Compost....It's What Your Vegetable Garden Want's

Compost.....It's What Your Vegetable Garden Want's

Rich compost is also what your veggie garden needs. I remember Martha Stewart back in the early 90's showing people how to compost. I never heard of making your own dirt before. Then again, I guess I never really thought about where dirt came from either. I tried to find this video because I thought it was great and I wanted to post but no luck. So I did some searching and found out there are a lot of people with many opinions and some people I feel have no clue what they are even saying! Again, I'm not an expert in this field but I will claim to have GREAT SOIL "Black Gold" and really isn't that one of the main reasons to compost? Another reason is to be "green" and have less waste in our landfills also if you love planting and gardening in the long run it will save you money too. I have bought many different brands of compost, my favorite for vegetable gardens would have to be Miracle Grow. What I don't like is that for the price you pay, I still find rocks & bark in them. I do not like peat moss because it is a water hog and that waste water in a garden. I know people love to compost there weeds, why? Now I have a garden with even more of a weed problem and more work for me, no thank you.

I do compost my weeds but I have a separate compost for them, I also have a lot of land to do that. I use that compost to fill in holes and just trow behind bushes. If you live in a house where you don't have much land I would say buy a compost bin but if you have 1/4 of an acre or more compost right in the dirt and cover with black plastic or a tarp. People love there little red compost worms I know but I let mother nature take her course and save little money in the process. You can find the tools you will need, tips and how I compost weeds at the bottom of this blog.


How I Compost For My Vegetable Garden Only:

Pick an area away from your view and windows.
Dig a hole about 1-2 feet
Start small until you get the hang of it and your compost can "cook"
I started with 2-3 feet wide
Take some small bark and plain old dirt mix with some grass clippings & throw it on the bottom of your hole (few inches worth) add enough water to cover the bottom
Take your food waste NOT meat or dairy and throw on top of your bark/dirt mixture
Now take some more plain old dirt, throw it on top and mix with the end of your shovel as if your chopping it with a knife
Add some "brown matter" such as paper towels, cardboard (soak with water before throwing it in), lint from your laundry (most clothes are cotton), paper from your shredder, news paper tore up into strips, tiny sticks/twigs, the cardboard from your t.p rolls & paper towels (soak in water for 2 min). Whack it again with a shovel to mix but don't turn the soil at this time yet.
Add a lot of water to get it started at least 5 gallons or so, let the water soak down
Now cover with more plain old dirt and cover that with a tarp, holding it down with stakes or heavy rocks.

LET IT COOK & KEEP IT MOIST


OK, so you've started your compost...Now what?

Next you will want to stock up on your green matter. I reuse plastic bags from the produce and bulk food isle's or if I am going to wait to compost for a few days I have a plastic tub with an air tight lid.

Here is a list of everything I can think of that my family puts in for
"green matter."

Ms. Foodies Green Matter:

Coffee grounds w/filter (any type)
Tea leafs or tea bags (if you are getting worms take out staple)
Eggshells for calcium (you can rinse or not)
Watermelon, Honeydew, Cantaloupe rinds
Mango seeds and skin
Papaya peel & seeds
All citrus peels including key limes
Coconut shells (very good compost matter)
Potato peels any kind
Any kind of left over clipping from veggies and fruits, even the tops of pineapples
Skins off garlic, onions, tomatillos etc...
Seeds from bell peppers (they will grow in compost, just recompost the sprouts)
Avocado rinds (I throw my seeds away, I don't know why)
Shells from any kinds of nuts
Nuts that are old, stale, rancid
Moldy fruits and veggies
Corn cob, husk and silk
Soggy salad (if it has a bunch of creamy dressing just wash off with plain water)
Dryer lint (I keep this with the brown or green matter)
Pickles, Olives and even old Relish
Fresh Herbs that have went bad in the fridge or the parts you don't use
Juice Fruit & Vegetable
Pulp from juicing if your not going to use it
Baby food fruit and veggie puree
Apple sauce


Ms. Foodies Brown Matter:

Cardboard tore up and soaked down before adding to the pile (make sure there is no tape too)
shredded paper, try not to use paper with dyes (you will eat this eventually)
brown or tan paper egg cartons or trays
Paper bags (wet down)
dead flowers and flower clippings (if fresh you an put with "green matter"
straw, grass clippings, sticks/twigs
old or left over mulch (no peat moss)
wood chips
tall grasses that have no seeds (cheat grass, fox tails etc..)
grocery receipts (if you no longer need them)
newspaper
if your not using worms you can throw in a little sand especially if you have clay type soil

Now that your all set up and you're collecting all your "G&B matters" this is what you do next....

Maintaining Your Compost and Using Your "Black Gold"

Pull off the cover on your compost
Mix in the dirt on top the first few times, after 4 or 5 times of composting just scape the dirt off to the side and use to recover
After two weeks or so start digging down to the bottom and mix all that you have added, even the bark
Do Not add your matters yet, you need to turn and aerating mixture you already have cooking
Add about a gallon of water
Now add your green and brown matter together, if there is a lot of brown matter leave some for a top layer
Next chop it up with your shovel, it should look like a muddy mess or muddy pig slop
Pour in about another gallon or so of water
Now is the time, if you have extra cardboard (make sure it's wet) and B matter
Now cover with dirt, you can wet the top or not, I do both.
If you find your running out of space, make your hole wider
As long as it is cooking and breaking down, you'll be fine
After about a month of this you will have "Black Gold"
If you have little bugs in your soil, place it on a tarp or in a wheel barrow and the sun will kill them off. Don't worry once you have these little helpers you will always have them.
You can also start a few holes if you don't want to work hard turning soil, while your adding to one hole you can take from the other.


Tools You Will Need:

a shovel with a sharp tip even if it is banged up (as long as you can dig a hole and mulch your G&B matter)
a dirt area that gets a lot of sun APR. 3x5x1-2 ft (deep)
a water hose that reaches the area if your lucky or like I have to do 5 gallon buckets, pails or carboy aka water jug
starting out use a lawn trash bag or thick black plastic to cover area as you grow wider you can buy a tarp
a pitch fork when your compost is deep or really wide (for aerating)




Ms. Foodies Compost Tips:


Turning your compost a lot in the hot days will keep the smell away and will also help the compost "cook" faster therefore producing "Black Gold" faster without worms
Using Enzyme fruits such as pineapple, papaya, fruit juice etc...Will really help "cook" and break down G matter faster (so I believe)
You will have bugs in your compost, I have little white looking ants and they are amazing how fast they turn my matter into soil
I don't want to babysit red worms, if I go away for a week or more I don't want to worry about my worms either.
If you have to use a compost bin, chances are you will need worms and I'm not sure if you can use everything I have listed in my "green matter." I also know it will have to be done a bit different.
I think my way of composting is for the over worked, tired, lazy, impatient or A.D.H.D. type of humans.
I get a lot of freezing and a little snow where I live. In the months I can't dig holes without ground warmers, I use great big 55 gallon trash cans for my green waste only. I do not collect brown matter at this time.
If you can't afford one of those big cans use smaller trash cans or dig a deep hole and throw it all in. The freezing will keep it from smelling really bad but once it starts to thaw...you better be on the ball or the critters will have a field day.
You can always be a seasonal composter at least your doing better then most at living "green"
You could start a neighborhood compost if you live by a private owned dirt lot or if one person wants to be the house you come compost at.
Ask grocery stores if they can give you rotten fruit or veggies (unless there is some government rule on that)
Have your child start their own compost business if you have more then enough soil for you, I think it would pay better then a lemonade stand.