Hit the Dirt; Compost

Hi this is Claire Ackroyd with the dirt. I think it's time that we talked about composting. It's gotten clean up time. Go out and make a compost heap. It is the best thing you can do not only for your own peace of mind and self-esteem and all the other important things that need to be cultivated but also for the long term health of your garden and success in your garden. You should be creating usable organic matter in this land of poor soils or anywhere for that matter. The recycling it's a trendy idea whose time is about to come to the garden as well. Reusing recycling putting something back investing in the future. Returning something to the soil that was you know giving stuff to you I think is a sort of nice. I think you'd have toward your garden. And it's time that compass thing was taken more seriously I am appalled by the number of people that I talk to and I say well just use some compost when you're planting something and they don't have a compost heap so let there be less people out there who don't make a compost heap. The thing is that I

think that people are put off about is that there is a huge amount of wrong information about the nature and way of making a compost heap. It's very basic it's not an art is not a science. It's just a matter of letting nature take its course. If you pile up organic matter it will rot. And when it's right it's compost it's as simple as that. I have heard a lot of extraordinary things which I think are wrong so here goes a myth exploding about compost heap. I've heard people say you can't put in grass clippings as nonsense grass rots down to make a usable compost very nicely. Great big piles of hot fresh high nitrogen grass will get very hot and go anaerobic and take a long time to get to the point where it's usable compost but it will do it anyway. I have heard people I had one friend tell me oh I goofed I failed. I put citrus peels in my compost heap and I said why did that matter I think as something magical I don't know about citrus peel. Well she says they don't rot. Well one look at the bag of oranges that I bought from some discount place the other

day will satisfies me that citrus rots very nicely thank you the peel and the contents and all. I've heard that there's no point in making compost in the winter because nothing rots below about 50 degrees while things are rotting right now as we speak. In my refrigerator well below 50 degrees you can go on dumping stuff out into a compost heap right through the winter and it will freeze breakdown and rot down very nicely. People worry about needing a starter for a compost heap. All that a starter is that you buy is some bacteria that will get your compost rotting the bacteria live there anyway. And if you're afraid you're not getting your compost heap going oh well a shovel full of dirt will introduce all the bacteria you need. People worry about needing to turn it. You don't really need to turn it if you leave it in a heap. It will all rot down very fine if you use a way to rate and mix the compost it will rot down faster. But most of us have plenty of time. And if you just leave it be it will get there anyway. I

find people worried about what structure or been they're going to make their compost in you don't need one of those a pile will do fine if you can confine it a little bit with some boards or sticks. It'll stop our animals digging it out. But just the heat will work very nicely. So here now I have some. Simple practical tips for getting you going on a compost heap. Just basically pile it up and leave it. Leave sticks rocks bottles plastic metal. Don't put animal waste on cook food. That just encourages rats and racoons in things that get in there in the dog if you keep it diverted will matter if you have the best way to do it is to make three piles one pile you are adding to one pile is resting and rotting and the other one is ready stuff that you are using. Mix things up in layers if you put layers of leaves and vegetable waste and grass clippings and weeds. Layered together in finish of each thing you won't get a heavy concentration of any one thing that doesn't rock that

easily. A mixture will rot down better than solid great big bundles of one thing. Don't go too heavy on the leaves. Leave the leaves in layers because leaves by themselves need a lot of nitrogen to encourage them to rot down the bacteria or sort of short of nitrogen and it takes a long time for the nitrogen levels to build up that the leaves can rot. Then they are the last thing I would say as I was saying before keep it corralled a little bit sticks or boards or even rocks just to keep it in one place and then let it be when it becomes a nice black crumbly substance it is by far the best thing that you can use to add to the soil to grow almost anything in. I hope that sets you out into the garden to make compost heaps this was cleric wrote and you've been listening to him.