Making and using compost is one of the smartest techniques any gardener can master to enrich the overall health of their garden. It's easy, ecological and your plants will love their new food.

Native garden soils usually have some kind of underlying issue: nutritional deficiency, excessive clay or sand, poor drainage quality, inadequate soil structure, poor aeration, and/or pH imbalances. Fortunately, there is a simple solution, requiring just an easy commitment on your part. It involves collecting your organic material.

The organic decomposition creates the best soil conditioner, fertilizer and mulch that money can buy. When you periodically add the resulting compost into your soil you enhance the structure of the soil and add fertility to your garden. Composting also reduces home and garden waste by over 50%. Its a win-win.

Variety Of Materials

To provide the greatest range of nutrients, add coffee grounds, egg shells, fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, shredded paper, shredded leaves, plant clippings, sawdust, and fireplace ashes. Absolutely exclude any diseased or pest infested plant matter, meat scraps, dairy, weed roots, and oils and fats. Apart from the obvious quality issues, you want to keep "critters" away from the bin.

Regular Rotation

The key to effective composting is to nurture the micro-organisms like fungi, bacteria, and also the worms and insects that accumulate in the soil. Their job is to "treat" the debris you've stock piled. As these micro-organisms digest the debris, your "pile" will begin to produce an odor and even steam. This tells you the process is working well. You just need to toss the mixture around to aerate it, which easily eliminates the odor. You can use a shovel or rake every few days to a week, depending on the weather. This just takes a few minutes to do.

Consistently turning the decomposing material, will break it down into a high quality soil additive that your plants will thrive on. The complete composting process usually takes several weeks. Before long, you will ready-made material at the bottom of your compost pile that you can add to your soil as needed.

Help Your Compost Break Down

Composting requires heat so keep the bin in as sunny a spot as possible. It must be accessible to water (hose) as you may need to add moisture to the pile, if too dry. However you can continue to add food wastes to the pile all year round. When the weather warms and it thaws out, decomposition is accelerated.

Do not pile the compost higher than five feet, as the sheer weight of the material will make it difficult to toss and turn adequately. The ideal size of a compost bin is about a four-by-four square foot area, and two to three feet high. Put gravel on the bottom of the pile to help with drainage.

Your compost should have the consistency of a squeezed wet sponge. Another good idea is to shred materials like leaves and small branches before adding them to your compost. This will speed up the process.

Adding Your Compost To The Garden

The general rule of thumb when applying your compost is to add four to six inches to your garden about four months before planting, two to three inches about two months before planting and just one inch if you plant any sooner.

The decayed material takes time to fully integrate into the planting bed but the more decayed the matter, the quicker you will see the results. Also, when incorporating into your soil, make sure to avoid large chunks that can cause air pockets to form.

Types Of Composting Containers

Composting bins can be store-bought or home-made. When going with the factory-made variety, consider the barrel-shaped types that can be rotated by turning a crank. This turning action can increase the rate of decay substantially. If going the home made route, simple fencing materials or cinder blocks can be used to form a relatively large composting area.

Composting is likely the best ongoing practice that a gardener can undertake. It nurtures the soil better than anything store bought, giving you rich and bountiful vegetables and blooming flowers for just a small investment of your time.