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Patriotism by Ellie Schoenfeld My country is this dirt that gathers under my fingernails when I am in the garden. The quiet bacteria and fungi, all the little insects and bugs are my compatriots. They are idealistic, always working together for the common good. I kneel on the earth and pledge my allegiance to all the dirt of the world, to all of that soil which grows flowers and food for the just and unjust alike. The soil does not care what we think about or who we love. It knows our true substance, of what we are really made. I stand my ground on this ground, this ground which will ultimately recruit us all to its side. from The Dark Honey © Clover Valley Press, 2009 Published with permission. |
What Does Compost Do?
Compost is a remarkable substance resulting from the decay of organic material such as kitchen scraps, weeds, shredded paper, leaves, and other things we otherwise would just throw away.
- Provides low, steady, balanced nutrition to plants. It holds nutrients in the root zone keeping them available for plants to use.
- Raises the pH of acid soils and lowers the pH of alkaline soils. It helps keep soil pH in an optimum range for the plants to use the available nutrients.
- Enhances soil structure. Clay soils get improved drainage and air pockets. Sandy soils have improved water and nutrient holding capacity.
- Suppresses fungal and bacterial plant diseases.
- Cleans up petrochemical and munition pollution including most herbicides, pesticides and fungicides as well as TNT.
How Can Compost Do All That?
Most of us see soil as a static nutrient holder and convenient anchor for plant roots. But whether or not our plants can actually use the soil nutrients depends more on the life in the soil than on nutrients the soil happens to have. Consider this:
- A teaspoon full of soil holds billions of probably 10,000 or so species of bacteria and several miles or kilometers of fungi.
- A teaspoon full of compost has even more soil life in it.
Compost in not a fertilizer, it is an ecosystem. It seeds the soil with billions of diverse life forms who work together to make soil function.
Compost works because it feeds and provides a habitat for the soil microorganisms. They are the true miracle workers making the nutrient cycles cycle and ultimately feeding us all - just and unjust alike.
| The Compost Gardener Site Search Trying to find a page on the site? Here you can enter any topic you want info on and if it's on the site the page and a link will come up. |
| The Compost Blog The Compost Blog will keep you up to date on compost news along with new material and changes to the-compost-gardener.com web site. Subscribe here. |
| Ask Your Compost Questions and Get Answers Here Come here to ask your compost questions and fnd out how to solve your problems. |
| How to Make Compost Your Way - Your Compost Stories Making compost is as indiviudal as you are. Tell your compost story and read some others. |
| Composting Basics - The Three Primary Elements: Food, Water and Air No matter how you make compost pay attention to these three composting basics and you'll have success. |
| How to Make Compost? How to Make Compost? It's one of the few great things you can do that is almost impossible to do wrong. |
| Easy Composting with Almost No Work Compost Piles Building compost piles with easy composting makes it easier to compost than not to. |
| The Compost Pit - Tradition Meets Science at Indore India A shallow compost pit is a great way to compost, especially in dry climates. Here is how it was done on a large scale in India. |
| The Best Garden Composter is the Free or Cheap Compost Bin The best garden composter is the free or cheap compost bin you can pick up through your town. |
| Bokashi Composting - Step by Step Guide for a Simple Kitchen Compost A step by step guide to bokashi composting, a simple efficient way to deal with your kitchen wastes |
| Build A Compost Bin - Elizabeth's Way Build a Compost Bin - check - Compost the Easy Way - check. |
| Your Compost Ingredients - What to Compost Your compost ingredients are food for the billions of microbes who will work in your compost. Feed them well. |
| Coffee Grounds Compost - Change your Garden or Change the World Coffee Grounds Compost can make a small change in your garden, or a big change in the world. |
| Dog Waste Disposal - The Omnivore's Dilemma Dog love also requires the everyday chore of dog waste disposal. Ditto for cat love and cat waste. |
| Residues of Picloram, Clopyralid or Aminopyralid Herbicide Create Killer Compost Minute concentrations of picloram, clopyralid and aminopyralid, as low as 1 ppb (parts per billion), can be lethal to sensitive garden plants. |
| Composting Tips for Compost Tumblers A compost tumbler can be a great tool or a nightmare. These composting tips will almost guarantee success. |
| The Back Porch Compost Tumbler - A Small Easy to Move Tumbler The Back Porch Compost Tumbler will actually fit nicely on your deck or porch and can be easily moved to the garden on its handy wheels. |
| The Envirocycle Composter - A Compact Composter for Your Deck or Balcony The compact Envirocycle Composter is at home on a deck or balcony. A decent compost solution for small urban spaces. |
| The Urban Compost Tumbler - A 9.5 cu. ft. 100% Recycled Made in America Solution The Urban Compost Tumbler is a good solution for composting, especially in Urban areas where neighbors appreciate tidiness. |
| The Many Benefits of Compost The Benefits of Compost are truly remarkable - it makes garbage into garden gold and cleans up contamination as a bonus. |
| Soil Organisms - The Recyclers and Soil Builders Soil organisms are nature's answer to the garden's garbage problem. |
| Soil Bacteria - Your Garden's Invisible Workforce Soil bacteria continually recycle all the elements used by plants and animals. |
| Decomposers - Bacteria Engines of Earth's Nutrient Cycles Decomposers are the organisms that eat, digest and break down once living things which have died. |
| Decomposer Fungi - Molecular Disassemblers - Soil Magicians Decomposer fungi are nature's grand molecular disassemblers. And they make great soil too. |
| The Mycorrhizal Fungi Papers Mycorrhizal Fungi partner with 95% of the plant kingdom. Why are they mysteriously missing or mentioned only in passing by most garden books and websites. |
| The Nutrient Cycle - Nature's Answer to Recycling Matter The Nutrient Cycle is the way Nature copes with the Law of Conservation of Matter |
| The Nitrogen Cycle - Nitrogen Fertilizer Nature's Way The nitrogen cycle is nature's way of keeping our world supplied with fixed nitrogen, of nitrogen fertilizer. |
| Phosphorus Fertilizer or Mycorrhizal Fungi Most of the phosphorus fertilizer applied to crops is wasted, maybe it's time to look at mycorrhizal fungi. |
| What is Soil and How is it Formed? Soil is the foundation of life and civilization on this planet. |
| Soil Testing for Beginners and Soil Nerds Soil testing is an important step in starting to grow a great garden. |
| Lowering Soil pH - Why Not Use Compost Lowering soil pH by using compost is a safe effective way to manage many of the problems found with alkaline and desert soil. |
| Cryptobiotic Soil -A Biological Soil Crust Nature Makes Compost from Sun, Air an Cryptobiotic soil is kind of like nature's first compost. It's an extreme compost, concocted in an extreme habitat. |
| The Compost Pile Ezine The Compost Pile is a priceless - as in absolutely free - Ezine. Bringing you answers to your soil and compost questions and news from around the world. |
| The Lawn According to God St, Francis tries to explain lawns to God. |
| About Me and my Family and Why I'm Writing a Website About Compost Writing Website About Compost is my Answer to the I Need a Job Dilemma. |
| Contact Me Have a Question or Comment, Contact Me |
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| The Humanure Handbook - by Joseph Jenkins The Humanure Handbook is an absolute gem - a great read on a subject that is surprisingly fascinating - human excrement. |
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