by describer one

Created on: August 14, 2009   Last Updated: November 20, 2009

Real-world composting

What if I told you that you could put a large group of bacteria to work for you, and actually have them save you a significant amount of money? You might think I'm teasing, or perhaps a bit nuts. Not so. It has been my experience that, with composting, I have never had to purchase a leaf bag from the city or pay to have any leaves or grass clippings hauled away. Thus, a lot of my scarce $$$ saved.

There are many different ways to compost your yard materials. But there are a few things that you need to get down pat. First, grass clippings, leaves or other vegetable matter will compost. Sticks, logs, branches do not, or at least not very well. These can sometimes be chipped up and spread around shrubbery, making good mulch. But mulch is not necessarily compost, although eventually it does break down. . And, do not use any meats or protein-type food scraps in your compost pile. Animal excrement is also a bad idea for a backyard compost pile. It will attract other animals, to the ultimate detriment of your yard.

So, you have your grass clippings and leaves from your lawnmower or other source. The thing to do is make a pile, with a layer of materials about a foot thick. Then, you spread some dirt over this, approximately 1 inch or so. ( I have just shoveled several spadefuls over the material, spreading it round). Then, you wet it down, to bring the dirt in contact with the clippings. The important thing seems to be to keep those bacteria, which do the actual munching down of materials, fed and happy. You do this by keeping your pile moist, and sprinkling a light dressing of all-purpose (15-30-15) fertilizer over it every two layers or so. You feed the little critters, and they chew down your yard stuff into a rich, crumbly brown earthy substance that you can spread over your garden, or use to fill in depressions in the yard.

If you let your layers just sit without turning, they will eventually decompose. But by regularly stirring them, about twice a week, you speed up the process, fueling aerobic digestion, by oxygen-feeding bacteria. ( If one just let it sit all winter, the anaerobic-type bacteria will take over: Slower, but still effective). Anything will decompose if it is left to sit long enough. The important thing is, how much time do you want it to take.

For my pile, I layer it every time I empty out the mower bag after mowing my lawn. So I have many smaller layers, each with a sprinkling of dirt, and the occasional dressing of fertilizer.

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