Pāriet uz galveno saturu

How to Make Compost

How to Make Compost

Learn about the simple ingredients and processes that allow you to make great garden compost at home




home composting is a process that uses natural decomposition to transform landscape and kitchen waste into a rich soil amendment that does wonders for a garden. Decomposers, like bacteria, fungi, insects, nematodes, earthworms and other composting critters, are a composer's best friend. As soon as plant material begins to decay, decomposers arrive to speed up the process. It’s helpful to know a little about these often unseen workers because when they’re happy, they eat, and when they eat, compost happens.
Your compost pile needs four ingredients to become a home for decomposers: carbon, nitrogen, moisture, and air. The first ingredient, carbon, which can be found in fall leaves, straw, woodchips, recycled paper, and cardboard. Tree care companies are often charged a fee to dump their woodchips in landfills, and they may welcome an opportunity to donate some material to a home composter. Be sure that you have enough space for a load of woodchips that can be easily accessed by a large truck. Specify the exact number of loads you need, or you may come home to a mountain of woodchips in your driveway!
Microscopic decomposers need nitrogen to help them break down the carbon. Nitrogen comes into the pile in the form of green plant tissue. This can be freshly cut grass clippings, hedge clippings, vegetable kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, juice pulp, spent annual plants, or finished manure from vegetarian animals (that’s chickens and cows rather than cats and dogs). As bacteria use nitrogen to break down carbon, they release heat. Heat is a good thing because it speeds up decomposition.
Dry material resists decomposition, and earthworms, fungi, and bacteria need moisture to live. To make compost, the pile needs to stay damp. Sprinkling water as you add each layer of ingredients to your bin is a good way to make sure your pile starts off with the right moisture level.
On the other hand, swampy conditions can drive air out of the pile. Some of the most helpful composting bacteria (psychrophiles, mesophiles, and thermophiles) need oxygen to work. If the pile is too wet, or if it isn’t vented or turned regularly, they may run out of enough oxygen to stay alive and keep eating. Add air by turning your homemade compost with a pitchfork or poking holes deep into the pile with a pole or stick.
By adding the four essential ingredients, you’ll provide the sort of environment that supports the decomposers that make compost. But how do the decomposers find their way into the bin? Some people have the “If you build it, they will come” philosophy when it comes to introducing composting organisms. Others purchase bacterial and fungal spores to inoculate their bins. An easy, effective way to introduce the critters that make compost happen is to sprinkle some finished compost or garden soil into a new pile of fresh ingredients.

 Best Selling Outperforms


Komentāri

Ierakstīt komentāru

Šī emuāra populārākās ziņas

How To Grow Garlic

Garlic is easy to grow and produces numerous bulbs after a long growing season. Plus, it’s frost tolerant! Here’s how to grow garlic in your garden. PLANTING Garlic can be planted in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked, but fall planting is recommended for most gardeners. Plant in the fall and you’ll find that your bulbs are bigger and more flavorful when you harvest the next summer. In areas that get a hard frost, plant garlic as early as 6 to 8 weeks before the first expected fall frost date, before the ground freezes. The timing may vary with local climate; the aim is to give a long enough period before the ground freezes for the plant to develop good roots, but not enough time to for it to form top growth before freezing temperatures set in. In southern areas, February or March is a better time to plant. Break apart cloves from bulb a few days before planting, but keep the papery husk on each individual clove. Do not plant cloves fro...
Ierakstīt komentāru
Lasīt vairāk

Easy Animals to Raise on the Small Farm

If you are curious about where to start with raising animals on your small farm, hobby farm or homestead, here are a few suggestions, complete with information to help you decide which ones are the right fit for you. Note: Selling meat and dairy products usually require that a farm is licensed and meet the requirements of its locale. If you are planning to farm for income, find out the requirements before buying the animals. Chickens Chickens  are a terrific way to start raising animals on a small farm. They're hardy, easy to take care of and don't cost much in terms of setup. A small flock can easily produce enough eggs to meet all a family's egg requirements, and a flock of a few dozen can generate a nice little egg business. Hens eat food scraps and provide great compost for the garden. On the downside, they're a free chicken dinner for every predator out there, so you'll need to keep them safe and secure to prevent losses. Honey Bees Ho...
Ierakstīt komentāru
Lasīt vairāk

Growing strawberries in the garden

Growing strawberries in the garden 1 Plant at the right time.   This will be determined by the strawberry variety you've chosen, so read the label or consult the retailer from whom you're purchasing the plants. [1] Large fruiting varieties of strawberries are best planted in summer, usually in the second month of summer and at the latest, by the first half of the last month of summer. Alpine strawberries are best planted during the second and third months of spring. Perpetual strawberries can actually benefit from an autumn/fall planting rather than a winter planting, as this gives them more time to grow accustomed to the new plot and establish a healthy root system. (This planting time is appropriate for gardens in temperate climate zones.) 2  Choose a warm and sunny spot.  Strawberries love areas that get a lot of direct sunlight without shade. They also appreciate minimal wind. A strawberry plant will produce strawberries in partial shade if need ...
Ierakstīt komentāru
Lasīt vairāk