Monday, January 17, 2011

Composting done Right

When it comes to compost there is one thing that you have to put into it that you can't purchase from the garden store and it is called patience. With out it you just wont get the desired effects your looking for. Two years ago I decided to make my own compost and I have a system that works for me. In the pic there are two bins. On the left are all the leaves I have collected from this fall along with grass clippings and veggies from the kitchen. On the right is what it will look like after one year of having worms, microbes and moisture work it. That deep black crumbly chocolate cake look is the desired effect. In a few days when it stops raining I will take all of my black gold "not oil" and lay it in my garden beds ready to prep for this growing season. What a growing season it will be. In theory I should be able to do better than I did last year. We shall see. Lately I have been plagued by squirrels eating my kale and and other greens. The Garden Wars have begun- Such is the life of a Urban Homesteader:(

4 comments:

Sue said...

Love that compost!
I have a 3 pile area-this years/last years/ and bulky stuff that takes FOREVER to break down.
I know there are all sorts of "tricks" to use to get it to break down faster but I practise "LAZY" composting....throw it on the pile and leave it be for a year.
Are you expanding your garden at all this year? So many people (myself included) seem to be pushing for bigger.

ATW said...

Sue- Lazy Composting is Awesome! It's one of the reasons my compost is successful. Everyone in my area rakes thier leaves and goes through the trouble of bagging it and pulling it to the streets. Not this guy. I do turn it once in a while to get more food to the worms.

And great question about expansion!! I have been giving alot of thought to this. Where my garden is now I can't expand anymore. However, Last year I gave my wife the chance to grow vegetables and do things her way. Wellll, we had an anorexic garden, We laugh about it still today. This year I am going to grow the most veggies I can in the space I have. I want it to look like jurassic park. I will extend on the outer area of the garden for wild flowers to attract more bees and butterflies with humming birds. I'll post about it soon.

Looking forward to reading about your journey this year:)

Robin said...

That's some good-looking compost there! Ours is getting there, but I think it needs some moisture. I keep forgetting to leave the lid open on a rainy day.

ATW said...

Robin- LOL, I don't Compost would be created if we never Forgot.