Balz Michelle - Composting for a new generation: latest techniques for the bin and beyond

My name is Michelle, and Im a compost fanatic. Im not the only one. In fact, were everywhere. I run into people all the time who tell me how theyre obsessed with backyard composting. Were compost evangelists who spread our composting love to friends, family, and neighbors. When one of us encounters another composter at a party, we light up and spend the next hour talking about what kind of compost bin we have and swapping tips and tricks.

I cannot imagine life without composting.

When Im on vacation and eat a banana, the mere act of dropping that banana peel into the trash actually hurts. So much potential lost to another landfill. While out running errands, Ive been known to wrap apples cores in napkins and stash them in my purse so I can compost them at home. When looking at a bucket of potato peels or a bag of leaves, I see what they could become through composting: a rich, crumbly, dark-brown soil amendment full of beneficial organisms that will bring my soil to life.

Backyard composting isnt new. George Washington had a compost pile at Mount Vernon. Ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets refer to the use of manure, and theres evidence that many other ancient culturesRomans, Greeks, Arabsknew about composting. But mix human ingenuity with millions of people practicing backyard composting and you end up with fresh ideas, new gadgets, easier methods, and modern innovations to better fit our busy lifestyles. These techniques allow us to compost in our backyards without the smelly, stinky mess sometimes associated with decomposition. The pages that follow describe modern advances in the backyard composting world while also covering time-tested techniques and expert advice.

Successful backyard composting starts with the basics, and this book includes everything beginners need to get started. More experienced composters will discover new concepts and inspiration to expand their composting horizons and create even more wonderful compost. Backyard composting can take as much or as little effort as you want to put in, but know that you will not be doing the work alone. Millions of your closest composting buddies have your back and will be with you from beginning to end.

Backyard composters embrace the do-it-yourself ethos. We take materials that would otherwise be garbage and turn them into a valuable soil amendment prized by home gardeners. Many composters continue that innovation and reuse or repurpose materials to build their own composting units. In the spirit of DIY, this book provides step-by-step instructions to create your own tools, recipes, and composting bins.

Some people install solar panels or raise backyard chickens to help the planet and gain a little more control over their lives. Backyard composting is our way of living off the grid. We dont need bagged compost and overpriced fertilizers. We create life from death, beauty from rot. We are composters.

WHY COMPOST?

I magine taking materials that many people view as garbage and transforming them into something useful. When you compost, you create something that will amend your soil and improve your garden. You create something that has the ability to bind heavy metals so your plants wont absorb them. You create something that reduces your need for fertilizers and pesticides. Best of all, creating this special something requires no electricity, and you can make all the tools you need yourself.

Composting in your backyard replicates what happens naturally on the forest floor.

Compost holds a special place in the hearts of serious gardeners as the most important soil amendment around. But aside from the many personal benefits you reap from composting, your decision to compost also benefits the world around you, positively affecting larger environmental issues. You win, your soil wins, and the planet wins.

Now, before we dive into the benefits of compost, lets consider what backyard composting means.

A Quick Primer

When you plant a garden, you control (or try to control) which plants grow and where they grow. When you compost, you attempt to control what materials decompose and where they decompose. In the process, you create a valuable soil amendment, reduce household waste, and start an avalanche of other personal and environmental benefits.

Backyard composting can involve a structure or some type of container, or you can integrate composting directly into your garden (described in ). You can put as much or as little effort as you choose into your composting, depending on how quickly you want a finished product. The process of backyard composting is very forgiving, so even when you make mistakes, you end up with pretty darn good compost.

In nature, there is no wasteeverything decomposes and continues in a circle to nourish new life. Nature takes decades and sometimes centuries to create beautiful, humus-filled topsoil (humus is the organic component of soil formed by decomposition). Trees release leaves that naturally decompose where they fall. Animals contribute manure, regularly adding a rich, nutrient-filled material to the cycle. Decomposers, such as earthworms, help break everything down and slowly build the topsoil year after year. When you compost in the backyard, youre replicating what happens naturally, but in a concentrated and controlled manner. Youre creating that humus material you find on the forest floor. Youre just not waiting hundreds of years to get it done.

Now that you have an idea of what backyard composting is, lets take a look at the benefits that compost offers your garden. Oh, how I love you, compostlet me count the ways.

My whole life has been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of Gods presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that lets you see your place in the big picture. And that is what I had with my first compost heap.

BETTE MIDLER, LOS ANGELES TIMES, MAY 8, 1996

Improving Your Soil

Whether you live in an area with soil so sandy that it holds no water, urban soil that needs some TLC, or heavy clay soil that only the toughest plant rootsor sharpest spadecan penetrate, compost can help. Experienced gardeners know the value of amending soil with compost. Backyard composting creates a rich, loamy material with beneficial microorganisms that bring life to your soil.

When we compost in our backyards, we condense the decomposition process happening naturally to create a rich, humus-filled material in a matter of a few months to a year. The end product makes plants stand up and cheer with excitement. Theyd hug you if they could (or at least give you a high-five).

Mending Your Soils Relationship with Water

Soil scientists explain that soil structure breaks down to three basic components: sand, silt, and clay. Sandy soils with large spaces between particles tend to drain too quickly. Heavy clay soils, on the other hand, have tiny spaces in between their very small particles and can retain too much water and drown your plants roots.