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2torial #0847:
Learn2 Make a Compost Pile (continued)
 Collect compostable materials
If you, like many gardeners, enjoy the thrift
that gardening allows, then this is the method for
you. It requires that you collect your compostable
materials and throw them in a pile. To make this
method work, it's important to know the difference
between nitrogenous and carbonaceous ingredients.
This is not as imposing as it sounds:
nitrogenous ingredients are high in nitrogen, and
carbonaceous ingredients contain a lot of carbon.
The formula is about 1/3 nitrogenous ingredients
and 2/3 carbonaceous materials in the pile.
Carbon sources
Carbonaceous ingredients include any plant
material (all plant material is carbon-based.) Tree
byproducts, autumn leaves, sawdust, shredded
newspapers, cardboard egg cartons, chopped dead
cornstalks, fireplace ashes. And, if you live in or
near an agricultural area, you might want to add
some straw (look around for a farmer giving it
away).
Go easy on the fireplace ashes. Although
they're high in potash, ashes tend to raise the
soil's pH balance; also, you may find they're too
messy to work with. If you do include them, only
add about 3 pounds per 1,000 square feet. And, of
course, make sure they're thoroughly
cold--smouldering ashes could find many flammable
components in your compost.
Nitrogen sources
Horse or cow manure are fine, especially those
which are already decomposing and crumbly. If you
go to a stable, look for the old stuff in the back
of the pile; it's already breaking down and will
speed the process in your pile (it also tends not
to smell as bad as the, er, younger stuff).
You may have read that ...
- Grass clippings
- Soft green prunings from shrubbery,
- Kitchen wastes (including coffee grounds and
used tea bags, as well as vegetable and fruit
and other food scraps)
- Green vegetation and manure
...all contain nitrogen, and indeed they do. But
they may not contain enough nitrogen to get the
pile cooking. Grass clippings, for instance, may
have only 1% nitrogen.
A compost heap cooks best at about 160 degrees
F (64 degrees C). If you find that your pile
is not heating up enough, try forking in materials
which are higher in nitrogen such as kitchen
wastes, grass clippings. If that doesn't do the
trick, try things like:
- Dried blood (13% nitrogen)
- Fish emulsion (5% nitrogen)
- Fish meal (10% nitrogen).
If you add crushed crab shells (or lobster,
shrimp or clam shells) to your pile, they'll add
calcium--a mineral which plants need in trace
amounts. If you live near the seashore, add some
seaweed which contains trace minerals such as
potassium.
Perhaps you're including soft tree or shrub
prunings, or fibrous kitchen wastes, or shells such
as mussel or clam shells in the pile. If so, use a
brick, a shovel or another blunt-ended garden tool
to break open the stems and roots, or crush the
shells. The smaller the materials are, the easier
they decompose. An added benefit, the seafood
shells contain a compound called chitin (kie
tin). Chitin helps control pesky nematodes in the
soil which damage the roots of garden plants. No,
nematodes aren't toads--they're a sort of midget
worm that lives in the dirt.
 Step
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