I've been working on a blog post about composting and it reminded me of
something funny that happened about 12 years ago in my very first garden I was
a couple years out of college sharing a tiny apartment with one of my
best friends she and I had this dismal little backyard it was surrounded by
five foot high cinderblock walls the ground was about as hard as the walls I
think it had been a parking lot at some point we saw potential and we decided to
fix it up by planting a garden now I had helped in my family's garden for as long
as I can remember but I'd never started one from scratch it was late winter and
so we started digging we knew that the soil needed to be improved and we found
a source of free cow manure which seemed like a great idea at the time we go out
to the farm and we load four or five boxes up put them in the back of her
cute little Jeep Liberty and head home oh my goodness this smell was so bad
shut in a car with boxes of fresh manure oh my gosh
so naturally we open the windows now there is manure and hay flying all over
the car it's freezing and it still smells her car smelled for months after
that so we get we get home we unload the car we work this is the manure into the
soil we even have enough left over to put in the corner and start a little
compost pile all as well until spring that's when the Flies found the manure
oh there were so many fly my friend sat outside for hours with her fly swatter
swatting these flies hundreds of flights and our next-door neighbor here was this
gray-haired little Cuban man Ramon he would peek over the fence and chuckle
and he called her mother most gas witches Spanish for flax water
eventually the Flies didn't go away and the garden actually produced a pretty
good crop of tomatoes that summer and here we are 12 years later still friends
and both still gardening with so much more knowledge in the years since I
became a master gardener and I taught for a few years at the Albuquerque
BioPark Botanic Garden I've grown many more garden beds on my own using
homemade compost instead of manure and I'm definitely still learning but that's
one of the things I love about gardening another thing I love about gardening is
that a long way fresh flowers and delicious food I get
to grow these lasting memories like that one the most important thing is to get
started like I did 12 years ago and like you're doing now you'll figure it out by
doing it and maybe I can help you avoid some mistakes along the way like adding
fresh cow manure to your backyard let's make compost instead hey there I'm
Amy with gardens that matter calm welcome and thanks for joining me for
part two of our quick start to composting series today we're going to
take action yes by the end of this video you'll be ready to go out and create
your own simple yet highly effective compost bin I'm gonna break this lesson
down into three easy steps picking your site creating your bin and filling it up
follow these steps and you'll be on your way to composting success we're going to
build on the basics that we went over in video number one if you haven't had a
chance to watch it yet I recommend that you pause this video and go take a look
we went over what composting is the amazing benefits of compost and the
materials that you should and shouldn't add to your compost pile thank you so
much to everyone who sent comments and emails I love hearing about the reasons
that you want to compost and the plans you have for creating a garden that you
love I'm so excited for the things ahead before we get started you may want to
follow along using the no fuss compost bin worksheet from the link below this
video you can download it and print it out to take your notes okay let's get
started with step number one selecting your site the placement of your compost
bin is going to be key for you using it successfully I'm going to show you how
to build around three-foot compost bin today for this you'll need an open level
area that's at least 4 feet by 8 feet that will give you enough room to stand
in front and fill up or empty the bin you'll place your been on top of soil
rather than on concrete or asphalt the soil life can move up into your bin to
help with decomposition and Exce moisture can drain down into the soil
you'll want to keep your pile at least six feet from buildings or trees we are
encouraging decomposition and we don't want your garden shed to decompose and
you may want to leave some extra space nearby to stockpile leaves or other
materials the other factors you'll want to
consider include local regulations depending on your neighborhood or town
you may need to place your compost pile a certain distance from property lines
Sun versus shade we live in a temperate climate and usually go with partial
shade on the edge of the woods or near a building if you live in a hot dry
climate you'll want more shade to slow down evaporation if you live in a really
wet or cold climate you'll want more Sun where are you going to get your water
from most compost piles will need to be watered at least occasionally will you
get water from a bucket in the house rain water from a nearby roof from a
hose where will you use your finished compost you might want to build your
compass file in or near your garden you might even put the bin over a future
planting area as the materials compost nutrients and water will drain into the
