Making Compost - Alchemy at its Best:

In the days of the development of w is now modern chemistry with its podic table of the elements and a great alliance with physics, there existed a group of people called alchemists. y worked on their own in dark places practicing arcane rituals t at times appeared to be more mystical and magical than scientific. One of the great searches of the alchemists was for a method to turn base metals such as lead into gold. An organic dr in particular and most drs in gral would say t they h succeeded where the alchemists had failed. A good dr routinely turns waste pl al into "black gold, ", compost.

Compost is the answer to problems a dr faces every day or seeks not to face at all. I will let sandy soil hold water and clay soil drain water. great water holding source will open the soil and let in the air so necessary for good soil and pl health. Sick pls will often recover in a "hospital pl bed" consisting mostly of compost. Just w is this magical al and how does one get it?

re is only one simple rule behind composting, living al rots after it dies. Consider the forest floor. Living les and pl al fall from the trees and underbrush and join the bodies of insects and animals to lie upon the ground. We would be buried under mounds of waste al were it not for the bactal and fungal cleaning crews t come to our rescue. Literally millions of bacta and fungi attack the les, dead grass, weeds, twigs and more t fall bath the trees each year and busily turn it into black mold t lines the woodland floor. Scuff away a bit of t layer of debris t is so nice to walk on some bright summer day and look at the dark al below. Compost is everywhere.

So how is one to get it into the den? If you go to the nearest national, state, or provincial park and begin to gather it into bags for the car and homecoming, you will quickly realize t it is heavy to move and the local ranger will h objections. In fact, millions of drs seeking compost from our forests would likely cause more damage than clear cutting. Some municipalities h composting programs along with their recycling efforts. y make it available free or for a fee or in some combination for homeows. Again, this is heavy work and can be expensive.

Some landscapers will h compost available in quity and for a start to a den or for rwing a lawn. This may be a viable one time expense for a home ow. Garden centers will h it bagged for the person who only needs a little for a pl pot or two. However, compost will be wed every year for the successful dr. best way to get it is to imitate the alchemists of old and make one's own.

re are simple and complex systems for making compost. simplest of all goes back to the cardinal rule, things rot. Make a pile of pl debris in the back yard. All year let it grow. Add weeds pulled from lawn and den, spent flowers and vegetable pls, kitchen waste like peelings and apple cores, lawn raking debris, and other pl als. It is grally advised to avoid adding animal waste like fat and bone because it may attract pests. In the fall, when the les come down, cover the pile with les about 6 inches thickness. In the spring, start a new pile.

After the pile has sat for a couple of years, it will h shrunk about a third in size. Scrape down to find the finished compost. It will look and smell like good earth, full of life and growth. Any al t has not rotted down can be used in the pile now building. re are faster and more complicated methods, but this will produce compost as it has for thousands of years with little effort and great results. Black gold will make the den grow with true richness of life and beauty.