Compost is the main foundation in the practice of organic gardening.  Any gardener would be able to make his own compost in no time. It is not rocket science to make compost. What a gardener would need would be a shovel or a pitchfork and some organic waste material that would comprise much of the compost. Composting is actually just collecting organic wastes into a pile where they can decompose and turn into mulch.

Mulch is what you would need to spread on your plants. Mulch can help improve soil condition in many various ways. They can help improve the soils structure as well as its water holding capacity. Mulch can also improve soil aeration on soils that may contain too much clay or too much sand. What is most important is that compost and mulch do these things without doing any harm to the environment. It is just a means of letting nature taking its course of bringing back the nutrients to the soil.

But in the process of composting, there are also other things to consider when it comes to collecting organic matter to use as compost. One of the most important organic materials that you can use on your compost would be fallen leaves and grass clippings after mowing the lawn. You can use these as the main base of your compost since there are likely to be plenty of them to find in your garden when you do your daily cleaning. Instead of having them hauled away by garbage collectors you can pile them up in a vacant space in your garden or make a containing facility for them if you have the time and the money.

The reason why you would need the leaves and grass clippings is that they can provide the carbon for the soil when they eventually become compost. But make sure that you avoid putting diseased vines or twigs into the pile or they might contaminate all your other plants that would be applied with the compost later on.

Another nutrient that you may need is nitrogen. This can be provided for your compost by kitchen scraps. You can collect your kitchen scraps (there would be plenty, I’m sure) and add them to your compost pile. You can either do this daily or weekly, depending on the amount of kitchen scraps that you accumulate.  But bear in mind to avoid adding animal fats or meat scraps into your compost pile since they might attract critters and other animals that may become a hassle. You can also try adding bone meal, blood meal as well as egg shells to the compost pile since they can also provide the minerals to your compost as well as help discourage garden pests.

Once you have these organic materials on hand, your compost pile would become nutrient rich mulch in no time. That is organic gardening in action. Although they might pile up considerably the first time you do so. They would eventually shrink down in size as they decompose. To speed up the process of composting, you can try to turn the compost pile every other week to allow the organic matter to circulate and decompose faster. It is normal that you will find worms and other insects in the compost pile. They would help turn the organic matter into compost that you will use.

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Gardens need compost to help them thrive in those trying conditions, where the weather simply takes a toll on them, pulling them from what could be their potential. But you shouldn’t really rely on compost that just lies around because they’re not exactly the perfect one for your garden.

Why? There are a number of factors that these nature-made substances that don’t fulfill the nutrients needed to help the garden be its best. First is that these random composts don’t match the correct carbon-nitrogen ratio and water content. The main thing you have to understand about composts that for it to be the ideal one, the decomposition that is inherent in this process must be controlled and stabilized by the gardener.

Definition

Contrary to the popular belief of what is compost, a stinky heap found at the edge of you garden isn’t exactly the correct description for it. Rather, no pungent smell exists around the heap and there are no flies that fly around it.

The thing is it is not just some decayed organic matter. It is much more complex than that, which has been discovered and developed by microbiology, all designed to benefit the everyday gardener and agriculture in general. There are a myriad of benefits if you put some compost in your soil. It kills weed seeds and suppresses pathogens that may invade the plant. So to speak, making and/or buying compost is absolutely essential.

Benefits

There are simply too many benefits that putting compost in your garden is deemed necessary. With a good amount of the nutrients, namely nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, one is insured that compost improves the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of these soils.

Furthermore, compost buffers the soil, nullifying the effects of acid and alkaline that might be present in the soil, which means that the pH level of the soil will be at its correct and optimal rate for the plant. Also, compost alters the soils structure, making it less likely to erode and helps the soil in general hold more nutrients for the plant. Lastly, compost has good bacteria that converts nitrogen to nutrients and also has a lot of beneficial insects, worms and organisms in tow.

