Composting Article Running on Saturday
Photo courtesy daryl_mitchell/Flickr
This Saturday’s article will be on composting, my suggestion for a great New Year’s resolution for gardeners.
In the interest of disclosure, let me say that I am a lazy composter. Dedicated, but lazy.
And, I can attest that eventually, everything does break down.
Our last home had 4 acres of land, about 2-1/2 acres of which was wood or non-landscaped area. We basically just threw everything into a pile, and when the pile got too big, we started a new pile. Eventually – say a couple of years later – the first pile was ready to use.
We no longer have 4 acres, so we have one compost pile, and if it was up to me, it would still be something that no one ever touched, except to dig down to the bottom and get the finished stuff out every once in a while.
But, my husband is good enough to go out there and turn the pile 2-3 times a year, so it is usable on a quicker timeframe.
My current compost pile is a cold pile, because hot piles require you to be more exact, and I simply don’t want to put the effort into it. I believe fully in composting, but I’m happy to wait for nature to do its thing on its own timetable.
Composting is a detailed subject and I know it’s something that a lot of gardeners have questions about, so I’m planning on dedicating the next several posts to this topic. I hope you’ll all share what you know, too!
December 27, 2012 - 7:46 AM
KH, that makes two of us. I hate to take the fun outta something by working myself to death. Let it sit. I’ll watch for tips on how you do it.
Hope you post on whether to use 10/10/10, water, cover or what. Heard it advised both ways so don’t know. Got four pallets that will make a good bin and one end wired for access. After the snow goes I’ll collect some leaves and filler up. By the time anything turns green it should settle down enough to add and mix in the green and fruit scraps.
We use the wood pallets; three of them – back and two sides. I guess it would be called a cold one. We also just dig a hole in our rows and bury scraps in there. We cover it with a board so the skunks do not go along and dig it up. I too will be interested in hearing about composting from others – we are the lazy kind.
I’m a pile it up and use it eventually type, too. Obviously we need motivation on this so thanks in advance, Karen. I spent time today pulling frozen downed netting off my blueberries. With the half inch of ice remaining from Wednesday’s storm, it was about as heavy as chain mail and I feared additional precip tonight would destroy some of my younger bushes, which have delicate branches.