Ready, Set, Compost!

You can make composting as easy and cheap as that leaf-dropping tree. All you need are the ingredients and as much time as you are willing to devote to the project.

For the sake of appearances, or ease of handling, you may wish to enclose the pile in a bin. My favorite siding for this job is a 10- to 12 1/2-foot length of 48-inch-wide hardware cloth, 1/2- by 1-inch mesh. It is sturdy enough to be freestanding, forms a circle of perfect dimensions for composting, and won't leak any small pieces of the pile. Bend over a few of the wires on one edge to form hooks to attach it to the other edge in a cylinder. It's cheap, easy to use, lasts forever, and stores almost anywhere. Lumber scraps and chicken wire, salvaged concrete blocks, or bales of straw arranged together will also serve the purpose.

The dimensions of the pile affect how quickly it breaks down. Research has determined that the pile must be at least 3 feet high by 3 feet across in order to have enough mass to retain the heat generated in composting. As the microbes work, temperatures can reach 140°F inside the pile. These high temperatures kill weed seeds and disease organisms. Piles about 4 feet by 4 feet will work fine, but piles much larger than 5 feet around take a lot of work to keep actively composting. Larger

piles require constant turning to keep oxygen supplied to those busy microbes.

There are no hard and fast rules for building a compost pile. Gardeners generally recommend layering nitrogen materials and carbon materials with a bit of soil, with finished compost or activator sprinkled throughout the pile as it is built. The first time you turn the pile this neat arrangement is shot. The most convenient way to compost is to toss in whatever is available at the moment. Weeds go in when you pull them, soil, and all. Toss in eggshells, coffee grounds, and melon rinds after breakfast. Throw cornstalks on the pile at the end of summer.

You can add many items whole to the compost pile, and they will degrade fine. But larger items, such as cornstalks, hedge trimmings, and spent broccoli plants, will break down much more quickly if chopped into smaller pieces first. When they are cut into pieces there is much more surface area on which the microbes can work. Reduce large pieces by running over a shallow pile of them with a lawn mower, hacking with an ax, or throwing them in a chipper/shredder.

Keep the pile moist as you add materials to it. An occasional sprinkling with the garden hose provides the microbes with water they need to survive. Don't let piles get dripping wet, however, as precious plant nutrients will leach out. Cover your pile during rainy weather or if it is within sprinkler range.

Turning the pile provides aerobic conditions for you and the pile. You get the exercise, and the pile gets a fresh supply of oxygen for those hard-working microbes. If using a bin, disassemble it, grab a fork, and start working. Turn the outsides of the old pile into the center so they will be exposed to microbial action. Sprinkle the pile with water intermittently as you turn it. The more frequently you turn the pile, the more quickly the compost will decompose.

What Does It Take to Make Compost?

The good news is that anybody can make compost. Actually, compost will make itself without anybody. Consider a maple tree near a fence line. Each year it sheds its leaves, and some of those leaves are blown against the fence where they pile up. In time, the bottom layer of those leaves is no longer recognizable as leaves, but transformed into a dark, sweet-smelling, crumbly soil.
All organic matter rots. You can speed up the process by combining different types of matter, ventilating the mix to add oxygen, and keeping it moist. When you control the circumstances, the process speeds up considerably. You can make compost in weeks, not years.

In terms of composting, gardeners consider organic matter primarily a carbon-based material or a nitrogen-based material. Microbes burn approximately one part of nitrogen for every twenty-five parts of carbon they digest. So you need at least one part of nitrogen material for every twenty-five parts of carbon material. More nitrogen material is fine if you have it. Materials high in nitrogen, such as alfalfa meal, blood meal, or urea, act as pile activators by jump-starting the microbes into action. Which materials are nitrogen and which are carbon? In general the easiest way to tell is that materials higher in nitrogen are green and those higher in carbon are brown. Other ingredients add phosphorus, potassium, and trace minerals. Egg shells, wood ashes, banana skins, melon rinds, orange peels, stale bread, apple peels, potato skins, pea pods, and tea leaves are great for composting.

There are a few things that, although they are organic matter, do not belong in a garden compost pile. Leave the following out of the compost pile:

• Weeds that have gone to seed. The seeds may survive.
• Obviously diseased or insect-infested material.
• Any meat, grease, or fat. It stinks and attracts vermin.
• Cat and dog feces, which may transfer parasites to the garden.
• Grass clippings or weeds that have been treated with weed killers. Chemicals may persist and poison the garden.
• Pine needles or large branches. They don't harm the pile but take years to decompose.

Why Compost?

Let's answer this question not only from a frugal point of view, but from that of plant health and a healthy global environment as well. Yard and garden waste account for 17 percent of the trash that finds its way into our landfills. Kitchen waste makes up another 8 percent. Combined, kitchen and garden waste account for one quarter of all the garbage we throw out. By composting, you save money used to dispose of waste, including bags and cans, as well as your time spent collecting it. And the environment also wins. You also get the world's best free fertilizer, compost. Not a bad return.

What makes compost so great? It is very rich in nutrients derived from plant and animal matter. Unlike many store-bought soil amendments, it contains trace elements. Compost is rich in humus, and you remember that great stuff.
The process of composting helps purify the end result by killing many seeds and harmful organisms present in the raw ingredients. It's the closest thing gardeners have to spinning straw (and weeds and manure and eggshells and more!) into gold.

