Compost! DIY dirt

If you are going to do any kind of gardening you are going to need dirt. Compost can make really good dirt and compost tea which the plants feed from.

If compost is done correct it does not smell or attract animals.

And best of all; compost is free dirt - and that's... dirt cheap. *Booo*

The web defines compost as "a mixture of decaying vegetation and manure; used as a fertilizer".

Most compost takes about a year to break down but there are tricks to get good compost in 2--3 months. It's all about bacteria and worms. If you give the microorganisms and worms ideal living conditions they will do all the work for you. Think of it as literally trillions of workers (slaves, mwa ha ha) working non stop.


There are 2 main parts of your compost you need to keep in balance.
Nitrogen(N) aka 'greens' and Carbon(C) aka 'browns'. 25:1 (C:N)
N - Nitrogen, P - Phosphorus, K - Potassium, C - Carbon, CC - Extra Carbon

Greens
Coffee grinds (N, P) - Acidic; great added direct to dirt for cranberries
Cooked food scraps - Low in nutrients and may attract animals
Grass clippings (N, P, K) - fresh = good nitrogen
Hay
Weeds

Browns
Grass clippings (C, P, K) - dried = good carbon
Sawdust (CC)
Wood Ash (P, K) - use small amounts, highly alkaline
Newspaper (CC) - shredded is best
Cardboard (CC)


Other
Egg shells - crushed up source of calcium
Drier lint - great!
Brewing yeast - Full of organisms.
Human urine - liquid gold


BAD
BBq ash/coal - contains sulphur oxides
Dishwater
Fish scraps - attracts animals, best if buried under new plants
Kitty litter - may contain disease organisms
Dog/cat poop - see above

Air, water and heat keep a happy compost. As the compost breaks down into dirt it heats up. That causes it to break down faster. So keep it in the sun. I have mine behind the shed facing south.
Turning the pile is also very important. Take a pitch fork and mix it up! This brings in air to help the bacteria.

A good size for a compost is 3x3 feet. This gives it enough mass to hold in the heat. When you mix it up you might see steam rising; that means it's working. :)

Alright. Good. So you have compost dirt and want to get the most from it. Use it to 'feed' the dirt around your plants. A scoop or two around you plants and watering them and they will produce nice quality food. You can also make a tea...

Compost Tea
This is like a free fertilizer. You need a water proof box or cooler, some cheese cloth and fresh compost. Put the compost in the cheese cloth or nylon socking and tie it shut; like a tea bag. Put the tea bag in the water proof box and fill with water to cover the tea bag (best-worst; rain water, pond water, well water, public water).
After about a week you can dump the tea dirt into the compost (the cheese cloth will compose). Now you have a great home made fertilizer that your plants will love.
As an added bonus you can pee into the tea and provide more nitrogen and minerals! Just make sure you have 10:1 tea:water ratio... AND water around the roots. Don't be dumping your Pee Tea all over the fruit you are planning to eat.
You can do more elaborate tea using fish tank aerator and pumps to circulate and oxygenate the liquid.


Other compost options.
Having an idea what your ground pH levels are is a good idea. You may need to adjust what dirt you use for certain plants. Cranberries are one plant I grow that like a high acidic soil. So I save my used coffee grinds to make compost just for that plant. I usually add it in before I give it to the plant.
Egg shells are high in calcium. Some plants, like tomatoes really benefit from it and will produce nicer fruit. If you crush it up and sprinkle a circle around plant stems it will help deter slugs and cutworms.
When I brew beer I have a think brown sludge of yeast leftovers. I add some warm water to activate the yeast and pour it into my compost. It acts as an activator that speed up the compost. Also spent grains and used hops help feed the system and acts like rocket fuel to your system. :D
Adding a couple scoops of dirt to the top after you've mixed it can be good. Also adding blood meal, bone meal are good.

I've been pretty sick lately but I've still been building a new compost bin out of wood. I'll post about it later.

We've gotten used to saving certain food scraps on the counter for a couple days then dumping them into the outside compost.

In many ways compost is the most important part of producing good gardens. In order to really produce your own foods you need 2:1 compost:garden ratio. So for every 5x5 foot garden you need 2 5x5 garden beds producing compost material and cover crops.

So I hope this has given some ideas and insights to composting.
G'night!