Gardening is a excellent past time and a productive activity, of that there is no doubt. Unfortunately, most gardeners are not toiling under the best of soil conditions.

Our soil is usually not in the best condition. The prohibitive truth is that most soils have some underlying negative condition including nutritional deficiencies, excessive clay or sand, poor drainage quality, inadequate soil structure and aeration, and pH imbalance issues.

Fortunately, there is a fairly simple solution, only requiring a reasonable commitment on your part. It’s known as composting and it involves the gathering of organic material that you’ve “created” and then periodically working these into your soil.

Controlled Rotting And Regular Rotation

Composting is essentially a process of controlled rotting where organic matter is gathered over time and left to decompose into an extremely beneficial soil conditioner that adds fertility and enhances soil structure.

The main key to effective composting is to foster soil dwelling micro-organisms like fungi, bacteria, and also worms and insects that accumulate and then treat the debris you’ve stock piled. This activity will become readily apparent in time as your pile will begin to emanate an odor and even steam as you toss it around.

By consistently turning the decomposing material, it will break down into the some of best soil additive you can have. The composting process will take anywhere from several weeks to a couple years depending on the size of your compost and the attention given.

Some Tips To Help Your Compost Decompose

There are a few essentials that will help it along. First off, composting requires heat so the sunnier, or less cool, the spot the better. Regardless of the spot, it must be accessible to water as pile moisture is another requirement of effective composting.

Another aspect is the size of the area or bin. While there is flexibility in this regard, do not pile it much higher than five feet as the sheer weight of the material will make it difficult to toss and turn adequately. Additionally, decomposition can slow while odors can increase under these circumstances. The ideal size is about a four-by-four square foot area, two to three feet in depth.

The compost matter needs oxygen to decompose so the pile should be rotated using a shovel and rake every few days to a week. Also, maintain moisture, but not sogginess, with a regular spritzing of water. Put gravel on the bottom to facilitate drainage, if necessary. Your compost should have the consistency of a squeezed wet sponge.

Another good idea is to shred materials like leaves and small branches before adding them to your compost. The decaying organisms work better on smaller bits of material comprising a lot of surface area.

When To Add Your Compost To Your Garden

The rule of thumb for applying your compost is to add four to six inches four months before planting, two to three inches if you plant in the next two months and just one inch if you plant any sooner.

The decayed matter takes time to fully integrate into the planting bed but the more decayed the matter, the quicker the beneficial effects. Also, when doing so, make sure to avoid large chunks that can cause air pockets to form in the soil.

Use A Variety Of Materials For Your Compost

To provide the largest range of nutrients make your compost from a variety of materials but absolutely exclude diseased or pest infested plant matter, meat scraps, weed roots, and oils and fats.

Recommended items are coffee grounds, egg shells, fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, shredded paper, shredded leaves and plant clippings, sawdust, and fireplace ashes.

Types Of Composting Containers

Composting bins can be store-bought or home-made. When going with the factory made offerings consider the barrel-shaped types that can be rotated by turning a crank. This turning action can vastly increase the rate of decay. If going the home made route, simple fencing materials or cinder blocks can be used to form a relatively large composting area.

Regardless of how you achieve it, composting is likely the best continuing practice that a gardener can start. It boosts the soil like nothing else will, giving you a bountiful vegetable harvest. Click here for FREE info on composting.. This article, Composting – Learn Simple Ways is available for free reprint.

Making compost is like cooking a stew for your family. You need a recipe, the correct ingredients in the right amounts, the correct temperatures and time to let it all simmer. The end result will be a load of sweet smelling, rich dark brown loam that you can feed to your plants with pride.

Composting is the controlled decomposition of organic matter. If left to natural means this process can be extremely slow, but by following the recipe and using the correct equipment you can considerably speed up the process. The following ingredients are necessary:

Carbon

Nitrogen

Oxygen

Water

However some materials are not appropriate for residential composting. Most backyard systems will not reach high enough temperatures necessary to kill the pathogens and vermin present, so certain items such as meat scraps, dairy products and pet droppings are not to be used.

High carbon (brown) sources are necessary to generate heat. High nitrogen (green) sources are necessary to allow the decomposing bacteria to thrive.

Browns are high carbon materials and may include;

Dry straw, hay and grass clippings

Fallen leaves

Newspaper – shred the papers for better results

Greens are high nitrogen materials and may include:

Green plant material such as garden residue, fresh hay, grass clippings, and weeds

Manure; such as horse, cow, chicken, or mushroom. No pet droppings!

Fruit and vegetable waste

Seaweed (rinse well to remove any salt)

Coffee grounds and filters

There are some types of trees such as live oak, the southern magnolia and holly trees whose leafs are too tough and leathery for decomposition, also avoid all parts of the black walnut tree as they contain a plant poison that will survive composting. Other leafs to avoid using in your compost are poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac.

Another ingredient which is often overlooked is moisture. Water the pile just enough to keep the contents moist but not saturated. In a couple of weeks, the pile should heat up to approximately to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature many of the weed seeds and harmful organisms will be killed.

A compost bin or tumbler is ideal for the small garden. A tumbler will give you the quickest results due to the ease of aerating the compost, so figure at least 8 to 10 weeks for good compost to be ready to use. Spin the compost tumbler at least once a week. This will keep the compost aerated, in as much as it is necessary to provide oxygen to the mixture to achieve good results.

If at this point the temperature has dropped, increase the heat by adding more nitrogen in the form of greens such as grass clippings or leaves from your produce trimmings, if manure is available it will get things cooking again in a hurry. Remember, new material can always be added to the mix, although it will slow the process down.

Home composting uses different of techniques, from extreme passive (cold) composting (throw everything into a pile and leave it alone) to active (hot) which consists of monitoring the temperature and turning or rotating the pile on a regular basis.