How to Fertilize Frugally

The method of application depends on the type of fertilizer. Sprinkle granules around the base of plants, scratch into the soil, and water thoroughly to dissolve. Shovel a layer of compost or manure over the soil at the base of the plants, and scratch in with a hoe. This method is called side-dressing.

You can apply some fertilizers, including compost and manure, in liquid solution. Apply liquid fertilizers either to the soil or leaves. This is called foliar feeding. Plants can absorb nutrients in solution through their leaves as well as their roots. In fact, they absorb them more quickly this way. Apply these products through a sprayer or dissolve in a watering can and apply by hand. The second option is cheaper, but takes longer.

Is it possible, you may ask, to apply compost or manure as a liquid? The answer is, yes, if you brew a batch of fabulous, free ''tea." Scoop some compost or manure into a bagtry using an old pillowcase, old pantyhose, gunnysack, flour sack, or any bag made of porous fabric. Tie off the top and set in a 5-gallon bucket. Use larger containers if you need more fertilizer. Fill the bucket with water to the top of the bag and let it sit for a day or two. Nutrients from the compost or manure leach into the water, which you then use to water your garden or to foliar feed.

For lawns, a spreader broadcasts fertilizer evenly over the surface of the grass, liquid fertilizer applicators that attach to your hose are also available. Either one is a fair investment. Fertilize woody landscape plants by broadcasting the product throughout the lawn and just outside the drip line. If landscape plants are growing through the lawn, however, punch holes with a soil probe or soil auger attached to an electric drill, and put the fertilizer into the holes. This prevents burning the grass with an overdose of nitrogen. Make the holes 1 to 2 inches across and about 8 inches deep, spaced about 2 feet apart. Avoid placing them close to tree trunks as this process could damage roots.

Organic or Synthetic Fertilizers

A common misconception is that synthetic fertilizers are better than organic. Another misunderstanding is that organic is better than synthetic. You can make political or environmental arguments for synthetic or organic fertilizer, but the plants can't tell the difference as long as the nutrients are available. However, don't forget the many benefits of adding humus to your soil, which only organic amendments can supply. Brand labels mean nothing to plants. It's the fertilizer analysis that countsthe list of three, sometimes four, numbers listed on the bag. They stand for the percentage of nitrogen (designated by the international chemical symbol N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and when present, sulfur (S), in the product, in that order. As mentioned in Chapter 1, these are the major elements plants need (except sulfur, which is a secondary element). Trace elements are also necessary, but manufacturers may or may not list them on labels. Organic fertilizers are much more likely to include these than manufacturers of chemical formulas.

Plants can only use nutrients that have been reduced to the molecular form. Chemical fertilizers work so fast because they have already been processed into the molecular form, whereas organic fertilizers must first be broken down by soil microbes. This activity depends on soil temperature. Below 70°F, soil microorganisms work slower, which makes the nutrients in organic fertilizer unavailable to plants in cold soils. Organic fertilizers release nutrients over a period of time, unlike synthetic fertilizers which make the nutrients available at time of application.

Chemical fertilizers dissolve fairly quickly in water, which makes them easily accessible to plants. Their labels instruct to water thoroughly after application. Unfortunately, this ready solubility also means that chemical fertilizers, unlike slow-release organics, leach more quickly from the soil.

For the best results with the least expense, strategically combine the two types of fertilizer. In the spring, while the soil is still cool, apply chemical fertilizer to lawn, flower borders, and vegetable gardens. Once the soil is warm, switch to compost or another low-cost organic source. Organic fertilizers are not necessarily more costly than synthetics. This is commonly misstated, because the measurable amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in synthetic fertilizers costs less per pound than those in many commercially prepared organic fertilizers. But those aren't the only sources of organic fertilizer. Once you know, roughly, the fertilizer analysis of organic compounds, which varies with different sources, you can mix your own fertilizers balanced for your particular needs, at a fraction of the cost.

This is where ingenuity and the willingness to scrounge for something pays off. I never buy fertilizer, and you don't have to either. So long as you supply the plants' nutrient requirements, it just doesn't matter to them where the nutrients come from, whether it is an organic or synthetic source.

Feeding Plants on a Budget

The most common mistake gardeners make is thinking more is better. If a bag of fertilizer says to apply a cup for every 10 feet of row, then two cups must make plants really grow. That is not the case. Manufacturer's instructions are not arbitrary numbers that somebody guessed at. Manufacturers base their instructions on the ability of plant roots to absorb nutrients in a set amount of time. This rate varies with the type, age, and health of the plant, as well as the soil type and texture.

Never Amend Backfill

Not only is it cheaper to use the original soil to backfill a planting hole, it is better for the plant. By digging a hole and filling it with amendments or foreign soil, you create an artificial environment with a dramatic interface between it and the surrounding native soil. The result is water does not flow freely between the two media, and plant roots become entrapped in the planting hole, much like they would in a container. At first, the plant will look normal, in fact, most plants will appear to thrive. After a while, the plant becomes virtually potbound and dies, leaving the conscientious backfiller to wonder why.