Organic Gardening Compost ... Why And How!:

Why?

Onic gening compost solves many blems. So much so t it's tempting to wax philosophical on the merits of making compost. Compost isn't just a gening topic. It relates to conserving energy, reducing pollun, tecting the environment, fing the hungry, reducing waste ... and we could go on. See w I mean about philosophical?

Many times, maybe even most times, value onic gening compost is made from household waste t would end up in a landf. Now t's a waste ... burying value raw materials in expensive landf space.

In many cases, there is little as an individual do to solve many of the social s of our day. Making compost is a small step take to make a value duct from waste. Now t's a good deal!

Build compost in large quantities and 'll become a famous gener in r neborhood. It's easy to build compost, but to build the very best duct requires both knowledge and sk. Building great compost is part science and part art. It's work, but it's rewing and fun too.

Composting is a cess of decomposin. Bacteria, fungi, nematodes, worms, and all kinds of tiny critters work on onic matter to break it down. This happens slowly in a natural environment. Compost makers sp up t natural cess to quickly make superior compost in large quantities.

Build compost perly and add nutrients and ste humus to the soil. Compost imves water holding capacity. It encourages the forman of beneficial soil-borne onisms. It also makes soil nutrients more availe. Onic gening compost is useful when starting and planting. It's helpful for general soil imvement. It imves annual flowers and vegetes; perennials; shrubs; small fruit; fruit trees; lawns. You use it as mulch and as compost tea. It helps potted plants and slings.

But how do get started?

How?

Getting started.

Build compost so it has contact with the soil or mix soil with the compost material. The onisms in the soil contact the compost p and enter into the cess. A well built p doesn't attract pests, nor smell bad.

Bins are helpful to contain the materials, but not at all necessary. Prepare an area for accumulan of the raw materials for the compost p. Look at r accumulan of raw materials like a savings account ... t's w it is! Try to have more n one p in the cess of composting too.

W goes in the compost ps? The supply of compost materials is limitless. Anything t is biodegrade and contains things use and availe to microonisms be composted.

The materials.

Build compost with two categories of materials: h carbon materials and h nitrogen materials. The two categories overlap. The ideal carbon to nitrogen ra (C/N) for stimulating the composting onisms is 25:1 - 30:1. Finished compost is 14:1 - 20:1. Don't get overly concerned with these numbers!

H carbon materials are usually dry and bulky. Examples are hay, straw, fall leaves, sawdust, pine nles. The C/N ra varies from 500:1 for sawdust to 12:1 for alfalfa hay.

H nitrogen materials include manures, grass clippings, te scraps, fish meal, cottons meal and soybean meal.

Other useful additives bolster the micro-nutrients of the finished compost. Examples are rock dust, limestone, seaw, rock phospe, greensand, and wood ashes.

The mix.

We're trying to start and maintain a controlled aerobic fermentan cess when we build compost. Generally, if we mix roughly equal parts of h carbon materials and h nitrogen materials, the C/N ra w be about rt.

In living topsoil, only about half the total volume of the soil is solid. The remainder is air and water. Our onic gening compost should be like t too. So the particle size of our material is best fairly fine. Grind or chip very coarse materials like corn stalks if . If 't, don't worry about it, it'll just take longer. Particle size should be from dust-like up to 1/2 inch in size.

The p should be moist. Moist to the touch, but not so wet t squeeze water out by hand.

Layer in the materials alternating h carbon materials with h nitrogen materials. Add 5 - 10 percent gen soil throughout the p. Layers be 6 inches deep or so. Build compost ps 7 - 10 feet wide at the bottom sloping to 1 - 3 feet wide at the top. Keep the het at about 3 - 4 feet and the length a minimum of 3 feet.

Fermentan.

Build compost ps well and microonisms grow rapidly and temperature w quickly climb. Temperatures may spike up to 170 degrees F over a few days or weeks. Then the temperature w drop off and remain elevated for a few days or up to several weeks or even months. Turning the p sp or slow the reacns especially if the mix is less n ideal. If the mix is rt, the p n not be turned or it may n turning only once.

Never fear, even if condins are far from ideal 'll st get use compost. Remember, this is a natural cess. You really 't do it all wrong. If the p doesn't heat up much, it'll take longer to decompose and the quality may be inferior. Maybe w ss w st be vie. It w st do the soil good!

Conclus

Build onic gening compost well and vastly imve r gening success. Making compost is fun and a value sk. It's art for r gen!

To learn how to build..."the world's best compost"... Click Here!