Composting 101

Good growing soil is made of many things. However, according to "The Great Plant Escape" Web site, "In a good garden soil, about 45 percent will be rock particles, 5 percent organic matter like leaves, 25 percent water, and 25 percent air."

I should say this is a very basic description of good growing soil. There are PH levels to consider, also other things. There are also different minerals in different types of rock (or sand) that can be beneficial or harmful to having good soil. But in general, they are correct.

Composting is very simple though. You can build elaborate boxes, even ones that turn, barrels, add green plant waste , then dry, add worms, check the temperature as the plants decompose, water the compost pile, cover it, ....... But wait! It isn't that difficult. We can see it happen naturally all the time, and by itself! Let nature do the work? Sounds good to me!

Here on the property I currently have two compost piles. One is contained, and holds about 3 yards of compost, the other is a big pile and I would guess right now it is about 20 yards in size. ( In case you are wondering what a yard is, or yd, it is a measurement of volume 3 feet square, also known as a cubic yard. OK, enough math!!.)

I let nature take it's course when composting. Which means, basically just throwing plant waste in a pile and having the rain fall on it all winter and then digging into it in the spring and putting it in the soil in the gardens. It can steam in the winter, because of the heat generated by the decomposing organic matter. Even on the coldest mornings, it can be a toasty 100 degrees in the pile. Much like the body processes organic matter and makes us warm blooded, the compost pile also generates heat, released from the energy contained in the plants from the sun and earth when they grew. Worms also help it break down as well as other factors, but in time, you have some nice compost.

There are a few things to consider when composting though. One is be careful what kinds of plants you put in them. Ivy for example can sprout in the pile itself, or where you use the compost and that can be bad. Also seeds from weeds in the waste, and other material like plastics should not be put in the pile. On the web there are lists of things that are not good to put in compost piles, but most of it is common sense things. Like that old TV, not a good thing to compost obviously. Or maybe so? Anyway.

One way I like to use broken down green waste or leaves is to just cover the ground with it. This helps prevent weeds, and during the rains, it breaks down, worms come in, and then just turn the soil in the spring and plant. The photo for this article is where I will be planting corn in the spring, and also shows the smaller contained compost pile in the foreground. So you can do three things at once. Dispose of green waste, sparing landfills that extra burden, smother any would-be weeds, and also make your soil fertile. A win, win, win situation!

Sometimes I think we humans do too much and do harm, when we think we are doing the right thing and it is harmless. For example, aggressively cleaning the ground, raking it, covering it, takes away leaves and soon depletes the soil of those nutrients. They found that oak trees evolved and need their own leaves under them to be healthy. Areas were paved under some trees, covered, raked, and the trees got sick. It makes sense. Also those leaves help snuff out weeds and other competing plants and brush around the oaks.

So find a good place to compost and save all those cuttings, leaves and grass clippings and put them in a pile. One very simple way to contain the pile it to use chicken wire and t-posts. Of course composted steer manure and so on is a great thing for soil. Think of it like super concentrated compost. The cow ate the grass and did the work. But worms do this as well, and, well, you know what I mean.