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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