Artful Compost
Rethinking the compost pile. Introducing the hot or cold system to make compost happen fast or slow.
“There is still a window of time. Nature can win if we give her a chance.”
--Jane Goodall
Welcome to the Art of Growing Food newsletter. I’m Ellen Ecker Ogden author of The New Heirloom Garden and five other books featuring artful kitchen garden designs with recipes for cooks who love to garden. Every week, you’ll find artful growing tips and ideas for fresh eating from your kitchen garden, to make your own garden a sanctuary for outdoor living.
Hello Everyone.
If you were to see me in the garden this week, you might wonder what I was doing on the top step of a ladder removing all the deep red blossoms from the ornamental chocolate runner beans. I’d explain that by cutting them off now, the plants will yield far more blooms later.
That’s the nature of annuals. The more you trim, the more the plants will grow. The whole purpose of a plant is to produce seeds, and flowers ultimately form into seed pods. By preventing this final achievement, I am encouraging more blossoms for later in the summer.
All week, as I’ve been cutting back the annuals, the piles of spent foliage, blossoms, and weeds are feeding my compost pile. This has me thinking about compost, how it works, why it matters, and how easy it is to make soil, the good stuff that your plants love. Not a glamorous subject, yet one that every person who eats or gardens, should be thinking about. Most gardeners focus on the stuff you see or eat such as flowers and tomatoes, yet the real magic happens underground.
“Information is like compost. It does no good unless you spread it around. “ - Eliot Coleman
Let’s start with the basics.
Compost starts in your kitchen with a bucket near the sink, and then it goes out to the bins. For urban gardeners, this may be a city-wide pick-up but for those who have an allotment, the bins are where the action is. A well-built compost pile is a compost system that works for you. Preferably not plastic, which is ugly and you will want to hide it behind the garage.
I know, plastic is a typical default purchase since many states now offer discounts to encourage composters. I’m all for this, but there are other options so take a look around before you decide. If you are committed to using a plastic bin, learn how to properly turn and aerate the contents to keep it working at optimal speed. I use a two-bin system to transfer the food scraps from one side to the other, creating aeration. Yes, good compost doesn’t just happen, it needs a little encouragement. You will know it is working when you can’t recognize citrus peels or carrot tops, anymore.
One of the hallmarks of a successful gardener is knowing how to make compost, by integrating it as part of your gardening routine, as well as your garden design. Organic kitchen gardeners know that compost both feeds your plants and ultiamtely feeds you.
Compost is both an art and a science, and I know just enough about how it works to have two separate piles: a hot pile made from kitchen scraps that breaks down quickly, and a cold pile that takes time to disintegrate. Here is a little primer on how they both work:
The Hot (Fast) Method:
If you can make lasagna, you will be able to follow a recipe for compost. The most important thing to remember is to layer green (lawn clippings and foliage) with brown (chopped leaves and vegetative food scraps) which creates both a wet and dry environment. Balance is key, as well as turning the pile regularly to keep the layers aerated to allow the pile to properly cook.
When the hot method is working properly, you may notice steam rising when you turn it or feel the heat from the soil when you place your hand on the earth. It needs to be hot in order to kill any weed seeds, and while experts recommend a compost thermometer to reach a successful temperature, it is not necessary for the home composter. If you can keep up a steady routine of layering and turning, you will have usable compost ready to use within one to three months.
The Cold (Slow) Method:
The advantage of this method is that you can pile all your yard waste in larger quantities, and with very little effort, the result will be a satisfying pile that did not have to be hauled to the landfill. My cold compost pile is a favorite hangout spot for birds and chipmunks, with easy access to nooks and crannies for storing acorns, seeds, and nesting materials. It will remain in place and shrink slightly each year, or eventually transforms into a hugelkultur garden— a naturally raised bed garden. This method requires less science, less thinking about the layers, and no turning to regulate the heat, yet it takes several years for the organic matter to fully decompose.
Compost is the recycling of naturally decomposing materials that provide nutrients to your garden soil. It does happen on its own, yet you can also make it happen faster and integrate it into your garden design with some TLC. Just as trimming back the plants in July will make them grow bigger, compost added as a side dressing mid-season gives your plants a nice boost.
Remembering that what comes from the garden, goes back to the garden, making artful compost is a natural cycle that only gets better with age.
From my garden to yours,
Ellen O.
Ellen Ecker Ogden
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Thanks for this, I needed a name to put to the "lazy" method I was planning on doing - cold compost it is!
The hot compost method has an advantage: most weedseeds are killed by the high temperature so you can use the compost without seeding weeds in your garden.