soil below and make it a great place for plants to grow afterwards and finally
where will your composting materials come from for a new composter I think
this factor is the key you must place your compost bin where it's convenient
to use if you're weighing a few possible spots like convenience be the deciding
factor if you're not sure where to put your compost bin choose a convenient
spot our bin for kitchen waste is right next to our back porch I can empty our
bucket quickly even in the rain when you're starting out the most important
thing is developing the habit of using your bin so take a location that makes
it easy remember we're aiming to have a non stinky compost pile so if one of
your goals is composting kitchen waste you can place it near your house once
you've picked a convenient spot step 2 is to build your bin there are dozens of
types of composting bins you can go from a simple pile on the ground to a complex
multi bin system no matter what kind of then you choose you're going to need a
few things you want a bin that is three to five feet on each side we're aiming
for at least three feet high three feet wide and three feet deep
this size is large enough to hold moisture in heat but not so large that
air can't reach the center with a pile this size the center of your compost bin
can stay active even during winter in many places our compost bin also needs
to breathe it needs to have holes in it so air can move through it
we're composting with the help of aerobic bacteria and they need oxygen to
do their work there are also anaerobic bacteria but that's a story for another
time these are the basic requirements let's put together a bin I'm going to be
showing you how to create a wire been out of fencing this is the kind of bin
that we use on our phone we like it for several reasons it's
quick and simple to make it's easy to move and reuse a wire bin like this will
last for years it also gives the compost plenty of air and it's inexpensive
we usually have scrap fencing laying around if you're just starting out you
can buy a small roll of welded wire for under $20 we like to use this animal
fencing that has a two inch by two inch grid this is made out of galvanized
steel wire fencing comes in lots of different sizes welded and woven will
both work you'll want to look for a size that has three inch grid or smaller if
you get much bigger than that things start to fall out air compost pile you
can also use hardware cloth that tends to come in smaller grid sizes that is
also more expensive chicken wire is another option but it's kind of floppy
so you'll want to reinforce that with pulse you're gonna want your piece of
fencing to be at least ten feet long and thirty six inches tall that'll give you
the ideal three feet by three feet by three feet size its optimum for heat and
moisture retention sometimes we go a little bit wider or taller but we found
that 48 inches is a little bit too tall for lifting the materials into the bin
if you need to level or clear your site go ahead and do that now you want to
make sure your bin is nice and flat as you add materials and water them in the
materials are gonna settle in and that'll stabilize your bin and keep it
in place if the soil where you're putting your
bin is really hard packed use a shovel or a garden fork to loosen it up a
little bit that's going to help with drainage so next you're gonna take your
wire you're gonna set it up so that the two ends are coming together to make a
cylinder if you have a new roll of wire it's gonna be really springy so roll it
out flat on the ground and kind of smash it down that's going to keep it from
road trying to roll back up on you so you're gonna want to cut off one of
these vertical end pieces with wire snips or pliers and that'll give you
ends poking out that you can wrap around like this take each piece of wire and
wrap it around like this
now you can see how it have some movement I'm gonna take one piece of
wire here at the top and wrap it all the way around and that'll help hold it in
place I'm going to do that at the top in the middle and at the bottom I wouldn't
recommend doing it all the way down because that will make your bin really
hard to open when you're ready to turn it or harvest it alright there we go
we've got a cylinder so now just turn your seam to the where it's most
convenient for opening later on and you're ready to go I told you it was
easy now we are ready for step number three fill your bin there are basically
two ways to fill your bin batch meaning all at once
or as you go meaning you add materials over time since batch piles have more
mass they tend to be hot and fast you can have compost that's ready to use in
a few months using the batch method your compass will be ready all at once as it
decomposes your pile will shrink down to about a third of its starting size that
composting does require materials in bulk so you can either stockpile them
until you have enough for a batch or plan to do batch house seasonally like
in fall when you have lots of leaves and garden waste to use
as you go piles tend to be warm and slow rather than hot and fast this is because
you're adding to them over time they don't have that initial mass of a batch
pile you'll end up with finished compost towards the bottom and less decomposed
materials up top those can just go back into your next
