Composting seems pretty simple on
the surface. You pile up dead plants and wait for them to decay into
black dirt that you use to fertilize the garden; but it is actually a
complex ecosystem in action, and there are some things you can do to
make it work better.
The pile needs to have enough nitrogen to decay quickly. Forms of nitrogen include manure, grass clippings, and any other green material. You need a balance of brown material such as fallen leaves, and either green material or manure. Different people suggest different ratios, but you can't go wrong with 50/50.
Next is moisture. You need to keep the pile moist so fungi and bacteria can do their jobs. But you don't want it sopping wet or it will smell like a swamp from lack of oxygen. If it doesn't rain for more than 2 weeks, wet it down with the hose.
Air. The fungi and bacteria that predominate in a healthy compost pile require oxygen, so the pile should be turned at least once a month, but more often is fine too. Turning also helps equally distribute the water, and helps distribute fungal spores.
Introduction of microbes is one way to get a new pile off to a good start. One way is to make compost or manure tea and drench the new pile in it before giving it a turn to mix it up. Another way is to take water from a pond or fish farm and water the pile with that. Water that contains fish poop also contains nitrogen-fixing bacteria that turn the green matter and manure from ammonia into bioavailable forms of nitrogen. You can also buy "mushroom compost" which is just decomposed matter seeded with spores from beneficial fungi, and mix that with the pile the first time you turn it, and those will turn the whole pile into mushroom compost.
The pile needs to have enough nitrogen to decay quickly. Forms of nitrogen include manure, grass clippings, and any other green material. You need a balance of brown material such as fallen leaves, and either green material or manure. Different people suggest different ratios, but you can't go wrong with 50/50.
Next is moisture. You need to keep the pile moist so fungi and bacteria can do their jobs. But you don't want it sopping wet or it will smell like a swamp from lack of oxygen. If it doesn't rain for more than 2 weeks, wet it down with the hose.
Air. The fungi and bacteria that predominate in a healthy compost pile require oxygen, so the pile should be turned at least once a month, but more often is fine too. Turning also helps equally distribute the water, and helps distribute fungal spores.
Introduction of microbes is one way to get a new pile off to a good start. One way is to make compost or manure tea and drench the new pile in it before giving it a turn to mix it up. Another way is to take water from a pond or fish farm and water the pile with that. Water that contains fish poop also contains nitrogen-fixing bacteria that turn the green matter and manure from ammonia into bioavailable forms of nitrogen. You can also buy "mushroom compost" which is just decomposed matter seeded with spores from beneficial fungi, and mix that with the pile the first time you turn it, and those will turn the whole pile into mushroom compost.
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