Lastly, compost pushes the limits of fertilizer and utilizes it well to aid the plant as well as possible. First, it helps release the nutrients slowly so as not to overwhelm the plant. It can even do it for months or even years continually, something that synthetic fertilizers cannot do. Second, it retains and holds the fertilizer in its place. You don’t want the disgusting organic matter to pollute groundwater and potentially harm our water supply, right? Lastly, the nutrient base of compost is more extensive than the ones in synthetic fertilizers. So to speak, compost helps the plant develop using more tools rather than synthetic fertilizers, which isn’t only expensive, but doesn’t exactly help the plant reach its full potential.

How to Make One

Making compost is a relatively easy task because what one basically needs to do is pile a lot of waste into a certain area. Good substances too add into the heap are food and textiles wastes, and generally snipped grass or any other similar one. You may also opt for animal manure that may be present around the area; diversifying and putting a lot of different wastes into the heap will help the compost be as nutritious for the soil as possible.

But if you don’t want to opt for that option, which is very hands-on, you can always buy some organic matter in your local garden store. These pass many requirements to ensure that it very nutritious and don’t exceed metal amounts. For example, the limit for Arsenic in any compost as mandated by the TCLP is 41mg/kg. It also mandates a specific range of pH and particle size.

Conclusion

Compost is definitely here to stay given all the benefits it gives to the contemporary gardener. It helps hold nutrients to help the plant grow; also it keeps fertilizers from trickling down into important water supplies which could potentially harm the general population.

Making them is absolutely easy, with the main rule being that you dump all your biodegradable waste in one specific location. If you are a bit choosy and demanding when it regards to the nutrition of your plant, you can always buy one at the garden shop. With all these in place, you will realize that compost and organic gardening definitely go hand-in-hand.

Jerry J. Jansen

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Using worms, especially red worms, can compost a pile of food in no time at all. There is no need to wait months and sometimes years, waiting for the material to break down, if you include using worms for compost.

Worms will be attracted to any pile of decomposing food. They will hunt it out and immediately begin the process of eating, pooping, and aerating the pile of rubbish into a rich fertile organic material that is suitable for any garden.

To speed up this process, you could build your own worm bed. Preferably this worm bed would be up off the ground to protect the worms from critters such as the mole, whose main diet is worms and grubs.

Make the depth of the worm bed at least 6 to 12 inches deep. The depth will depend on the amount of material you intend on adding to it. Topsoil is not necessary, but it can be added as a base for the worms. Remember, that the worms live under the ground so make sure your worm bed is not in direct sunlight.

Wait until your worm bed is half full of material then proceed to any bait shop and buy several boxes of big red fishing worms. Or, if you prefer, you can try digging for worms in your yard. Add the worms to the bed containing the soil and material you have previously added and let them go to work.

As long as there is food available, and the material in the worm bed is kept moist, the worms will work 24/7 producing the richest fertilizer you can imagine for you to use in your vegetable or flower garden.

The best thing about using worms for compost is it won’t cost you dime, because they work for food.

Jerry J. Jansen

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A compost heap can be very easy to produce and can take little effort.  With a little prep work, you can have a beautiful pile of compost waiting to nourish your garden in just a few short weeks.  You will need to start off with a variety of plant and organic materials.  Kitchen scraps, garden waste and grass clippings are an excellent source of nitrogen, while dried materials such as leaves and straw will provide much needed carbon to the heap.

Once you have your compost pile started, all you will need to do is mix your starter pile with other organic materials as they become available.  It is suggested that you turn your compost pile every other week in order to speed up the decomposition process.

In a few weeks, you will have noticed that your compost pile has shrunk up quite a bit.  This is because the materials have decomposed and turned into a rich soil ready to spread over your garden soil.  Your finished soil should smell earthy and crumble when picked up.  If you find that your pile smells bad, either it is not getting enough oxygen or it is staying too wet.  You will need to add more oxygen creating ingredients to your pile and monitor the moisture content until you have the desired consistency before adding to your garden. 

That’s all there is to creating a very beneficial compost pile that will be ready for all of your gardening needs this summer.

Jerry J. Jansen
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