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Compostable
Item of the season: Dried Leaves
Where
dried leaves are concerned, it’s often feast or famine.
The leaves are useful year-round, as a component of “brown”
refuse that must be alternated with “green” refuse
(grass clippings and kitchen scraps) in a successful compost
pile. In summer and winter, there often don’t seem to
be enough leaves, whereas in winter and spring there are always
far too many. Rather than putting the fall leaves out for
yard waste collection, it might be wise to stockpile some
under a tarp outside, or indoors (away from open flame, or
anything that could start a fire). That way, they can be accessed
throughout the winter for use in the compost pile, and as
an insulation system, if need be. In the spring, the leaves
that weren’t taken off the ground in the fall can be
stockpiled once again, for use in the summer.
An additional tip comes from Mark Cullen, writing for Canada’s
Canoe Network. He suggests putting excess fall leaves in garbage
bags with holes poked in them for aeration. Add a handful
of high-Nitrogen (21-7-7) to each bag, as well as some soil.
Place the bags in an out-of-the-way place in the garden for
the winter. In the spring, the leaf volume will be reduced
and the decomposed remains will make an excellent soil amendment.
Virtually the same thing can be accomplished by actually leaving
some portion of the dead leaves on the ground in the winter
and spring. More on that to come....
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One
might ask: how does Composting count as a "project?"
In its essence, composting is little more
than the continuation of the ancient human tradition of creating
a refuse heap behind one's dwelling. You take the trash, and
you chuck it in the backyard.
It
may be simple, but it is undoubtably one of
the best things you can do for your garden. Composting is
given project status at Sparrowpost because it is one of those
environmentally-friendly practices that yields a very high
bang-per-buck. You can really tell when you work in a garden
where compost has been incorporated. Formerly problematic,
barren soil (the likes of which is often found in cities)
can be completely transformed after just a few seasons of
composting.
Composting
is also a feature at Sparrowpost because, as with bread making
machines and Go, the more one does it, the more interesting
it gets. Composting is a rewarding hobby, and it takes almost
no time at all. Start saving your bananna peels... We'll start
off in April with a segment on compost pile design. |
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Check
out HowtoCompost.org for
an amazing resource about composting and what it can do for
your garden. |
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Why
Compost?/ by Betsey Morse Mayer, Landscape
Designer
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As a landscape designer
who designs and maintains gardens, I urge my clients to compost.
The advantages of composting are twofold: you will save the cost
of bagging and disposing of much of the season’s leaf and
plant debris, and also enjoy the additional free benefit of adding
compost annually to the garden which enriches the soil. Compost
nourishes the plants and also increases beneficial microbes and
microorganisms that impede many plant diseases. This is just as
true for flowers, trees, and shrubs as it is for vegetables. One
should use just the leafy parts of plants, not the fibrous woody
parts, which take too long to break down. Nor should one put any
diseased plants, or material from plants known to be very prone
to disease, into the compost pile. They should be destroyed and
not composted.
Most
gardeners are aware that they should have a soil test to determine
the Ph of the soil, but few look at the cat ion exchange ratio or
the measurement of organic material present in their soil. Compost
is the perfect soil enricher because it comes from a variety of
decomposed plants, which add minerals to the soil (a full seventeen
elements are necessary, in trace amounts, to provide for plant growth,
as well as the big three, nitrogen phosphorus and potassium). Compost
also makes the soil lighter and more friable, which promotes vigorous
root growth. Adding compost will lighten heavy soils and help retain
water in sandy soils.
I purchase basic plastic compost containers, often available at
discount from town recycling centers, and I install them in my client’s
gardens. Once one gets used to adding kitchen vegetable wastes to
the compost pile, and turning it occasionally, the practice of composting
can become positively addictive. It is fun to let nature work for
you, creating good humus.
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| Betsey
Morse Mayer is an artist and landscape designer. To see her designs
and paintings, go to her website at BetseyMayer.com |
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