http://www.care2.com/greenliving/building-a-compost-heap.html
Build a Compost Heap
Adapted from Four-Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman
So often, the obvious solution is right at our fingertips, but
it looks so simple that we fail to notice. Generations of
gardeners have consistently come up with the same chain of
logic: A fertile soil is the key to growing garden vegetables;
compost is the key to a fertile soil. The first step in the
four-season harvest is learning to make good compost. It’s
not difficult. Compost wants to happen.
Pick a site near the garden so the finished compost will be
close at hand. Whenever possible, place the heap under the
branches of a deciduous tree so there will be shade in hot
weather and sunlight to thaw the heap in spring. A site
near the kitchen makes it convenient to add kitchen scraps.
Access to a hose is handy for those times when the heap
needs extra moisture. If the site is uphill from the garden,
the heavy work of wheelbarrowing loads of compost will have
gravity on its side.
Build the compost heap by alternating layers of brown
ingredients (such as dried grass stems, old cornstalks, dried
pea and bean vines, reeds, and old hay) with mostly green ones
(young, moist, and fresh materials such as kitchen wastes,
grass clippings, fresh pea vines). Begin with a layer of straw
about 3 inches deep, then add 1 to 6 inches of green ingredients,
another 3 inches of straw, and then more green ingredients.
The thickness of the green layer depends on the nature of the
materials. Loose, open material such as green bean vines or
tomato stems can be applied in a thicker (6-inch) layer,
while denser material that might mat together, such as kitchen
scraps or grass clippings, should be layered thinly (1 to 2
inches). These thicknesses are a place for you to start, but
you will learn to modify them as conditions require.
Sprinkle a thin coverage of soil on top of each green layer.
Make the soil 1/2 inch deep or so depending on what type of
green material is available. If you have just added a layer
of weeds with soil on their roots, you can skip the soil to the
compost heap has both a physical and a microbiological effect:
physical because certain soil constituents (clay particles and
minerals) have been shown to enhance the decomposition of organic
matter; microbiological because soil contains millions of
microorganisms, which are needed to break down the organic
material in the heap. These bacteria, fungi, and other organisms
multiply in the warm, moist conditions as decomposition is
initiated. If your garden is very sandy or gravely, you might
want to find some clay to add to the heap as the soil layer.
As an additional benefit, the clay will improve the balance of
soil particle sizes in your garden.
Go to the Source
Four-Season Harvest
Eliot Coleman shows how North american gardeners can successfully use that sun to raise a wide variety of traditional winter vegetables in backyad cold frames and plastic-covered tunnel greenhouses without supplementary heat.buy nowrelated stories
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104 comments
add your comment »I had a garden when I was living in a seperate house and would insist my mom, who is an avid gardener, to use all the degradable trash to spread across the garden. It had pretty good effect on the plant growth. Now we live in apartments where a garden is not feasible.
But we have insisted the people who collect garbage from these apartments to seggregate degradable and non-degradable waste; and even the apartment dwellers to follow this protocol. I suppose it provides for a better garbage disposal system.
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I live in an NYC apartment; instead of a yard, there are trees planted along my block, including one right near my building's front door. In my home I collect biodegradeable food scraps (inedible vegetable peelings/parts, egg shells, used tea leaves, etc.), and gather fallen autumn leaves from the neighborhood so that I can compost them in the square of dirt between the tree and the sidewalk. In the late fall I do alternating layers of my green materials, leaves, soil (either purchased or from my fallow gardening pots) and shredded newspaper to create a compost pile with a ring of space around the tree so it doesn't overheat (composting soil creates a lot of heat). Bulbs can be planted in the pile and the heat will keep them safe until they bloom in the spring.
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in the past were not so many problems.
Now even a fruit can make problems
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Fabulous, I love the idea of having compost but what if you rent property, especially apartments...how could you cost-effectively (anotherwords not buying equiptment) do composting?
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People comment on our garden every year and are amazed at what we can grow and how big everything grows. They want to know what we use on our garden. NOTHING but compost. Food, leaves, grass clipping.... However NEVER use dog poop where you grow your food.
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i always used all my old food and grass cutting and then after it compost then give it back to mother earth to make new crop
banna skins are good for roses and horse poo is a good alrounder for the garden
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Also composting attracts earth worms who are very essential to any garden and yard as they aerate( think my spelling is off there)but hope all get the gist. Great ideas here, thank you!
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The township we live in , has an excellent program ,we all have green bins, one small and a big one , I keep the small one in the kitchen , when it's full it goes in the big one , use biodegradable bags . The wast management here is great .
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I already know about it, my mom loves to gardening as many ones here in chile, and they all use compost :) a good way to recycle and to save money!!
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I use to organic garden, but since I went back to work full time, gardening isn't one of my indulgences any longer. I sure do miss it! However, I do things like add my tea leaves to my indoor plant's soil. My Philadendrons, especially, love this. I do have a few flowers and plants outdoors. I put my coffee grounds and veggie ends under the leaves and pine straw I use to mulch them with. The birds and squirrels get any old bread, crackers(I just crumble and toss)or too ripe fruit I might have. . It's always a good feeling to know I'm making an effort, even if it's small. In the end every effort will be a benefit.
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