It has also been called black gold, so maybe it is more than just dirt.
We take a variety of things here on the farm and combine them in our compost pile. Sawdust that comes from our local sawmill. Wood chips after being under baby chicks. Parts of poultry no one wants. There is also a neighbor who goes fishing and pulls in carp that is massive...no fish tale here...they are 4-5 feet long and heavy: he has his own bin, with sawdust.
The strangest thing happens when all that stuff has time. It all breaks down and becomes soil. It smells like dirt, is a beautiful, rich black color, and fills in in beds beautifully. Seeds get planted and generally we get great production. We still need to figure out sweet potatoes: lots of vines, only tiny little slips every year. Something to study and plan adjustments this winter.
Compost. Such lovely goodness from various things that look like garbage to many. After it goes through Homer's farm made sifter it is really ready to cover a bed, providing nutrition for the next vegetable to grow there.
Those plants in the bed behind? Tomatoes. Grown in compost. Reaching to the roof of the hoop house. No other fertilizer. Wicked good.
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They (you know --- them) tell you, though, that no meat goes into compost --- it kills compost. Not sure what that means, but even on the top of my black plastic composters is written "No meat, no fat, no bones". So --- I am puzzled by the carp and chicken parts.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't kill compost, but it does attract varmints. After a rat invasion at our last rental, we don't put any meat products in the compost anymore. Unfortunately, that doesn't keep the dogs out. They still love the rotten veggies.
DeleteI've also read that the relatively high fat content in meats can cause problems. I figure, though, the problems aren't as big as rats.
Delete"problems" might just mean those pesky rodents, which means time for a Jack Russell!
Deletemy understanding is that the compost pile emits an ongoing call to bugs, both visible and invisible. Worms too. And they are a large and combined force in the conversion of disparate parts into compost. Heat too. My guess is that even through the stacks of sawdust a call goes out to bugs that consume...parts...and not just plant matter. Burial is deep to stop odor, and critters (including our own dog) that are likely to dig up don't. Our bins are big, and that might help too. As ionce heard a biologist say: "bet on the bugs, some always survive".
ReplyDelete