Introduce Yourself to The
Miracle of Composting
We would like to introduce you to the advantages of composting
in your garden! We'll briefly explain numerous methods of
composting, and hopefully one of those presented will dovetail
with your lifestyle!
Composting
is part of Nature's system and life cycle. Plants and
animals die; as they decompose the natural order of the universe
uses their remains to regenerate life. Random composting is
Nature's way of rebuilding the soil, and making available to
living plants the resources they need to continue this
incredible cycle.
We who garden and farm, can
take some of Nature's wisdom and apply it to the land we
steward.
Anaerobic
vs. Aerobic Methods
We'll
start out by quoting The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by
the staff of Organic Gardening magazine, Rodale Press, Inc.,
Emmaus PA, 1978, p.238 : "There are two types of bacterial
activity taking place in compost heaps: anaerobic breakdown
(without air) and aerobic breakdown (with air). Some bacteria
that cause decay function in a lack of air or oxygen. Others
need plenty of air . Aerobic composting is more common and
practical than anaerobic because it is faster and lacks the
malodorous middle stage common in anaerobic decomposition. The
anaerobic method of composting was devised to improve upon the
aerated composting of organic materials. Aerobic composting
brings about an oxidation that must destroy much of the organic
nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Secondly, some of the valuable
juices of the materials leach downward and out of the mass into
the ground underneath and are wasted. The purpose of keeping out
the air is to prevent or reduce oxidation. Research has shown
that anaerobic composting preserves more of the nutrients in the
compost than does aerobic composting."
The Trench
or Earthworm Method
This may be the simplest method of composting. You just need a
shovel and a place to dig a hole.
When we lived in suburbia, our entire back yard was a vegetable
garden. We began by digging a trench about a foot wide by a foot
deep by however long we wanted our eventual garden row. At the
end of the day, all our kitchen scraps went into the trench.
It's best to give meat scraps to your dog or cat rather than
compost them, since they decompose very slowly. The main thing
to keep in mind is: the smaller the particles and the more soil
with which they are in contact, the faster decomposition takes
place. So keep your shovel handy and when you liberate your
scraps into the trench, pretend you are a chipper shredder and
mince away! After you've nicely minced things, toss a shovel or
two of soil onto your scraps and stir the soil into them with
your shovel. Next day's scraps go on top of previous batches,
using the same mincing techniques. Keep piling new scraps on top
of old until you are about three inches below ground level. Then
move on down the trench and repeat the process until the entire
trench is filled to about three inches below ground level.
Finish filling the trench to ground level with the excavated
soil. If you were diligent about mincing and mixing your scraps,
plant the trench with whatever vegetable you wish. If you
weren't so diligent, wait a couple of weeks before planting.
When you are harried, pressed for time and tempted to otherwise
dispose of your scraps, tell yourself what a valuable resource
you will be throwing away by not composting! We've presented the
simplest technique first. Give it a try even if your trench is
only 1x1x1! Earthworms and plants will love you for it, you will
reap the rewards of better tasting, more nutritious food and the
satisfaction of integrating one of Nature's miracles into your
very own garden!
Think About Garbage
vs. Gold
We'd like to get you folks thinking about composting your
kitchen scraps! We know some of you are faithful composters
already. We also know how easy it is to just toss everything
down the garbage disposal or into the trash compactor! What we'd
like to get you thinking about is the gold that you are tossing
out by using the disposal or compactor as opposed to the compost
pile! There are several ways to compost. You can pick the one
that suits your time and lifestyle constraints.
It's true: what you toss out or put in the compost pile doesn't
look or exactly spend like gold! But, after a short
metamorphosis, we think it's even more valuable than gold. 
Kitchen scraps help to build soil and encourage our friends, the
earthworms, to tunnel around and do their magic in the soil and
for the plants!
Another aspect of composting is recycling. Instead of sending
your kitchen scraps to the sewage treatment plant or into a
landfill, use them to enrich the area where you live and grow
your food. We are back again to what one person can do! Think
what a difference it would make if everyone composted their own
kitchen scraps. We could turn scraps into gold instead of
garbage! Shazam!
