Filed under: Food, General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Herbs, Landscaping & Gardening, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles | Tags: Autumn Leaves Falling on Water, Burning Leaves, Compost, Compost Tea, Composted Manure, Composting, Fall Cleanup, Fall Gardening, Fertilizer, Free Compost, Gardening, Green, Kitchen Scraps, Leaves, Nitrates, Organic, Organic Gardening, Starting a compost pile, Vegetable Scraps, Vernicompost
I have been asked a few times on the radio lately about composting, so I went back in the archives and pulled this up. This was 1st published over 10 years ago!
A big blowing storm just came through and left plenty of leaves š to get us all started…
āFall is one of my Favorite seasons! Cooler weather, fall planting and gardening and all the great family gatherings and food are wonderful. Fall is also a GREAT time to start aĀ Compost Pile. All those leaves, plants and grasses that you have to cut back and all of the upcoming holiday food scraps add up too a great supply of usable components in a compost pile!
Starting aĀ Compost pileĀ is quick , easy and wonāt cost you anything to get started! Compost is one of natureās best mulches and soil amendments and you can use it instead of chemical fertilizers.Ā CompostĀ improves soil structure, texture and increases the soilās water-holding capacity. Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils to retain water. The organic matter in compost provides food for microorganisms, which in turn keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition. Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are produced naturally by the feeding of microorganisms, so few if any soil amendments will need to be added.
Itās easy to get started .
-Bag your grass clippings or mulch up all those leaves for theĀ compostĀ pile!
-Save those kitchen scraps and add them to the compost pile. Kitchen scraps are typically high in nitrogen, which helps heat up the compost pile and speed up the composting process. Egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable peels and scraps are good candidates for the compost pie. But DONāT add meat, grease or other animal products!
ā With a compost pile, bigger is often better. Heat builds up with a bigger pile, but you donāt want to get much bigger than about 3 feet by 3 feet, if itās too big it can be hard to work around. Multiple piles may be in order .
ā Aerate your compost! If you are composting with a pile, or in a static (non-tumbling) compost bin, be sure to mix up the contents so that the pile gets oxygen and can break down effectively. Turn it with a pitch fork from time to time .
ā Donāt let the compost completely dry out. A compost pile needs moisture to keep the composting process active , BUT , donāt keep it too wet.
ā Too much of any one material will slow down the composting process. If you have all leaves, all grass clippings or an overload of any other single type of material, it can throw off the balance of the pile. Itās best to keep a balanced mix of green (nitrogen) and brown (carbon) materials.
When ready, this compost will be wonderful for the whole garden!
Good Luck and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!ā
Mark Carter
Carterās Nursery, Pond & Patio
2846 Old Medina Rd.
Jackson, Tn. 38305
Ph.# 731-424-2206
http://www.cartercountry.com
YouTube pg. ā
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dPkQiE04jcr385SOL0gkw
Facebook pg. ā https://www.facebook.com/mark.carter.775
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Carter's Water Garden 
