Composting/Ecology

Today we will be harvesting soil from an aged compost pile and building a new one. We will also start to prepare garden beds where we will plant our class garden next week.

We might get our clothes dirty, so please bring a change of clothes you don't mind playing in the dirt with. You should also bring your notebook to take notes about what you learned. You might also want to bring: hat, mosquito repellant, sunscreen, and a water bottle.

If you can, please bring in some fruit and veggie waste to put in the compost pile (such as banana peels, apple cores, etc.). You can also bring in some rinsed limu/seaweed or chicken manure. You can keep the fruit/veggie waste or limu in the freezer during the week until you bring it into class if you like so it doesn't smell up your kitchen.

Please also read the 3 article excerpts below:

Article 1: Why compost?:

From: http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/fundamentals/

"Will Rogers, who lived through the great dust bowl once said: “They’re making more people every day—but they ain’t making any more dirt.”

Once soil is disturbed, we may not be able to restore it to its native state, but we can help build a new balance of beneficial soil organisms to support the desired vegetative life.

While it takes thousands of years for the earth’s forces to build good soil, we can help do this in 5 – 10 years by adding compost—which adds microorganisms, arthropods, worms, and humus to the soil. The word “compost” comes from Latin where it meant “to put together.” This is what we do when we compost—we put together the correct amounts of compostable materials to make a great soil amendment.

For centuries, farmers have made and used compost to improve soil. Composting is part of the earth’s biological cycle of growth and decay. Energy from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and nutrients from water and soil make plants grow. When they die and decompose through a complex process involving microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, insects, mites and worms, nutrients go back into the soil, and carbon dioxide back into the air. The humus remaining from this decay process provides soil with organic matter that can hold water and nutrients in the soil, making it easier to till.

Think of composting as the act of growing microorganisms. While a vegetable farmer is attuned to fertility, cultivation, water and seasonal needs of a crop, a composter should consider their types of compostable materials, sometimes called feedstocks, how to prepare them, and their moisture needs to ensure quality compost. Actually, it is easier for composters to control compost pile conditions than it is for a farmer to control the weather.

Whether you have a large operation, or a small backyard pile, whether you compost “hot” and fast, or “slow” and cold, making compost always involves the same biological principles. Composting methods may be different, depending on various conditions or economic considerations. When choosing what method to use, keep in mind all the factors to decide whether to pursue a traditional, well established compost plan or create another innovative method that can meet the same expectations"

Article 2: Quick and Easy Compost Recipes

Adapted from Organic Gardening for Dummies

"To make the most compost in the shortest amount of time, try some of these proven recipes. For each recipe, mix the ingredients thoroughly and follow the directions in the next section, "Keeping your pile happy." Depending on weather and compost ingredients, you should have finished compost within one to two months.

• Recipe #1: Four parts kitchen scraps from fruits and vegetables, 2 parts chicken or cow manure, 1 part shredded newspaper (black ink only), and 1 part shredded dry leaves.

• Recipe #2: Two parts kitchen scraps, 1 part chicken manure, and 1 part shredded leaves.

• Recipe #3: Two parts grass clippings, 1 part chicken manure, and 1 part shredded leaves.

Keeping your pile happy

A hot pile is a happy pile. If you follow the method of just throwing everything together, the pile will rarely heat up. If you follow the method of building the pile carefully with a balanced C/N ratio, the pile will start to cook within a week. Now you need to keep it cooking. Here's the procedure:

Keep the pile moist by periodically watering it.

Dig into the pile about 1 foot to see if it's moist. If not, water the pile thoroughly, but not so that it's soggy. The pile needs air, too, and adding too much water removes air spaces. If you built the pile with moist ingredients, such as kitchen scraps, it won't need watering at first. The finished product should be cool, crumbly, dark colored, and earthy smelling. Sometimes, a compost pile never heats up, smells bad, or contains pieces of undecomposed materials. Chances are that one of the following conditions occurred:

• The pile was too wet or dry.

• You added too many carbon materials and not enough nitrogen materials.

• The pieces of material were too big or packed together. Shred leaves, branches, and pieces of wood to decompose more quickly.

