Composting uno cero uno

I have always been interested in composting. As a child I loved the look, and feel of soil in the field after my dad had turned over the corn stubble, and it had time to decompose. At the time I did not know how it worked, but the smell of that soil will be with me forever. It was like smelling something new. Like a new car smell only a hundred times better. What I didn't know was that it was something new, recycled, rejuvinated, composted. I was smelling... earth!

Compost, when done right has that smell. My latest compost bin is the largest I have ever built. I gave much thought to what type of bin to use, and decided on a 4' x 4' box type. There are many different bins you can purchase. Some can be rolled or tumbled to mix material inside, while others are boxes made of plastic that can be stacked. Another method is to use wire fencing to make a round bin. Even easier than that is to just build a pile. My bin uses 2 x 4's, wire fencing, old shutters for a door, and old bricks for the floor. All salvaged materials, which fits in with my commitment to recycle.

To make good compost, you need three basic materials, browns, greens, and water. Brown materials will be the bulk of your pile. This could be leaves, straw, old hay, shredded tree trimmings or sawdust. Green materials would be grass clippings, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, crushed egg shells, and yard waste free of weed seeds. Layer your materials begining with a layer of rough material like tree trimmings on the bottom. Next alternate layers of browns and greens, wetting each layer as you build your pile. Don't over water, you want your material damp not soggy. Add a shovel full of garden soil or finished compost in between layers to start the whole process. Microorganisms in the soil are what will consume the materials turning them into compost. As decomposition progresses, heat generated by these microorganisms will raise the temperature in your pile. A well fed pile will generate temperatures of 140 to 160 degrees. It is possible to reduce weed seeds and disease at these temperatures making compost seem like gold to gardeners. Monitor your pile for moisture and turn periodically to aerate. By turning, you add oxygen and introduce less decomposed material on the outside to the center of the pile. Depending on how well you manage your compost pile, you could have finished compost in three months to two years.

All of this is just my way of making compost. This is a very simple explanation, I could go into much more detail. There are volumes of information on the internet and many books on this subject. Choose a method of composting that you think will work for you and experiment. If you normally bag grass clippings and place them in the trash, save them and put them in your compost bin instead along with your kitchen scraps. Things to avoid are meats, grease, dairy products, and pet feces. So get outside and have some fun, get some excercise, and make some microorganisms happy.

You say work, I say fun...

Gardening is a lot of work, but I find it very relaxing. Like all worthwhile things in life, if you are patient good things will come.

This weekend was very productive at the garden. My first task was to mow, edge, and trim around the beds. There was trash to pick up and general clean up of the whole place. Next I added two long beds and two smaller beds using recycled fence pickets. I then dug inside those beds to a depth of 4 to 6 inches and overturned the entire length of the bed, sod and all. I amended this soil with about an inch of cow manure donated by a friends herd. Also added was 2 to 3 pounds of cotton seed meal, an excellent slow release organic fertilizer. All this has been tilled to incorporate all ingredients and then allowed to rest for 1 to 2 weeks. This will allow enough time to kill the grass and clover. Exposing their roots to the sun and wind will dry them out and will add organic matter to the soil. More recycling! After this time period I will fill the beds in with soil mix and plant more flowers.

At the beginning of this endeavour I wanted to plant only flowers, excluding vegetables for now. I felt that flowers would be easier to grow and would provide a more colorful show. Having a bigger impact on the beautification of Texas Avenue and the community. But I think someone is trying to tell me something. In one bed that was filled in a couple of weeks ago, there are numerous volunteer tomato plants. I don't know what variety they are but they are thriving. So I will add vegetables throughout the garden. This is after all the beginning of a community garden and the possibilities for education are endless. This new direction inspires me to do even more. It's exciting, it's fun! So get ready to see tomatoes among the sunflowers.

Little helpers in the garden

As I gathered material for the compost pile, my daughter searched for roly poly's, also known as pill bugs. These are her favorite bugs to search for and collect. We even make roly poly houses out of oranges cut in half and placed cut side down under leaf litter to attract them. Of course the compost pile is a favorite place for roly poly's also.
Pill bugs are just one of many decomposers in our landscapes that quietly and tirelessly work day and night to break down organic matter. In the process they leave behind a product vital to the health of plants and animals known as compost. These little helpers work literally under our feet at times. Next time you turn your compost pile or rake a pile of leaves, take a moment to view a world that is often overlooked. You might see roly poly's, centipedes, snails, slugs, springtails, beetles, ants, and earthworms. Also hard at work are microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and others. Without these organisms gardening would be difficult. Yet every year we spend millions of dollars and hundreds of hours trying to eradicate some of these same creatures. Even when we target one specific pest, the impact of the products we use can destroy an ecosystem. This ecosystem may be small, as in your backyard, but if everyone on the block is doing the same, all of a sudden that ecosystem is much bigger. I am guilty of using harmful products myself. The more I educate myself though, the less and less I use. I work very hard at practicing what I preach and look for alternatives even if the alternative is using nothing at all and letting nature take care of itself. We have done a fine job of trying to desrtoy the environment, but we can repair the damage. It is my goal to educate as many people as I can as long as I live. So the next time you reach for that chemical think about those little helpers in the garden, and how important they are. If you must use a chemical please read the label carefully and follow the directions. You may be amazed how a pest problem will take care of it's self. In the meantime you will be protecting your family, pets, and saving some money. We humans are forever trying to change our environment and make it look like what we think it should look like. In fact most of the time we have no clue what we are doing. If nature were not so adaptable we would be extinct by now, by our own hand none the less. Perhaps we should observe nature and learn from her. We will never create an environment as beautiful as she has. And thank goodness for little helpers.