What I enjoy is not the fruits alone, but I also enjoy the soil itself, its nature and its power.
Cicero “Boring,” my sister, as avid a gardener as I, commented when I told her April’s topic. It’s a shame that one of the main keys to having a great (as opposed to good) garden is considered boring. But I agree the topic can make one’s eyes glass over.
In my research I found that instructions for composting get so detailed, and are so conflicting, it’s no wonder gardeners, and would-be gardeners, lose interest. I’m here to tell you that since there is no compost police force you can do what you want for your garden. I suggest you start with a very small composting project and increase, if you want, as you want. In The April Garden:
Direct sow seeds of cool season vegetables and hardy annuals in the garden;
Sow seeds of more tender plants indoors according to when they can be put out in the garden;
Prune fruit trees on a moderate day;
Prune forsythia right after flowering, prune the oldest branches to 12" but allow the plant to retain an arching form;
Scatter lettuce and spinach seeds around emerging spring bulb foliage, when the bulbs are dying back the salad greens will cover the yellowing foliage, and you'll have the makings of a salad;
Clean out and disinfect bird houses with a bleach solution of 4 T. bleach to 1 gallon water. Remount houses 6 to 20 feet above the ground. | To start a simple pile, pick a spot on your property to dispose of your plant waste. Either sun or shade is fine. If you have a choice, some considerations might be to find a place that can be enlarged later if you enjoy it, and you may want it out of sight. At this point you can just start dumping leaves and weeds and kitchen waste and leave it to decompose. Eventually there will be rich humus ready to spread on your garden. That’s all there is to it! Now, if you want to speed up the process there are many additional considerations you can choose to employ, or not. The smaller the pieces of plant material, the faster they will decompose. If you cut up leaves your pile will be ready sooner. If you cut waste plant material, it too will decompose more quickly. A pile works the best when it is 1 cubic yard or larger so the more material you have in a pile, the more decomposing activity you can expect. Decomposition requires carbon, nitrogen, air and water. When these are in place bacteria begin to break the materials down. Bacterial activity in a pile works most efficiently when there is a specific ratio of carbon to nitrogen. Most simple piles are composed of a greater amount of carbon than nitrogen. Fallen leaves, straw and weeds are primarily carbon. If decomposition is very slow it can be revived with the addition of nitrogen. Kitchen waste from fruit and vegetable trimmings is rich in nitrogen as are fresh grass clippings and coffee grounds. Adding these to a slow pile will increase bacterial activity, and hence, decomposition. Stirring the pile adds air, another aid to decomposition. Water sprinkled on it occasionally will also speed the process. The backyard compost pile can be managed a little, or a lot, according to your interest. You will find that the end product is black gold and will provide you with a very healthy and productive garden. There are some cautions: Do not put meats and/or bones in your compost. Even with fruits and vegetables you will learn what takes too long to decompose. I don’t put banana or avocado peels or eggshells in my kitchen waste. If you want to mince or grind these things in a blender they will decompose more quickly but I don’t bother. If the process isn’t easy I won’t do it. If you have varmints I would forget about putting any kitchen garbage on the pile. I also would not put any perennial weeds, like dandelions and thistles, in the pile. The unmanaged home compost pile is not ever going to get hot enough to kill those weed seeds. Many books are available as guides for composting if you become converted. Check the library for sources and read what you can, always remembering that the level of managing a pile is your choice, compost happens whether you work at it or not.
Holly Barnes is delighted that the gardening season is finally upon us and looks forward to spending many hours lost in her passion. |
