Composting 101

Getting started can be overwhelming, but in fact, it's incredibly simple. It begins with your trash and your household waste. Most people already separate their recyclables. The second step is to designate a bowl for your kitchen with a lid that you can start to separate your organic waste into. You can purchase compost bowls at kitchen stores, but I've found that a good, big bowl with a lid is sufficient. What is suitable to compost? Fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, egg cartons and most plant based scraps in moderation. Be wary of cartons that contain dyes and print, however. The rest of your household paper and cardboard can be recycled instead. What is not suitable to compost? Animal products or waste and inorganic materials. When my kitchen bowl is full, I empty it into a large bucket that I keep on my back porch. When that bucket is full, I dump it into the active bin. I keep everything separated into three bins and stages of decomposition. The active one is where I deposit the current waste, grass clippings and small yard waste and leaves. The other two are in two stages of material based on rough waste that needs more time to break down and one which holds the overflow of amendments. The basic principle to compost is that food waste is mixed with dead leaves or dried plant material which emits carbon and with green material which emits nitrogen. The food waste is always covered. You will need to water your pile occasionally to keep the bacteria active. A good pile is hot in the middle which means it is active. It needs to be turned once a week and tended a little. You can purchase an organic accelerator at any garden store that is a granular bacteria you add to a watering can and add to your pile in order to stimulate the production of good bacteria. Designate a place that is away from the house where you can begin. It attracts bugs and pests, which is good, but that's why you don't want it close to your house. You don't have to have any special equipment like a tumbler or a store bought bin. Enclosing it on three sides with any material works to keep it contained and will increase the heat.

 

This is the active pile where I have just added a bucket of new material that now gets turned into the existing material and completely covered.

When the compost is ready to use, it looks like dark, rich soil. We call it black gold. This can now be added to your garden as a top dressing and used like fertilizer for existing plants or turned into the top inch of a new bed you want to prepare to receive new plantings.

My four year old loves working in the garden as much as I do and since I home school him, we are in our outdoor classroom every day, even in the winter. He has his own set of long handled tools and a wheel barrow too. Here, he is helping me turn our new batch into our Spring beds.

Homegrown compost (in lieu of store bought bags) will always be superior. The food you grow with it is later recycled into more compost for more food. It is the ultimate in sustainable practices. I love digging through my beds and finding the shell of an egg I ate or a dried up avocado skin. Look at these incredible beets that we grew this winter with it!

Our beds are so green, happy and healthy because of the quality of the soil we grow. Your plants will reflect the integrity of the nutrition content in the ground and will return the favor!

Pictured here is the pathway leading into the perennial herb beds featuring Lavender and Rosemary and an abundance of greens on the right such as romaine, mustard greens, swiss chard, beets, spinach, Dill and Chervil.

In the Spring and Summer, it is tough to do anything else but luxuriate in the beautiful mazes of The Fortress. Pathways lead to strawberries, garlic and lettuce, flowers swarm with bees and butterflies, hummingbirds dart about, birds are in constant song, fragrant herbs stimulate your senses as you brush by them and cats lounge in the cool shade. This is my faithful head space, my heaven.

I am truly happiest when I am surrounded by flora, fauna and the wonders of nature.