Adding compost to your garden is a great way to increase the nutrition of your soil without much effort at all. This is also a very inexpensive option and will add tremendous value to your garden. Compost is simply a mixture of organic materials such as grass clippings, leaves, straw, etc. Other items, such as vegetable peelings, may also be added to provide even more nutrition to the compost. You can easily start your own compost pile at home. Keep in mind that a compost pile will be beneficial to any kind of garden you cultivate at home; whether it is vegetable or flower or even if you simply want to cultivate ornamental trees.
In order for your compost pile to be ready for use in your spring garden, you should start it no later than the fall of the previous year. If you live in an urban area, it’s a good idea to check your local ordinances to make sure there are no restrictions against having a compost pile at home. Once you have clarified this you can begin building your compost pile by selecting a location that is not too near your home. Many people like to actually locate their compost pile in or near their garden to make the process of broadcasting the compost to the garden easier.
The first layer of your compost pile should be composed of whatever waste materials you happen to have available to you. This may be grass clippings, leaves, straw, etc. You may choose to add household garbage, such as food scraps, as the next layer of the compost pile, but do keep in mind that any food materials that are added to the compost pile should be buried deeply inside and then covered with the next layer of compost; preferably more leaves, straw, etc. This is to keep animals away from the compost pile.
To reduce the smell of your compost pile and aid in aeration, which assists with decomposition, you may also wish to push some sticks between the various layers of the compost as the pile begins to grow in height.
Beyond proper aeration, your compost pile will also need plenty of moisture in order to break down properly and form a rich humus which you can add to your garden. Periodically, you will need to turn your compost pile over so that all the layers have an opportunity to blend as they break down. When you turn over the compost pile, be sure to check the moisture of the middle layer. If you find that the middle layer is dry, you’ll need to add some water. Make sure you do this each time you turn over the pile.
You’ll notice that as the weeks go by the compost will have begun to break down to a rich matter that no longer has a bad smell. In fact, it should smell just like soil. You will know that your compost is ready to add to your garden when there are no visible signs of the individual layers which were added to the compost pile. There should instead be a uniform mixture of humus.
