The Magic of Compost
Take a bucket full of dead lettuce leaves, old cucumbers, potato peels, mix with grass clippings and shredded brown leaves; add water, stir, repeat. Let time pass. Result: Compost—lovely, soil-enhancing, flower-growing compost; mulch for your summer vegetables; moisture retention for your soil; complete with microorganisms and happy earthworms, all for free.
First choose a location. Compost likes three main things: air, water and heat. Compost ingredients can be placed in a structure (compost bin, wire cage, wood frame) or just piled in a heap. Compost should be in contact with the ground (not concrete) where all those beneficial microorganisms, earthworms and insects will do most of the work for you! Place it within easy access to water and your kitchen where it can live and breathe and decompose. Your compost bin should have a lid or cover to prevent pets and wild animals becoming ill by eating unfinished compost.
Ingredients. The simplest way of making compost is mixing, by volume, half green materials and half brown materials. Greens—grass clippings, kitchen vegetable waste, flower and green plant trimmings—provide nitrogen and moisture. Browns—dry leaves, twigs, sawdust, animal manure, coffee grounds—provide carbon. (Do not compost dairy products, oils or meats. They can attract rodents and create odors.)
Chop or mow large pieces. Mix the two together in fairly equal portions, with enough water to moisten, but not flow out. As you add each layer, mix lightly. Avoid adding seeded weeds and diseased plants. Soon heat will be generated and begin to break down materials; earthworms will appear like magic. Microorganisms and fungal activity will all start working for you. Ideally, the pile should be at least three feet by three feet to promote heating activity. Occasional turning and adding moisture when dry will facilitate the composting process.
Animal manure supplies nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients for plant growth. (Never use pig, dog or cat manure in vegetable gardens or compost piles!) Rabbit manure makes wonderful fertilizer applied on top of resting beds or incorporated into compost. Goat droppings are high-nutrient “gold,” needing little or no aging. Just collect and spread.
Steer manure needs no aging and can be purchased if you don’t have a source. Check to see how much other organic matter has been added to the manure when you purchase it. (Horse droppings tend to have weed seeds that sprout.)
Favorite tools are a leaf blower, mulching lawn mower, turning fork and compost thermometer.
Tips and tricks: We save fall leaves in a large wire cage and add them to grass clippings in the summer. No smoke from burning leaves! We toss the leaves on our small patch of lawn and mow the two together, almost instant compost.
Compost can be a way to connect with neighbors. My neighbor gives me grass clippings, reducing her garbage each week. A friend with rabbits gifts me their droppings and straw. With a little imagination, sharing, and a little exercise we can build up the soil, feed and nourish the land and ourselves. Nature abounds.
Nancy Bliss is a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener of Tuolumne County.
