Gardening and Soil Building Part 2

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Sandra Dinkins-Wilson

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Continuing with using organic matter to build our soil, we see that another basic method is in the form of compost which starts with some sort of bin, whether above ground or set into the ground as a pit. Most people use the above ground way as we are most familiar with it. However, one ingenious method is to...

Continuing with using organic matter to build our soil, we see that another basic method is in the form of compost which starts with some sort of bin, whether above ground or set into the ground as a pit. Most people use the above ground way as we are most familiar with it.

However, one ingenious method is to dig a hole in your garden about two to three feet wide and about one foot deep. Into this add your organic material, topping it off occasionally as you fill the hole with dirt and lime to keep down the odor and flies in the summer. You might find you need to add some sort of cover if the flies or animals become pests.

When the hole is filled, it is ready to plant some seeds in. Make sure that the last few inches is soil you have topped the hole with before adding the seeds. When using this method, remember to dig some holes before winter so you have enough places to add your vegetable peelings and organic materials to throughout the winter. This will really enrich your garden area a little at a time with this idea.

There are many books and articles in magazines giving exact directions for creating a compost pile in a bin. So many inches of green matter, so many inches of brown matter and a couple inches of soil in between. But what you need to remember most is to add only vegetable or plant matter and soil. No meat scraps or fat or chemicals, etc. That is, unless you do want your garden to be the center for all the stray dogs, cats and varmints in the neighborhood.

Compost bins can be made from all sorts of materials. These can range from concrete blocks forming three sides of the pen to using field fencing. As we usually have small sections of field fence left over from fencing projects, that is what we use. Simply connect one end to the other to form a circle. You want it to be at least three feet in diameter. When it's time to turn the compost, simply disconnect one end of the fencing from the other and pull it out of the way. Move it next to where the pile is and reform into a circle again. Then, using a pitchfork (or manure fork, the tines are closer together) toss the old compost pile over into the newly formed bin.

Once you have started adding plant material and soil to your pile the biggest things to remember are to keep it damp (not sopping wet) and keep it fluffy so oxygen can get into all the material to decompose it and make it into compost. For this reason it is usually good to have two bins right next to each other to turn the compost over from one to the other. Even better is three.

You start with one pile and when it is full you turn it, starting at the top, into the next bin. Then after that pile heats up and has started cooling down again, you turn it into the last bin. As you empty each bin you can add more to it. Once the first bin is empty, you can begin adding more plant material to it. Finally in the last bin after the pile has heated up and then cooled off again, you will have compost ready for the garden. Just repeat the process. Now you know why three bins are better than two because you can keep the process going.

Adding soil occasionally to your pile adds the bacteria that do the decomposing. The decomposition process is what causes the pile to heat up. Plan on turning your pile about every two to three weeks in the summertime. It will be longer in the winter (and depending on where you are, you might not at all) but you can usually tell when the pile cools off in the winter.