compost pile the as you go method is more practical for your kitchen waste
because you simply add to the bin each time you empty your pail this is the
kind of bed I'm going to show you today I'll get it started with a few layers
and leave plenty of room for adding scraps over time if you have enough
space and materials you may want to try out both methods no matter which method
you use you're going to be adding a mix of carbon rich and nitrogen-rich
materials these are the browns and greens I mentioned in video one Browns
are carbon rich they are usually older materials that are dry and relatively
lightweight leaves straw wood chips sawdust shredded paper greens are
nitrogen rich they tend to be fresher weather and heavier than Browns
kitchen scraps green grass clippings manure even Drive manures and weeds are
all greens
these compost materials are food for your microbes they use the carbon to
grow and move they use the nitrogen to make proteins and reproduce like us
microbes need a balanced diet to do their best work we're going to use
volume to help us get a balanced mix of browns and greens you want two-thirds
Brown and one-third green by volume you can think of it as two containers of
brown material for every one container of green material or since we'll be
building our bin in layers you can also think of adding two inches of brown for
every one inch of green don't stress out over this composting is going to happen
even if the ratio isn't perfect now let's fill up our demonstration bin
the first thing you want to put in your bin is several inches of coarse material
like sticks wood tips or corn stalks this roughage will help with drainage
and air circulation
next you want a layer of brown your dry carbon rich material like leaves straw
shredded paper dried grass clippings or weeds right here as well make a good
layer aim for about four inches thick some of it may fall into the gaps of
your bottom layer no problem
now you want to give this layer a nice drink of water as you add more layers to
your pile make sure each one is evenly moist not soaking wet but moist like a
wrung out sponge moisture is necessary for those bacteria
and fungi that are going to break down this material into compost however if
your materials are already soggy you will want to find more dry Browns so you
can get the moisture level just right so if it's been raining for weeks and you
don't have dry leaves you could shred some paper or buy some straw to add
if you live in an area where it rains a lot it's a good idea to keep some brown
material covered with a tarp or in a large container so that you always have
some available
next it's time for a layer of green or nitrogen rich material this is where you
add your kitchen scraps coffee grounds freshly cut grass manure or fresh garden
waste spread it around make about a two-inch layer if this layer seems dry
give it a little water if this layer seems really wet mix it in with the
brown a little that way it won't matter sometimes grass clippings can get matted
if you don't do a little bit of mixing as you go on top of green layers we
often add a thin layer of soil maybe a quarter inch to a half-inch layer adding
soil to your pile is not required but it can seed the pile with microbes and
speed up decomposition it also helps the pile retain heat and water and it keeps
flies from laying eggs in your green layer
now repeat a three to four inch layer of browns a one to two inch layer of greens
a thin layer of soil water as needed
you always end with a layer of Browns it
will act as a filter for smells which will discourage pests and it means
you're always ready for your next edition of green materials when you're
using the as you go method to compost kitchen scraps you don't have to wait
until you have enough to make a whole layer you can take your kitchen pail out
to the bin dig down in a little dump it in and cover it back up adding more
Brown material when needed I had browns every second or third time
I empty my pail if you do have any smells go ahead and add more Brown
material kitchen scraps often add moisture to the pile but if the bin
seems dry go ahead and add some water and you're done and that's all it takes
to get started pick a convenient spot build your bin
and start filling it up if you follow these three easy steps I promise you're
on your way to beautiful compost and a happy garden now you might be wondering
how long do I have to wait to get this beautiful compost you should have
finished compost in three to twelve months depending on which ingredients
you use if you'd like to speed up your results you're in luck in our next video
I'll share three tips to speed up the process
I'll also reveal the results from one of our finished compost bins and I'm going
to give you an introduction to the foundations of a happy garden how to
bring your soil to life using compost mulch and cover crops this is our
premium course that digs deeper into what it really takes to create healthy
soil I'm excited to tell you more about it next time
but first I'd love to hear from you tell me in the comments below where are you
gonna put your compost bin what's your perfect place also if you know somebody
who could benefit from this quick start to composting series please share it
with them thanks again for watching and I'll see you in video 3
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét