We had a beautiful weekend here in Boulder, and I only hope that wherever you were was half as nice. All the sunshine started me thinking about our garden this year. I spent a lot of time in the back yard and worked on building my new “square-foot garden“. I also put my back muscles to turning the compost pile we started last summer. If you don’t know about the square foot gardening technique, I promise I will be writing a post about it soon, but what I want to talk about today is a huge part of any good garden: compost.
Most of the food waste that is stinking up your garbage could be turned into black gold (or at least that is what gardeners think of it). Compost is packed with all the nutrients that your vegetables need, and all you have to do is throw all your organic plant waste in a pile. Well, that might not be ALL of it, but I promise that it is super easy.
The first step to making a great compost pile is saving all of your organic waste. This means vegetable scraps, grass clippings, raked leaves and/or any other left over plant material. Just make sure to leave out any meat, dairy, or table scraps. Then, start a pile of these in the back yard. If you want to get fancy, you can buy a composter like one of these, but you don’t have to have one; it just speeds up the process (we don’t have a fancy one, though).
thanks to Healthy Organic Gardnes
We have put a three to four foot wide fence of chicken wire in a corner of our yard and filled it with plant matter. It helps to make this pile at least this big so that it has the weight and material to properly decay, but if you don’t have that much, just start with what you have. The way that a compost pile works is that microbes and bacteria slowly eat through your pile and in the process, heat it up. Moisture and this heat are essential for having proper bacteria growth so a pile large enough to insulate this heat is a must. The heat created from this decay is enough to make giant piles of woodchips spontaneously combust, but you won’t have to worry about that.
The last step is to make sure that your compost has air and moisture. Now, it may seem counterproductive, but it is quite important to make sure that you regularly turn your compost pile. This aerates the material and allows the decomposition to take place. A good general rule of thumb is that the faster that you want your compost to be ready, the more often your should turn it.
Once you get your pile started, you will be amazed at how easy it is and how big of a reward you will reap. From producing less trash, to maintaining an organic garden, the benefits are obvious. Also, when you buy compost at the garden center, it is usually made from one material and lacks the variety of nutrients that you find in homemade compost. Homemade compost is comprised of all different sorts of materials and as such, has no shortage of the nutrients that your plants need. This will help you to grow a bountiful garden WITHOUT fertilizer. So, If you are spending all of your time longingly looking out the window and itching for spring to come so you can start your garden, why not spend this week getting a compost pile going.
Information about Composting in your Garden
-EPA
Information about Square Foot Gardening
-Square Foot Gardening Foundation
I love composting! I think it is so amazing how you actually end up making dirt.
As an apartment dweller, I’ve often struggled with composting. It’s a lot harder when you can’t just take it outside. Usually, I’ve hauled it to various friends. Sometimes, I’ve even let the composting slip (like right now!). I need the right container, and I have my eye on one. Once I’m set back up, I’ll be hauling my compost to the community garden I’ll be participating in this summer.
So, unless we have compost hauling service, which is growing in popularity, we apartment folk have a bit trickier time, but it is worth it.
I use an upside down trash can with a hole cut in the bottom of the container. The lid of the trash can becomes the lid that covers the hole. After awhile of collecting compost I can pull off some lovely black composted material from the bottom by tilting the trash can a little.