HOW: Soil and Compost

Invest In (garden) Gold!!
As we head toward the first days of winter, now is a perfect time to review our 'portfolio' and begin making some investments.   I want guaranteed returns and a safe investment.   Better yet, I want the Alchemists  dream, I want to make gold!   Turns out, I can have all of that, not in the dream world of the current failed economic system, but here in my own garden.  With just a little bit of 'investment'  I can make gold.
 
I am talking of course about Compost, the Gardener's Gold.   You can create gold for your garden with just a few simple steps, and minimal equipment (or none at all).   The countless benefits of compost for the soil are well documented and in truth,  you can't be an organic gardener without it.   The replacement of nutrients, the building of soil tilth, the fostering of soil aggregates that allow air and water in the soil, less watering,  introduction of beneficial organisms, the natural balancing of pH... these benefits alone make compost the foundation of any garden.   Making good compost is the heart and soul of organic gardening. 


Over the next few post I will explore the the simple aspects of composting: 

• Bins
• Materials
• Building the pile

Compost is the result of the natural process of decay.  The easiest way to make compost is to find a corner of your yard and begin piling your leaves and grass clippings in a pile, water it now and then, and just let it sit.  in 6 months to a year, you will have a pile  of nitrogen rich compost that can feed your garden beds.   This is basically the process that happens in any forest and is considered cold composting, which doesn't produce compost quickly, but requires minimal effort.  


Not much art or fun to that, so using bins to make hot compost is the preferred method.  Hot composting speeds up the process of decay and can create a nice useful pile of compost in under 8 weeks.   


BINS
Bins can be made from palettes, wire, old fencing, or can be store bought devices made from recycled plastic.   I use a three bin method which allows me to have a finished pile (right),  one cooking pile (center), and a collection pile (left).   I also use a small 10 gallon paint bucket for holding kitchen scraps until I am ready to build a new pile.   This three bin was made from an old fence I tore down around the house.  You can see how palettes could just as easily have been used.   I also have a small single wire bin in the corner of the garden itself.   Might replace that with a fancy black tumbler or stand alone soon. 

3 Bin

Finished Gold!!

The key to a hot pile is to have enough mass, and provide enough air to allow the pile to heat up from the bacterial processes.  3x3x3 feet is usually the recommended size of a hot compost pile, anything smaller doesn't really cook, and anything larger is hard to aerate. And here is where the work comes in.   A hot compost pile needs to be aerated and the simplest method is to turn the pile once a week by using a garden fork to turn the material.   I usually fork off the outer layer into a pile, the inner layer into another pile, and then rebuild the pile again in reverse, outer goes in first,  inner becomes the outer layer of my pile.  This introduces more air into all parts of the pile (although I do lose some nitrogen to the air in the process) .

This is work, and not everyone can do this, or cares to.   A good tumbler purchased commercially is a solution to the aerating problem, but might set you back more than the cost of a garden fork.   The benefit to the tumbler is that you just rotate the drum filled with compost and that aerates the compost enough to keep it cooking.  

Tumbler

A number of commercial solutions exist for making hot compost in either tumbled bins, or stand alone bins that require a minimal amount of turning.   A few small automatic devices  even exist that can fit in a kitchen and make a small supply of compost from kitchen scraps.  

Enclosed bin

Automatic Bin

The key is in building the pile from the  right materials,  keeping it moist , and aerating it enough to keep the bacterial processes going that are breaking down all that raw material.   What type of bin you use is really your own personal choice of aesthetics, time, and energy.   Compost makes itself ultimately, all we are doing is helping the process along a bit.  


Once you decide on the appropriate bin approach for your situation the next step is to build or purchase the bin and locate it in your garden or yard.  This is the heart of your garden, your sacred shrine to good soil health, your alchemists lab for creating Gardener's Gold, and the key to delicious organic food from your own soil.   Soil building is THE most important aspect of gardening and compost is the key to good soil health.  As odd as it   may sound to the first time composter, you will discover a certain joy in your finished compost pile, a beauty that comes from completing the circle of life as the remains of your last garden are transformed into the foundation of your next garden.   And it smells good too.
  
So, you have decided on your bin,  decided on the location, and are ready to begin.   The next step is understanding the raw materials which will make up your pile.   In my next post, we will look at what can and can't be in the compost pile.  


Next:  Organic Lead 


Resources

Automatic Composters
http://tinyurl.com/7mleeyy


Commercial Bins
http://tinyurl.com/7bhrey3


Build Your Own Bins
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/publications/organics/44295054.pdf