Don’t Dismiss Composting

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™. 

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.

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.

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 :

• Improves the structure and health of your soil by adding organic matter.

• Helps the soil retain moisture and nutrients.

• Attracts beneficial organisms to the soil and reduces the need for pesticides and fertilizers.

• Reduces the potential for soil erosion.

• Sequesters carbon in the 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

• Nitrogen (green organic matter vegetable and fruit scraps, green prunings, grass clippings, coffee grounds and filters, tea and bags without staples, crushed eggshells)

• Carbon (brown materials, paper, cardboard, woody stems)

• Water

• Oxygen

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