We're making dirt here folks!

April 30, 2018

We're making dirt here folks!

I am so excited the compost maker arrived. It came in lots of pieces, so I've documented with some photos how exactly it went together. If you are interested check for that post under the Photo album pages.

My husband wisely refused to allow me to fill it with all the organic compost material I have been saving for months...he said it would not travel well. I know he's right, but I was so ready to get started! I feel kind of like a little kid waiting for spring to ride the new bike they got for Christmas! So as soon as we unload it I am filling it up and letting it get to work making dirt...rich compost...black gold.

Composting is such a rewarding way to put to use your organic material to good use rather than toss it in the garbage. You can turn it into something valuable (to a gardener)...to your gardens or your indoor plants.

It's pretty simple, you need green matter (nitrogen), brown matter (carbon) as in dried leaves or grass, moisture (water), air (oxygen) and heat (hot sunny days) to create a rich compost material rather quickly. It works best when your ratio of green to brown is 50/50. But it may also attract flies and rodents. 25% green to 75% brown material will be less likely to attract insects and critters but is a little slower to process. So I guess it depends where your compost is kept in your yard. You don't need to purchase anything you can literally pile it all up and turn it over with a shovel or pitchfork or wait until nature takes its course and eventually the pile will decompose. But if you want it sooner than later you'll need to take a more active involvement and keep it turning to make sure the oxygen is reaching the entire pile.

I've opted to purchase a composting bin that is elevated to discourage rodents and other critters from chewing holes in my bin and one that is black so the color will absorb the heat from the sun and help heat the mixture up. I also chose a double bin so that once I fill one side I can leave it alone to make it's black gold for a couple of weeks while I fill the other empty side.

During the summer months, it should only take a couple of weeks per side. I hope to work the rich compost into the clay along with some peat moss and topsoil especially, around the plants. It will take me a long time to get it worked into the entire garden and orchard areas which also helped determine why we are starting with a deep mulch style of garden.

There are a few cautions, the compost material can be so rich it is considered "hot" and can literally burn delicate plants, so be sure to mix it in or let it "cool" by aging it for a while before adding it directly onto delicate new transplants or seedlings. You also need to be aware that what you put in you will get out. Especially if you are using grass clippings, if they have been treated with weed n feed, for example, those chemicals will not decompose and will be in your compost and could be absorbed by the roots of your vegetables. If you add weeds to your compost and it does not get hot enough to kill the weed seeds you will be adding weed seeds to your gardens when you add the rich compost, growing weeds along with your new seedlings.