Composting is a rarely discussed subject but it is a primary task to all gardeners. Composting is a process of recycling decomposed organic materials into a rich soil known as compost. Know what makes compost an important element to a gardener in this article.
Composting 101: What Is Composting?
Beginner’s Guide to Composting
Composting: How Does It Work?
Walking through the woods of a beaten or paved path in the city parks will show how composting is done. Take a look at the big birch, maple, ash, oak or whatever tree that grows in your neighborhood. Depending on the time of the year, the tree may be covered with leaves or losing its leaves. In some tree types, all the leaves may fall to the ground. If you have a similar tree in your yard, you may be raking up a mountain of leaves. You will surely find a hump of leaves under the trees in the woods accumulated for several years of growth. The wind may not have blown all of them away. Beneath the tree with several dried leaves, you will find a black earth full of organic matter. This is known as compost.
You may observe the previous year’s leaves with the general detritus of a woodland floor. Then the layer of that black matter with the dried leaves are broken down by bacteria, fungi, insects and animals of the forest floor.
Dried leaves are being fed to a tree. Photosynthesis allows the sunlight to dry the leaves and be used as food for the trees. As the leaves turn brown, the feeding continues and becomes compost furnishing the roots with nutrients. This process is commonly used to the home garden as compost.
The sheet composting method is one of the most simple. Consider the garden bed during fall that will need about 3 inches of compost in spring. Instead of waiting for a busy spring, it can be done in the fall. A layer of garden debris or other beds can be spread out over the site to about 3 inches thick. The lawn mower for winter is used to mow bags of leaves piled from nearby trees.
The chopped leaves are spread for another 3 to 6 inches over the bed. Everything is tidied up and watered to settle the cut leaves, which form a sort of jigsaw puzzle to hold together and not blow around the yard following the mowing. During planting time in spring, there will be a good layer of compost to place the seedlings into the bed before planting seeds.
Relax and compost. Things rot and return to nourish the earth. All we have to do is learn the law of nature. Let things grow naturally.
Watch this video to learn the benefits of Composting:
Do you like this blog? Let us know your thoughts. Comment in the box below. Join our discussion on our Facebook group. Subscribe to our newsletter. Thanks for reading. See you on our next Garden Season update!
Know more about compost,visit here.
[Composting] Best Way to Make Organic Compost for Your Garden
How To Produce Your Homemade Organic Fertilizer
25 Natural Ingredients To Prepare A Healthy Organic Compost