Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Compost Matters





Elm Street Garden compost piles 



Compost really does matter to us here at Elm Street Gardens.  It is the all-important addition to our garden year round.  We have added it constantly to our no-till beds over the years and have found it really pays off in the creation of the lovely loose rich soil in which our plants thrive. 

There is some science to creating this wonderful “black gold,” but it’s really pretty easy.  By observing at least roughly the correct ratio of “brown” to “green” (that means 75% carbon, such as dry leaves, to 25% nitrogen, green or wet stuff such as vegetable peelings) you can achieve most respectable compost.  Pile stuff up and it will compost sooner or later, but we have found that if we turn our piles every two weeks, they become usable compost much faster. It seems the microorganisms that turn the ingredients into rich black dirt benefit from the added oxygen that turning and, thus aerating the piles, contributes to the process.


                                                 Tom Davis expertly manouvers the 
                                                      tractor to turn the piles of compost.


Robert and I have had a compost pile in our lives since the early 1970’s.  We put kitchen scraps into a bin in our backyard in Atlanta and did add some other yard trimmings and leaves on occasion.  But the scale of that endeavor was small and way more disorganized than what we are achieving here on Elm Street.  And ask either of my children what they remember about our composting in those days and I feel sure they will tell you what a hated chore it was to “take out the compost.”  “Phew! That stinks!” was the usual objection to the task of carrying the kitchen bucket of scraps to the compost bin and emptying it.   But we’ve come a long way from that and the smells around our Elm Street compost piles these days are mostly pleasant earthy odors. 


Cucumber peelings ready to go in the kitchen
compost bucket in the Elm Street kitchen.

All sorts of garden and yard waste goes into the making of our compost.  Spent plants can go directly into the compost.  I also now have three compost buckets near the kitchen sink.  One is for the materials that our chickens adore and consume readily; this includes greens such as blemished lettuce, watermelon rinds and other fruit discards which they adore, leftover breads (which they regard as real treasures and are most entertaining as they madly chase the first one to grab the treasured piece but who can’t eat it as she is too busy keeping it from the others) and more.  One bucket is for things such as onion peels (I don’t give it to the chickens on the theory that it might make the eggs taste oniony) and other stems and roots and citrus and banana peels that are not favored by the chickens.  The third bucket is for eggshells, which I grind up in a food processor (I think a great example of modern appliances meeting traditional practices) and add to the compost piles. 

I like the picture of Tom Davis here as he expertly drives the tractor to turn the piles.  Tom is careful and caring in all he does in the gardens and uses his skills with this machinery to execute another age old task with care and precision. 

So those are some of the matters about compost on Elm Street.  It really does make a difference in our garden and the plants we grow.  And I now enjoy my excursions to empty the compost buckets.  We’ve got it right at last.








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