Bl4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 8,1983
Use Debris for Composting
Fall garden and yard cleanup
can result in a mountain of garden
debris and fallen leaves to be
disposed of. A good portion of this
material can be composted and the
decomposed organic matter
eventually returned to the garden.
Finished compost is an excellent
soil amendment; half-finished
compost makes a good mulch.
Composting can be as simple as
dumping organic materials in a
pile and forgetting about them for
several years. But if you want to
speed up this garden recycling
process, (compost can be finished
in as little as four months) some
care must go into constructing the
pile.
The main component of the pile,
is, of course, the organic
materials. Most all vegetable
materials (including kitchen
wastes) can be composted, but
avoid using woody and diseased
materials, weeds that carry
abundant seeds, and clippings
from lawns that have been treated
with herbicides. A mixture of
debris is ideal. Shredding it will
speed decomposition.
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Build your pile in layers by
topping 6-8 inches of compostable
materials with a thin layer of rich
soil or old compost. This supplies
the microorganisms that actually
do the “composting.” A frosting of
limestone and a scattering of 10-10-
10 fertilizer will nurture these
bacteria. (Manure is an excellent
nitrogen source if you can get it.)
Water and air are the remaining
ingredients needed for a viable
compost pile. Each completed
layer of the pile should be watered
(but not drowned) before the next
is added, and the entire pile
watered occasionally if rainfall is
scarce. Air is supplied by limiting
the size of the pile (5x5x5 feet is
workable), by avoiding over
watering, by using a mixture of
materials, and by occasionally
turning the pile “inside-out.” A
pile should definitely be turned if it
starts to give off a had odor.
Composting' is a good solution to
garden cleanup and will ultimately
be of great benefit to your garden.
For more details on composting
ask for Extension leaflets,
“Making and Using Compost” and
“Compost.”-
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