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| Photo Credit: Richard Villadon/fotolia.com |
| Rich compost is “black gold” that fertilizes the soil with a wide range of nutrients. It also improves soil structure and attracts earthworms and beneficial microbes. | Every year I start out with good composting intentions, and every year my compost heaps end up looking like someone dumped a lot of leaves and twigs and dead plants all over a queen-sized bed. Meanwhile, my next-door neighbor maintains three beautifully designed compost heaps, with removable lattice-work wooden panels. I can hear Russ’ chipper-shredder on Saturday afternoons, chewing up branches and other yard waste to feed his compost piles. One early spring morning, he even skipped into my yard, compost thermometer (yes, a compost thermometer) in hand, bragging about how high the internal temperature of the heaps had reached. This year, I resolve to be more like Russ. He does what’s called “hot composting” – that is, he carefully manages his compost piles so that they break down rapidly, in just a few months. I normally do “cold composting,” mainly piling it all up and letting nature do its work over a period of a couple of years. Not only is hot composting faster (it really handles the onslaught of autumn leaves and other yard waste), it also tends to kill weed seeds and disease pathogens so you don’t spread them all over your garden along with the compost. (Which explains my bumper crop of tomatoes in my flower bed each year.) So here’s how I’m going to “Russ-ify” myself:
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| Photo Credit: Edsweb/fotolia.com |
| The cool thing about a compost heap is that it’s an environmentally friendly garbage can for many types of yard and kitchen waste. | • I’ll add more compost bins. My avid gardener stepfather had six compost heaps behind his garden shed to handle all his yard waste. My garden is even bigger, and I have only three. I vow to add three more bins to handle more leaves and trimmings.
• I’ll swear off adding sticks and branches to my compost pile. Unlike leaves, grass clippings and banana peels, these take a long time to break down. Instead, I’m going to start a stick/brush pile alongside my compost heap and have it hauled away once a year. (People who own a wooded area can simply make a permanent brush pile among their trees.) Or maybe I can even sweet-talk Russ into doing a little additional chipping and shredding for a plate or two of cookies… • I’ll be more diligent about layering my compost pile. Normally, I just pitch it all in. But to have a hot compost pile, you need to layer dry brown materials (such as raked autumn leaves, dried up plant parts after a frost, etc.) with juicy green materials (grass clippings, fresh weeds, etc.). The tricky part is that you tend to have all brown materials in the fall and all green materials in the summer. So I’ll have to stockpile a few garbage bags of leaves in or behind my garage to add to the pile during the summer months.
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| Warnings |
- Only certain things should go into a compost heap. Good things to add include grass clippings, autumn leaves, weeds, egg shells and plant-based kitchen scraps, such as orange peels or coffee grinds. If you have access to the manure of animals that eat only plants (such as cows, pigs, chickens or horses), you can add that, too. Do not add anything greasy or animal-based, such as bones, meat scraps, oils, fats, kitty litter or doggie doo!
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| Tips |
- To get started in hot composting, go with smaller, more manageable compost piles that are easier to mix and turn. (You’ll probably need to add more piles to handle all the compost material.)
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| Faqs |
- Q: Should I water my compost heap? (I’ve heard of some gardeners actually building shelters over their compost heaps to protect them from rain.)
A: In dry climates, such as the desert Southwest and arid West, it’s a good idea to give your compost heap a soaking every now and again to keep it moist and active. In wet climates, like the Pacific Northwest, you may get too much rain, and your compost pile can become soggy and foul-smelling. In that case, a shelter is smart. But for the most part, the eastern half of the country (except in times of drought) gets enough rainfall to keep a compost heap plugging along. If you want, give ’er a soak in late summer when rains have been few and far between.
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| Tools |
- Want to take your composting to the next level? Invest in a chipper-shredder. It’ll chop up branches, leaves and other plant parts so they’ll decompose in far less time.
- If you’re into hot composting, think about buying a compost thermometer. The readings will tell you how your piles are doing – and if they’re getting hot enough to kill off weed seed.
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