Crescent Shadows On-Line Newsletter of the Hudson Valley Pagan Network, Inc.

Composting is the decay of once living material. It is a simple way to enrich garden soil or house plants for a greater yield of fruits, larger blooms and veggies with enhanced flavor and vitamin content.

The common name of composted earth is "dirt" but its an inaccurate name. Composted material can come from various resources: lawn clippings, fallen leaves, twigs overgrown, garden veggies and household kitchen debris to spent flower heads to construction sawdust.

Using kitchen debris is helpful but needs to be primarily vegetarian. Adding discarded meat, fish and sea food scraps will only attract animals to forage your pile. Here is a small list of additional materials to be added to the pile: coffee grounds, corn cobs, corn stalks, eg shells, grains, hair, manure, nut shells, paper, pine needles, sea weed, weeds with no seeds.

To get started construct a three or four sided container using old shipping pallets from a local company. They usually give them for free, most are lying around warehouse yards. Fasten the pallets or mesh covered wooden frames in a square or triangle directly on the ground. Placing the compost pile near your garden will make it easier to monitor and turn the material.

Layering the materials is key to a successful project. Starting on the ground level and adding layer on layer. First add the rough stuff like twigs, roots and wood stems that allow air to circulate and speed up the action. Next add the softer stuff, lawn clippings, flowers, plants, veggies, saw dust, and kitchen scraps (no meats, fish, milk, bones or fat). The top layer can be animal manure, weak soil, hay or more saw dust, coffee grounds, etc. Repeating the layers until you fill the container to the top.

Water the pile - this really speeds it up. Natural rain fall should be supplemented if dry spells are present. Soak the pile at the start and add water as needed, saturate it well. Youwill need to "turn" the pile with a shovel or pitch fork weekly to aerate the mix.

Nutrients feed the organisms. Worms eat the raw material and turn it into compost. Use the composted material for all your gardening needs. It's a real money saver and it helps the Mother Earth as well. Happy gardening!!

- Randy Schryver

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Last Updated: September 24, 2002
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