Brett Meyer asked for some material about composting, so I used a gag from Fraggle Rock. When the trash-heap got excited, they said, "Compost yourself."
A compost pile is made from a combination of soil and organic material, usually a mix of high nitrogen items (grass, rabbit manure, chicken manure, weeds) and low nitrogen items (wood shavings, dried leaves, cow manure). One item alone can be composted too, such as leaves, but the typical gardener will want to mix the elements to create a blend that will heat up, break down, and turn into compost soil for a wide variety of uses.
Nitrogen is the building block of all life, basic to protein. High nitrogen ingredients heat up and break down fast in compost, because one type of bacterial will attack it. The heating up tends to kill weed seeds and pathogens.
Various creatures are designed by God to eat and be eaten. For instance, damp compost materials will mold, and some creatures eat the mold. Others rush in to eat the mold-feeders. Many creatures live on rot while many others prey upon those specialists. The earthworm is the last to work on compost, because it cannot tolerate the heating up process.
The life cycle of a good compost pile follows the laws of Creation, with some help from man. The same things goes on all the time without us noticing it, but we can make tons of it on purpose:
1. Create a bin in deep shade with a circle of chicken wire. The bottom and top are left open. The open bottom rests on soil or grass, to speed the process.
2. Layers of leaves, grass, manure, and soil are tossed into the bin. Weeds are no problem. They are full of nitrogen and minerals for the heap. Manure is sanitized by the process and deodorized as well. I would never use dog or cat manure because of shared parasites.
3. Shade is important to keep the pile from drying out. Water is added to keep the dampness close to that of a sponge when rung out.
4. Soil adds beneficial creatures and bacteria.
5. Some aeration is good, but impractical as the help grows in size. In theory, a rotated heap will finish faster. There are tools to facilitate wrenching the back and creating blisters. Or, bamboo poles can be used to create air channels. I let earthworms do their job.
6. The bottom area is finished first and can be drawn out. The clue is the presence of earthworms. They will be busy digesting, adding sweetener to the soil, laying eggs and depositing their own manure. In almost-completed compost they multiply faster than Shrinkers in a dying synod.
Compost gardeners agree that there is never enough compost.
Compost does not have to be dug into the soil. Some people may want to do that because they think back-breaking work is good for the garden. Earthworms will pull the compost down into the top 12 inches of soil. Once that layer is full of compost, the remaining compost on top will act as mulch, protecting the plants from drying out and the invasion of weeds.
Compost has a wonderful earthy smell because of soil bacteria. Compost does not smell like garbage unless leftover food is dumped into the heap. That is a great idea for those who want to breed flies and other vermin.
We knew some city-Mennonites who ran to their "compost heap" and tossed the garbage in from a distance. They were doing it all wrong and likely attracted raccoons, rodents, and other creatures to the garbage pile.
Compost will necessarily spread earthworm eggs to every part of the garden. Red wigglers (which have a lot of names) are the best for this and can be purchased. Dew worms, which are larger and not so red, will also do a good job. The sign of rich garden soil is one earthworm per shovel of soil.
We have composted rabbit manure with soil and had a teaming mass of worms in every shovel. We called it Rabbit-Gro. Mrs. Ichabod thought of placing children's swimming pools under the cages, catching the manure and feeding the earthworms in the soil below. I was the gardener, so I was expected to be shovel-ready at all times.
Another way to create compost on the spot is to place a heavy layer of organic material around plants as mulch. I have used fresh lawn clippings for sweet corn, leaves, newspapers, spoiled hay, and ground up trees. Midland provided free sawdust from their tree removal projects, and I used that around the bushes and other plants. Wood uses up nitrogen at first and then releases it, so it has to be used the right way. I would not mulch a corn patch with sawdust.
After Herman Otten read the Wormhaven book, he used extra copies of Christian News to mulch his new trees. Mulch holds soil moisture in while providing shade for earthworms to work. They hate the sun but like coming up under a moist and shady canopy. Lift up old rotten wood and you will find worms. Leave a stack of newspapers on top of soil and earthworms will gather under it.
The emphasis on rot can promote slugs. One solution is to raise ducks. They seem to be one of the few slug-eaters on the planet. I have had slugs but they never became a problem. They would come up onto a few plants from the mulch and also hide under the cover I placed over some compost. I used an old rug for shade, so slugs rested on the shady side of that rug.
