There are many reasons people choose to grow their own fruits and vegetables; among them are the pride of consuming the fruits of their labor as well as limiting the number of chemicals in their diet. Fertilizers and pesticides have been used to help growers achieve larger harvests with less damage from pests, but time has shown certain chemicals may not be compatible with human health.
As a result, those with gardens, big and small, have chosen to make their own fertilizer by composting organic wastes they would otherwise toss into the trash can, subsequently ending up in a local landfill.
Nature has long used composting and its effects can be seen in the ground in wooded areas. Left undisturbed under the trees, leaves and other plant material lie on the forest floor and slowly turn into nutrient-rich soil. Next time you’re in the woods, reach down and grab a handful of soil and you can see how black it is, filled with the minerals required to help the trees in that forest continue to grow.
Composting is the biodegradation of organic material, and when conducted in a controlled environment, can be an easy and inexpensive way to produce organic fertilizer for your home garden. Compost piles can be created in sizes ranging from a bucket to hundreds of acres, based on the need of the farmer.
But let’s look at composting for the individual with a small garden and sufficient yard space to create enough fertilizer to keep your plants fed throughout the year. About three cubic yards should provide enough. That is three-foot wide, three-feet deep and about three-feet high. This also makes the pile more manageable for turning for aeration.
Carbon and nitrogen are the two main ingredients in healthy compost. When adding organic materials to the compost pile, biodegradable materials high in carbon include: corn stalks or cereal stalks, such as wheat and rice; dry leaves, better if they are shredded such as with your lawn mower, sawdust and paper, such as cardboard and office paper. Newspapers can also be used, provided they are printed with a soy-based ink, eliminating other chemical inks sometimes used.
High nitrogen materials include green plant waste and grass clippings. That’s right. Don’t put your grass clippings in a bag for the garbage truck; put them on the compost heap. Manure from a variety of herbivores, including horses and cows as well as kitchen waste, fruit and vegetable waste, pulp left over from juicing, as well as tea and coffee grounds.
When placing items on the compost pile, they should be shredded or sliced to reduce their size as well as mixed in with the rest of the pile to help speed up the composting rate. To begin the process, again depending on the size of the pile, you may want to construct a three-sided container. Smaller compost piles can be made in large trash cans. One of the keys to creating good compost is keeping it mixed, while it “cooks.”
As the compost process proceeds, the materials will become hot through the decaying process. You will need to stir the materials on a regular basis to maintain oxygen levels in the mix as well as keeping it evenly heated. With appropriate materials in the compost mixture and the moisture level at about 50 percent (think about squeezing a sponge) the temperature can reach about 140-degrees in about a week or week and a half.
When the temperature begins to fall, it’s time to aerate the compost by turning it over, mixing it well enough to bring the bottom materials to the top and vice-versa. Since the center of the pile gets hotter than the top and bottom, the materials need to be turned to allow all the materials to spend time in the hot spot equally.
The heat generated in the compost pile will kill many insects and their larvae. All insect larvae will probably not be killed by high temperature composting, but their ability to reproduce in the soil will be compromised.
An average sized, home compost pile, using the ideal ingredients and aerated by turning on a regular basis, should be ready for use in 30 to 40 days. The smell from the compost pile, while may not be desirable at first, will become similar to that of soil often found in heavily wooded areas. When it emits the odor of damp, rich soil you know it’s ready to provide food for your garden.
You should spread this compost on the ground before planting, and turn it into the soil. However, it can also be placed around the plants as they grow. By leaving out materials that may contain chemicals, your garden will provide a healthier organic yield.
Compost Tea Gives Garden a Quick Shot Of Food
Mixing up a batch of compost "tea" will give your garden a boost in the middle of the growing season, usually resulting in higher yield and larger plants and vegetables.
Similar to brewing tea, you have to let the composting materials steep in water: however, this takes three or four days to make a healthy tea. One of the simplest methods requires the use of most items typically found around the house. You will need a bucket, water, your composting material from the pile in the yard (or bought from a landscape supplier) and something to stir it with.
Aeration can also increase the oxygen in the tea and reduce the need for stirring. This can be done with an air pump, found for aquariums along with a gang valve and plastic tubing.
When selecting water for making your tea, remember that tap water from a commercial source usually contains chlorine, which will kill useful bacterial in the compost, rendering your tea virtually useless. Use distilled water, which can be found in a humidifier, or in a bottle from most grocery stores.
Fill the bucket about half-way with compost materials and then cover with water. Keep the mixture low enough so that it won’t spill over when you stir it. If using the air pump as an aerator, use a three or four gang valve. Put the plastic tubes in the bucket first, extending from the valve to the bottom of the bucket and then cover with the compost material; next add your water and turn on the air pump.
If you’re not using the air pump, the mixture will need to be stirred two or three times a day. In either case, the tea will be ready in about three days.
In order to be used in a sprayer, it will need to be filtered. Another bucket can be used, with a piece of cheesecloth fitted tightly over the bucket and the mixture poured through it, into the second bucket. The larger materials can be put back into the compost pile or spread on the ground around plants.
The tea is then placed into the sprayer and then sprayed on the ground around the soil under plants. A few advocates will advise application onto the foliage as well as the ground, but most claim this practice can burn the leaves of the plants and detract from their growth.
Using compost as a fertilizer will provide the food needed for plant growth, however the compost will take time to release its benefits into the soil. Using compost tea, allows the nutrients to hit the ground running, so to speak, allowing the plants to receive the benefits almost immediately. This will give the plants a nutritional boost at once.
