Composting for Beginners
Composting: a word that strikes apathy into the heart of many a suburban gardener. Isn’t it too much work, and can’t I just go to the garden store and pick up a bag of chemical fertilizer? Doesn’t it work just as well as the tree-hugger approach? And come on – what about the smell? Well, no, it’s not as much work as you think. And yes, you can pick up a bag of chemical fertilizer, but it doesn’t do the same things compost does. And just to throw in a dose of good old fashioned guilt, composting is the responsible thing to do, both from a recycling and a wise-land-use standpoint. And guess what? Composting, done right, doesn’t turn your yard into a toxic-smell area. So roll up your sleeves and get ready to rot.
Composting is a way of making your own fertilizer and mulch from stuff you were going to throw out anyway. It is a natural process that turns garbage into nutrient-rich soil. Composting happens in nature all the time. It is the process of air and water mixing with dead plant matter to make a hospitable environment for microbes which break it all down. Making your own compost heap or bin helps speed up the natural year-long process to about six weeks.
There are a few basics you need to know: It helps if a compost bin or heap is at least three cubic feet. Anything smaller doesn't generate the heat needed to break down the organic material. Since we are in a hot climate the heat can be generated from the sun as long as you keep the moisture level up. Your compost should be turned and mixed at every three days in order to mix the microbes into every part of your heap. And make sure that your heap is not too wet. Moisture inhibits the decomposition process (and stokes the bad smells), but let your heap get too dry and the microbes will not be able to work their magic. Here in Tucson I compost in bins. I water it once a week in the summer and keep it in the morning sun, in the afternoon it is partially shaded; basically under my mesquite tree. I keep the lid on which creates humidity and if I feel like its getting too wet I take the lid partially off.
You can buy composting bins at hardware stores, even ones that allow easy turning, or you can build your own. (A bin is not absolutely necessary – you can use haybales or bricks built up in a square to house your heap, or nothing at all.) You will also need a pitch fork, which is the handiest tool to turn, break up and stir your compost. You may need a wood chipper if you want to use branches, twigs and large pieces of waste in your pile. These are the only tools you’ll need to get started. You can also buy worms! Yes buy worms. I purchased mine from the community food bank many years ago and they are now in every pot and pile I have (which is a good thing) since every time I use the compost I don't take the time to check for eggs. Too small for my eyes.
Good materials for your compost heap include: Grass cuttings, non-woody garden pruning's, leaves, flower and vegetable remains; vegetable peelings and leaves, fruit peelings and cores, cooked table scraps, tea leaves, coffee grounds, egg shells, stale bread, paper and cardboard, sawdust and wood shavings, animal manure, woodfire ash, seaweed. Do not use: Branches, roots (unless chipped). Pine needles, cypress clippings, rose cuttings and other garden wastes with thorns, weed seeds, bulbs and runners, garden wastes recently sprayed with pesticides, meat and dairy scraps, toilet waste, used paper tissues, diseased animal carcasses and plant material, treated pine sawdust and shavings, metals, glass, plastics. If you are going to use worms be sure to crush your egg shells before putting them in with them. This can be kind of therapeutic too. I rinse my egg shells and put them in a jar and smash them down. Once the jar is full I will sit and crush and grind them to a fine powder while I'm watching tv.
I don't do any of this but its what is taught so I am including it but I just toss what I have in a bin If its fresh veggies and the like I will add a bit of needle droppings from my mesquite tree or some dirt from the yard over the top so I don't get flies or roaches. If you are wanting a more organic result you should certainly do the following: There is a layering method to the madness of composting. All materials you use will need to be chopped or cut up into as small pieces as possible. Spread the chopped materials in layers 3 to 5 inches thick. Start with a layer of brown (dry materials such as straw, wood shavings, chips and sawdust, newsprint, stalks, stems, twigs and the like). Then add a layer of green (wet, nitrogen-rich materials—grass clippings, weeds, pruning's and kitchen scraps plant material only; meat and dairy scraps attract unhelpful kinds of wildlife). Atop each brown-green section, add an inch or two of manure or garden soil. This ensures plenty of microbes in the pile. Boost nutrients by adding a shovelful of wood ash, rock phosphate, lime, granite dust, blood meal, bone meal or greensand to each completed section. Moisten each layer of the pile as you go, using a gentle spray.
How do you know when your compost is ready for use? It will be dark in color, have a rich, earthy scent to it and the original material will not be distinguishable, having decomposed. Compost can be used as a top dressing on the soil during the growing season, added in around the bases of plants, where irrigation and soil animals will slowly incorporate it into the soil. On lawns, sprinkle sifted compost as a top dressing in the spring to improve the soil for better grass growth. It is also fine to top-dress houseplants occasionally with small handfuls of finished compost. If you are using worms, also known as Vermicomposting, you probably don't want to use more than a teaspoon of the compost in your house plants as it is very rich and may burn the roots. I will put about a quarter cup in a gallon of water then use that to water my house plants instead of putting it directly in the plants. After I have watered everything I put that soil back in the compost bin.
Compost can also be left on the surface as a mulch around landscape and garden plants. Mulches protect the soil from erosion and promote moisture retention. As they decompose, mulches add nutrients to the soil, and if composed of small-enough particles, worms may slowly eat the mulch and incorporate it into the soil.
Compost benefits the soil in ways that synthetic fertilizers cannot. It adds organic matter, which improves the way water interacts with the soil. In sandy soils, compost helps retain water that would otherwise drain down below the reach of plant roots. Compost adds porosity to clay soils, making them drain more efficiently and preventing waterlogging and over-drying. Compost also inoculates the soil with vast numbers of beneficial microbes and the habitat that the microbes need to live. These microbes are able to extract nutrients from the mineral part of the soil and eventually pass the nutrients on to plants.
If you are in the Tucson area and would like to learn more about composting, vermicomposting or gardening in general I would encourage you to check out the Food Bank. https://www.communityfoodbank.org/how-we-help/farm-garden
Check for classes and other resources frequently. If you find yourself in the area take a stroll through the learning garden too! They are located at 3003 S Country Club Rd, Tucson, AZ 85713
Another great place to visit and learn everything you need to know is my favorite nursery, Green Things. They offer a variety of classes and an enormous selection of plants and soils gifts and guides! They post a lot of the classes on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/GreenThingsAZ or you can visit their main page here. https://greenthingsaz.com/
Green Things Nursery is located at 3384 E. River Rd. Tucson, AZ, 85718
So in the words of Alfred Austin: The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.
Garden on my friends.
Remember I am never to busy for you or your referrals!