When I first started gardening I never gave composting a thought.

I would plant away and hope for the best.  Even when I knew better. If I had to work too hard at it – well, I just didn’t want to do it.

Later, as I grew as a gardener and an adult, with a bit more patience, I came to understand how important the soil was to the success of my plants and gardens.  I started buying compost and added it here and there.

It wasn’t until I moved back to Virginia 20 years ago that I was able to witness just what a difference compost can make in a garden.

I was renting a little cape cod and my landlord was very generous – letting me paint inside what I wanted, and outside, garden to my heart’s delight.

It was a tiny front yard.

Facing the sun, bisected by a sidewalk to the front porch. I started out small – just added some small beds in front of the house and porch, but by the time I left – one whole side of the front yard was garden.

And it was a thriving garden

despite the fact that it started in hard, rocky clay. I had managed to turn that clay into a rich, dark brown soil with organic matter and so many worms, my next door neighbor would dig some up for her turtle.

The first year I created the gardens I didn’t have much money to spare and it all went to the plants I wanted.  I knew I needed to mulch the beds to help with retaining the moisture and prevent the sun from drying up the soil.  

My dad came to my rescue.

The town he lived in gave away their leaf mulch.  He brought me a truckload that we spread in the gardens each year. And what a difference that made.  By the second or third year – I didn’t need a shovel to dig my holes, my trowel worked just fine.

The worms were doing their job and my plants were loving it.

So when I bought my house several years later – one of the first things I set up in the backyard was a tumbling compost bin.  Black gold it gives me!

How can you get some for your garden?

There are several ways to get compost for your garden.  You can buy it at your local garden centers or big box stores. Your local municipality might sell it. Or you can make it yourself.

Why would you make it yourself?

There are several reasons:

• Save money on fertilizers
• Benefits your garden
  • Maintains moisture
  • Adds nutrients
• Reduces your carbon footprint
• Reduces methane gases released into the atmosphere

Which compost method should you use?  

Whichever works best for you.

I have shown pictures with links below of several bins available that are a good example of one to start with.

Some things to keep in mind when choosing a bin;

• The space you have
• The ease in adding the materials
• The ease in getting the composted materials out
• Ventilation to prevent your compost from smelling

Your compost should not smell bad!

 If it does, it is too wet and you need to turn it and add more brown material.

Brown material?  What’s that you ask?

There is a basic recipe for creating your compost. It includes four ingredients; organic material, water, bacteria, and air.  The organic matter includes both brown and green matter. You can provide the bacteria by adding a composting additive, or do like most people and throw some soil from your garden in.

Brown material consists of dead plant material, leaves, twigs, soil, etc.  It also includes cardboard(in small pieces) and paper(non-glossy).

Green material would include grass clippings, fruit and vegetable leftovers, eggshells, etc.

For a longer list check out http://compostguide.com/compost-materials/

There are several different ratios for green to brown material.  I have never bother with keeping track of a ratio. If it’s smelly – add some brown material.  If it’s not breaking down, add some green material or a bit of water.

Turning also helps with the breaking down.  Wait about two or three weeks after you have started your compost before you start turning it.