So, you want to start off in the black gold market but don’t know how? Or maybe you have heard way too many urban (or rural) myths about how to compost the right and wrong way.
Don’t Panic
Composting is not as hard as it sounds. It happens naturally all around us by aid of sun, weather, dead material, and bugs. All you really have to do is harness that natural process to your advantage.
If you know the basics, compost is a huge advantage to your garden and your trash bill.
So, where to begin you ask. Well, here are some Internet resources that can get you started. Don’t wait till next spring, start this fall so you will have luscious plant food for your seedlings!
Articles from Organic Gardening:
The Garden Girl (scroll down and read composting and vermiculture) Note: this lady is kinda wacky, she lives in the city and has created a garden filled with food, animals, and beauty. She even has goats!
You can buy compost bins of any shape and sort:
But why buy one when it is so easy to make your own?
From old wood fence or dresser drawers
Since we already have tons of earthworms in our soil, I just dug up a rectangular trench and lined it with brick to keep the compost from spilling out everywhere. Then, I added my brown and green goodies, broke up the soil I had dug, and covered the pile with the soil (the dirt was filled with worms and sow bugs that love to eat dead stuff).
Now, all I have to do is add layers of mulched leaves, grass clippings, and fruit and veggie scraps to my pile. I will add another layer of dirt every so often to keep the process going. Also, I will have to turn my pile every so often to keep the decomposition even and my compost working faster.
I also plan on covering the pile with some plastic tarp or another kind of covering during the wet rainy spring, as I don’t want too much water bogging down the pile. You can prevent this by composting in a bin with drainage holes, or by putting your pile under a mature tree (evergreens work really well).
So, that is all that I know about composting. I hope you will take the time to make your own, your garden will thank you!