• The pile was too small.

You can find lots of compost aids on the market. Bioactivators -- packages of concentrated microbes -- are one of the most popular because they can speed the decomposition process. These microbes occur naturally, however, and many are already present in a well-constructed compost pile. Save your money and use microbe-rich compost materials instead.

Material and C/N Ratio

Table scraps, 15:1

Grass clippings, 19:1

Old manure, 20:1

Fresh alfalfa hay, 12:1

Fruit waste, 25:1

Corn stalks, 60:1

Old leaves, 80:1

Straw, 80:1

Paper, 170:1

Sawdust, 500:1

Wood, 700:1"

Article 3: Composting Tips

"1. Grass clippings add necessary nitrogen to a compost pile, but be sure to mix with the "brown" materials that add carbon. Both are necessary for quick decomposition and rich compost. Piles made up of just grass will compact, slow down and start to stink.

2. Do not compost fats, pet droppings, or animal products. They will attract pests to the pile and can spread disease.

3. Newspaper or plain white paper from the computer is excellent for composting - just remember to shred it first to speed up the process.

4. Got compost? When finished it should look, feel and smell like rich, dark soil. You should not be able to recognize any of the items you put in there.

5. Worms love coffee grounds!

6. If adding ashes to your compost bin, do so sparingly. They are alkaline and affect the pH of the pile. In contrast, acidic materials include pine needles and oak leaves.

7. Plants that have been treated with pesticides and/or herbicides (weeds and lawn clippings) should be avoided.

8. The microbes responsible for breaking down your compost pile need a balance of nitrogen and carbon. Nitrogen comes from green materials such as food scraps, manure, and grass clippings. Carbon comes from brown materials such as dead leaves, hay, wood chips and shredded newspaper. A ratio that contains equal portions of both and is well mixed works best.

9. Algae and seaweed make excellent additions to your compost pile. Be sure to rinse off any salts before using.

10. Finished compost is usually less than half the volume of the materials you started with, but it's much denser.

11. Keep your compost pile in a black plastic bin and in direct sunlight to continue the composting process through the winter. Hay bales can be used to further insulate the pile.

12. Wooden pallets make excellent compost bins. Start with one pallet on the ground. Drive two metal stakes into each side. Slide additional pallets over each support and you have a bin ready for compost.

13. Straw is an excellent source of carbon for your compost pile. However, it may contain weed seeds, so make sure the pile is "cooking" properly.

14. Compost decomposes fastest between 120 and 160 degrees F. Decomposition will occur at lower temperatures, but it takes much longer.

15. The perfect size for a compost pile is one that is at least 3' x 3' x 3'. It's not only a manageable size to turn, but it's ideal for retaining heat while still allowing air flow.

16. For faster composting keep your pile or compost bin in direct sun.

17. Don't throw away your kitchen waste in the winter - try an indoor composter.

18. Compost piles should remain damp but not too wet. As you build your compost pile, make sure that each layer is moist as it is added. The surface should also remain damp (think of a wrung out sponge), especially during the summer months.

19. Does your compost pile smell? It's probably due to a large number of anaerobic microbes, which are working hard to break down your compost, but creating a smelly situation in the process. To cut down on the anaerobic process, aerate your pile regularly, creating air spaces and limiting the anaerobic microbes while stimulating the less stinky aerobic microbes.

20. Help start a new compost pile with aged manure, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, blood meal, or compost starter. They are rich in nitrogen and help jump-start the microbes responsible for breaking down organic matter into compost.

21. Anything that was living at one time is great for compost bins. Think of leaves, vegetables, and grass clippings.

22. Compost piles can either be layered - thin layers of alternating greens and browns, or they can all be thrown in together and mixed well. Either way works!

23. Soak finished compost in water to "brew" compost "tea," a nutrient-rich liquid that can be used for foliar feeding or for watering plants in your garden, backyard, or houseplants.

24. Apply finished compost to your garden about 2-4 weeks before you plant, giving the compost time to integrate and stabilize within the soil.

25. For faster results, use a compost turner every two weeks to aerate your pile."