Don’t Dismiss Composting

(or Why You Should Compost) 


Words and Photos by Jac Kyles Baker


Forgive the bossy title, please.


I’m not a fan of titling articles with what you “should do”.  Who am I to tell you what you should do?   


This is the first and the last time I "should" you.


I implore anyone who can compost to do so.  But maybe you don’t believe it’s worth it or you’ve been too lazy (understandable). It's why a lazy skeptic shares the experience of making and using compost.  


Perhaps I’ll change your mind.


Gardening, Cooking and Composting: A Perfect Threesome



I gardened and cooked.  I didn't compost.  I wanted to compost.  But...the critters.  The unsightliness.  The thought of piling vegetable scraps and egg shells on the ground didn't appeal.  Even worse was the thought of aerating an unsightly heap and disturbing a four legged creature who’s angry and ready to attack.  Shudder.


Sigh.  Master gardeners say compost is “black gold.”  “It's the key to any successful garden”.  “It's all due to compost,” say owners of beautiful gardens. By not composting, I was doing a disservice to gardens, nature and the universe.  Sigh.


On a trip to my favorite wholesale club, I spotted a large black ball in the garden section.  Curious, I approached and discovered that it’s a composter.  Whaaat?  It looked like a Dragon Ball Z alien's space pod.  Intriguing.  Oblivious to any judgy onlookers, I played with the composter.

  

Play?  With a composter?  You see, the big ball rolled around on a base, tumbling and aerating the contents inside.  It's a closed composting system that's neat, tidy and looks like it came from another planet.  Loved it.  No critters.  No pitchfork required.


When asked if I wanted it, I said yes with no hesitation. 


I got a composter!  I powered up to become a Super Gardener™. 

A black ball composter sits in a garden bed covered with sedum groundcovers.

The garden bed greens up in late March and the composter stands out.

Foliage of spring perennials in a garden bed obscure a black ball composter.

May's spring energy relegates the composter to the background.

Shasta daisies bloom and sedum foliage grows around a black ball composter.

It's early June and shasta daisies bloom first in this packed garden bed.  Some say it's overcrowded.  I say it's lush.

Sedum flowers begin to bloom as spearmint grows around the black ball composter.

By July, what was once a sad bed of wood mulch is now a catch all bed of herbs, scattered seeds and plant divisions hits full stride.  The only requirement for inclusion was matching the color scheme. 

Benefits: Less Trash, A Better Garden and Earthworm Friends 



I cooked from scratch: lots of fresh vegetables, herbs and eggs.  All the vegetable/fruit peels and trimmings, coffee grounds and masses of eggshells went into the kitchen trash every week.  Paper and cardboard filled the outside trash bin.


Grass clippings, deadheaded flowers, tree and shrub prunings, and fallen leaves sadly filled plastic bags destined for landfills.

The ball composter changed all that.  


At the end of the week, the kitchen trash was half full.  Some weeks, I skipped the early morning ritual of dragging the outdoor trash bin into the alley before hearing the sanitation trucks' engines.


Winter didn’t stop the ball composter.  The composting slowed due to the cold weather but it didn't cease. 

Earthworms Are Ravenous, Y’all.


In early spring, most of the compost was removed and a new batch was started.   Somehow earthworms wriggled their way into the composter and made it a home.  They even laid eggs.  Wondrous.  


Without getting into reasons, I had no intention of messing with vermiculture*.  Imagine my delight when backyard earthworms saw an opportunity to live cozy in the composter, meals included.


I got worm castings-rich fluffy compost (that black gold) just for having a closed composter that sheltered these unsung heroes from the weather and marauding orioles.  


To show my appreciation, I left a bottom layer of finished compost a few inches deep for my earthworm tenants.  An unexpected partnership.

Sedums pink flowers in abundance alongside the black ball composter.

In September, sedums besiege the composter.

Sedum flowers turn a rusty maroon color as leaves fall beneath the black ball composter.

By October,  the sedums start to retreat.

Fallen red leaves surround the black ball composter.

Plenty of leaves to compost in late October. 

A view of a snow covered black ball composter and garden.

A view through a a potted peach tree's bare branches.  Snow tops the composter but earthworms are living the cozy life within. 

A Ball Composter's Journey


My ball composter made two large bags of compost a year.  Plenty for my garden needs.  


I kept a bag of compost from the previous year in a bin.  In late winter and early spring, I spread the compost on garden beds to take advantage of late snow or spring rains.  This was done before daffodil foliage started poking through the soil.  Ideally.


I sowed seeds with any leftover compost.  I know.  Any credible gardener and garden book warns against using compost for seed sowing.  But I grew a lot from seed.  Seed sowing mix and potting soil aren't free or cheap.  I don't endorse this practice; it's what I did.  I wanted to grow many flowers, herbs and vegetables; sowing seeds was the only option.  So I improvised.


The composter made a batch by May.  With that batch, I refreshed the soil in large containers after overwintering or early spring crops like greens, scallions and herbs finished.  Then I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and annual flowers.  Earthworms found their way into the large containers, too. 


Before composting, I struggled with the proper watering, feeding and pest control.  After composting for a few seasons, the garden was less dependent on me to thrive.  Even though the growing season's weather became more erratic.  Don't get me wrong; a gardener's work is never done.

White daisies bloom in front of a black ball composter.

The composter sits behind a scrim of daisies on the summer solstice.

Herbs, flowers and the ball composter glow in the morning light.

Mint will take over for the daisies.  Bumble bees L-O-V-E mint flowers.  The roots of the silver maple tree keep the mint and it's cousin, catnip, in check.

The Benefits of Compost, According to Science


You’re skeptical about my composting journey?  The Environmental Protection Agency has something to say.  They say what I said just not as impassioned.


Adding finished compost to your soil :



What to Compost, According to Science


I didn’t get into the nitty gritty of composting.  But epa.gov has a nitty gritty composting guide.  Check it out.



Compost Materials


Use a ratio of brown to green 3:1 or 2:1






A side garden view of the garden bed with the ball composter includes a peach tree growing in a large pot.
Shasta daisies bloom and sedum foliage obscure the view of a black ball composter.

Final Words on Why You Should Compost



Nothing I bought improved the soil and the garden’s health and productivity like compost.  


I’m not just talking about plants but numerous pollinators, reptiles, birds and mammals (some better behaved than others).  Having these creatures living and raising offspring in my small garden was delightful.


The garden’s naturalness obscured the gardener's hand.  I loved it.


So much goodness from what I once thought was trash.

*Vermicompost is the product of earthworm digestion and aerobic decomposition using the activities of micro- and macroorganisms at room temperature. Vermicomposting, or worm composting, produces a rich organic soil amendment containing a diversity of plant nutrients and beneficial microorganisms.


Source: Vermicosting for Beginners by Rick Carr | rodaleinstitute.org January 2016