit peels, and pretty much any fruit or vegetable matter, all neutral, as well as coffee grinds – ph down. I keep a small plastic pail, lined with a vegetable bag, on my counter for this purpose, but it should be added to the compost at least every other day to prevent it from smelling, because if this is left to spoil on its own, the bacteria that develop are not the same as the ones in the soil.
Ashes from a fireplace - ph up (only if you burn hardwoods, not the formed logs which contain paraffin)
Grass clippings - neutral
Shredded leaves -neutral
Any weeds pulled BEFORE going to seed - neutral
Horse manure neutral (warning: horse manure from a farm is recommended, stables that board horses for riding tend to be high in antibiotics, and vitamins, which is not recommended)
Pine needles - ph down (composting pine needles and coffee grinds, makes compost for acid loving plants like, rhododendrons, blueberries, strawberries, and most evergreens)
Cow manure –neutral (recommended mostly for hot composting, contains large amounts of black fly eggs, and weed seeds).
Chicken droppings – ph down (can be quite stinky)
What not to compost:
Charcoal ashes from a barbecue (kills all soil microbes)
Meat trimmings
Anything containing fat, oil, or grease of any kind (suffocates everything in contact)
What to do with your finished compost:
When planting new plants you should dig a hole twice as wide and deep as the pot it comes in, then replace, back in the bottom of your hole, half the removed dirt with your new compost, and mix compost in the remaining dirt used to back fill the hole at about 50 percent.
For existing plants and shrubs you can either top dress your plants with new compost from the root crown out to the drip line, in which case nutrients will get washed down in to the roots every time it rains, or is watered, or you can make a "tea", by placing enough compost to cover the bottom of a large bucket or pail, and adding water, then after just a few days, use this water for your plants, add another scoop or two of compost and refill with water for your next watering, if a sprinkler system is in use, you must increase the frequency for top dressing, as frequent watering can wash out the nutrients from the soil, in a very short time.
Some additional amendments and their *N-P-K values, and practical uses, which can be used with compost:
Blood meal N-13 P-0 K-0 fast acting, water soluble, best for vegetative growth
Worm castings (those little dirt balls around worm colonies) N-0.5 P-0.5 K-0.3 great for starting seedlings or cuttings. Does not need composting.
Horse manure N-0.7 P-0.3 K-0.9 medium break down time, supplies a steady source of nutrients.
Bone meal (steamed) N-1 P-11 K-0 Dust bulbs before planting; mix in soil to promote blooming after the initial vegetative growth period for annuals and perennials.
Coffee grinds N-2 P-0.3 K-0.2 use as a soil acidifier by top dressing blueberries, evergreens, and other acid loving plantsEggshells N-1.2 P-0.4 K-0.1 Contains calcium and other trace minerals, mix in soil when planting or cultivate into soil for existing plants, breaks down slowly so it is not needed more than once a growing season.
Limestone No NPK but raises ph in soil and adds trace elements lie magnesium
Wood ashes N-0 P-1.5 K- 7 Beneficial to plant health and resistance to stress and disease
Oak leaves N-0.8 P-0.35 K-0.15 Breaks down slowly unless shredded, acts as a soil conditioner
Feathers N-14 P-0 K-0 Grind finely, adds nitrogen for foliar growth (getting rid of old pillows?)
Hair N-14 P-0 K-0 Chop or shred, along with being high in nitrogen, the human scent will deter deer, rabbits, and ground hogs, raccoons seem unaffected.
*These NPK values referenced from Rodale encyclopedia of organic gardening!
I do not recommend using compost in any indoor plant scenarios, even when you put them outside for the summer, because the environment in a house in winter, will initiate a hatch, and you will go nuts trying to get these tiny little flying bugs out of your house.
