Post by Maria on Jun 3, 2006 7:37:58 GMT -5
Make the greatest organic matter you can ever add to your soil - start a compost pile. Recycle your yard and kitchen waste and watch nature's most basic process unfold in your garden.
Steps:
1. Start a very basic compost simply by piling up leaves and grass clippings. If you do nothing else, you can dig out compost after about six months of warm weather.
2. For something a little more thought-out, start by finding a good place for your pile - somewhere that is handy to the garden and kitchen, yet out of plain sight.
3. Corral that compost with a simple frame - loosely roll 6 feet of stiff wire-mesh fencing (4 feet tall with 1/2-inch mesh, called hardware cloth) to make a ring. Leave three cut ends of wire exposed to secure the ring to itself and stand it up.
4. Build a more permanent compost bin from slatted wood or recycled pallets.
5. Leave it open on one side for access - adding, turning and digging out compost from the bottom - and do not cover the top.
6. Understand the two basic elements that make compost: green (grass clippings, old annuals) and brown (dry leaves, soil) garden debris. Try for a balance of one part green to one to two parts brown, until the mix is damp but not wet.
7. Put a layer of leaves 4 inches thick in the bottom of your pile, then 1 inch of your good garden soil. Next add 2 inches of grass clippings or old plants, then more brown and green in alternate layers.
8. Turn with a manure or spading fork one week after building your pile. Begin burying coffee grounds, eggshells and green kitchen waste into the pile and turn it weekly. You'll have compost in about two months.
9. Make another ring or bin and turn the compost from one into the other to neatly mix it up and aerate the pile for fastest results. (Start another pile after yours has grown to 3 feet cubed.)
10. Begin digging out compost from the bottom of the pile when you turn it over and cannot recognize the component parts any longer. Dig out shovelfuls of crumbly brown compost to use in your garden, and use the partially composted matter for mulch or to start another pile.
Tips:
Healthy compost smells pleasantly earthy - turn it more often and add more dry brown matter if yours smells funky.
Use liquid compost starters - called inoculants - if you have no healthy soil to add at first.
Water your compost pile only during extended dry weather, and then only enough to moisten it, not drench the contents.
Many excellent compost systems of varying sizes are available at different price levels.
Steps:
1. Start a very basic compost simply by piling up leaves and grass clippings. If you do nothing else, you can dig out compost after about six months of warm weather.
2. For something a little more thought-out, start by finding a good place for your pile - somewhere that is handy to the garden and kitchen, yet out of plain sight.
3. Corral that compost with a simple frame - loosely roll 6 feet of stiff wire-mesh fencing (4 feet tall with 1/2-inch mesh, called hardware cloth) to make a ring. Leave three cut ends of wire exposed to secure the ring to itself and stand it up.
4. Build a more permanent compost bin from slatted wood or recycled pallets.
5. Leave it open on one side for access - adding, turning and digging out compost from the bottom - and do not cover the top.
6. Understand the two basic elements that make compost: green (grass clippings, old annuals) and brown (dry leaves, soil) garden debris. Try for a balance of one part green to one to two parts brown, until the mix is damp but not wet.
7. Put a layer of leaves 4 inches thick in the bottom of your pile, then 1 inch of your good garden soil. Next add 2 inches of grass clippings or old plants, then more brown and green in alternate layers.
8. Turn with a manure or spading fork one week after building your pile. Begin burying coffee grounds, eggshells and green kitchen waste into the pile and turn it weekly. You'll have compost in about two months.
9. Make another ring or bin and turn the compost from one into the other to neatly mix it up and aerate the pile for fastest results. (Start another pile after yours has grown to 3 feet cubed.)
10. Begin digging out compost from the bottom of the pile when you turn it over and cannot recognize the component parts any longer. Dig out shovelfuls of crumbly brown compost to use in your garden, and use the partially composted matter for mulch or to start another pile.
Tips:
Healthy compost smells pleasantly earthy - turn it more often and add more dry brown matter if yours smells funky.
Use liquid compost starters - called inoculants - if you have no healthy soil to add at first.
Water your compost pile only during extended dry weather, and then only enough to moisten it, not drench the contents.
Many excellent compost systems of varying sizes are available at different price levels.
