The Many Surprising Benefits of Compost
As gardeners we all know without healthy soil, there will be no beautiful healthy garden. It’s just that simple. What better way to ensure healthy soil then backyard composting. Don’t laugh, but there is something magical about backyard composting. It is something akin to the “sum is greater than the parts”, or two separate delicious ingredients will never compare as well alone, as when complemented and combined together as one.
As I have mentioned before, backyard composting can be paralleled to making a vegetarian recipe. It is equal parts of layered greens and browns, add water to keep moist, and turn frequently to aerate. For more detailed information, please go to VGG related post, How To Compost In Your Backyard.
Here are examples of but not limited to, what is regularly in my compost bin. I add egg shells from my beautiful eggs my hens have laid. I add raked leaves from our trees that I cherish in our garden. I add my spent coffee grinds and recycled coffee filter from the aromatic French Roast coffee I enjoy drinking each morning. I add fresh grass clippings from our lawn. I add sweet potato peels and green bean tips from an evening meal preparation. I add my chicken manure as an extra bonus.
Ten Ways Compost Benefits Your Soil and Ultimately Your Garden:
-It improves the soil structure by causing mineral particles in your soil to naturally clump together.
-It improves soil ability to hold moisture, and means less watering.
-It improves soil aeration and the ability to carry oxygen to your plant’s roots.
-It acts as an anchor to hold in soil nutrients, and not allow them to wash away with ground water.
-It increases the number of beneficial microorganisms and worms in your soil.
-It has the ability to neutralize acidic soils and acidifies alkaline soils, this is big.
-It has the ability to consume harmful fungi spores, if present.
-It introduces trace elements often hard to add, and in proper amounts to your soil.
-It kills harmful pathogens in the soil, which keeps your plants and garden healthy.
-It creates a healthy environment for healthy plants to thrive, and inhibits weed growth.
Your compost is a custom mixture, an interesting by-product of your life. All of these ingredients throughly combined become an organic rich humus with incredible benefits to your soil, garden, plants, trees, and yard.
Besides the many advantageous perks of adding compost to your soil, composting benefits your pocketbook, and piece of mind. Please share if you compost now. Please comment on what got you started composting? What benefits have you seen in your garden since composting?
For those of you in the San Diego area, there are “Free Composting Workshops” offered this spring through Solana Center for Environmental Innovation. Pre-register online at Solana Center for Environmental Innovation or (tel) (760) 436-7986 x222
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I started composting last year – I bought a couple of those large black recycled plastic things. They worked pretty good until a heavy wind hit them. Even the one that was nearly full came apart and I had a compost disaster! I just kept the compost in a heap and got rid of the black plastic. In the future, I will probably build my own structure, keep it lower to the ground, and side by side so that I can turn it easier and have one “cooking” while the other is filling up. I would love to see your composter!!
I am fascinated by this topic since I believe that the soil feeds us indirectly all the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals our body needs and that this is the best way for us to assimilate them (as opposed to taking supplements by the handful!). The soil feeds the plant which feeds us. Whatever is in the soil will determine how that plant nourishes us. Currently, I’m reading Eliot Coleman’s book Four Season Harvest. He explains composting very succinctly and in terms that are easy to understand. I also have Rodale’s book on Composting which I hope to read next (I think it will be much more technical, but hopefully a great help).
Amy, you are so right. Backyard composting is a custom mixture, an interesting by-product of your life, what you are preparing for dinner, what is in your garden. Compost is this incredible organic mixture, basically under our very noses. It takes just a little discipline. Funny, my friend just recommended Four-Season Harvest, and Secrets to Great Soil to me today. I was not familiar with either one. Thanks for your wonderful commment….VintageGardenGal
Hi Bonnie, This is my second try at leaving you a comment.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my new book. Can it really be happening??? Finally.
Sending all best wishes to you,
Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island
P.S. LOVE the list of French titles. My passion is all things French. How can you go wrong?