Organic Book of Compost E-Book

Pauline Pears

• Herausgeber: IMM Lifestyle Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 167

Beschreibung

Grow beautiful fruits, vegetables, and flowers with rich soil you produce yourself! Whether you have experience with compost or have always wanted to learn more and see how you can incorporate it into your lifestyle, this book provides everything you need to know. From understanding what compost is and how to make it to using and storing it, this guide carefully explains this sustainable, low-cost way to produce rich soil in your backyard. With detailed chapters on composting techniques, worm composting, and even a section on frequently asked questions, Organic Book of Compost is the only one you'll ever need!

Leseprobe

Published 2020—IMM Lifestyle Books

www.IMMLifestyleBooks.com

IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed in the UK by Grantham Book Service, Trent Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7XQ.

In North America, IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed by Fox Chapel Publishing, 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552, www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

© 2011, 2020 by Garden Organic and IMM Lifestyle Books

Produced under license.

Organic Book of Compost, 2nd Revised Edition (2020) is a revised edition of The Garden Organic Book of Compost (2011), originally published by New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishing.

Print ISBN 978-1-5048-0123-2eISBN: 978-1-6076-5786-6

The Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the Library of Congress.

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

This book has been published with the intent to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter within. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the author and publisher expressly disclaim any responsibility for any errors, omissions, or adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained herein.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Garden Organic

Composting then and now

Why compost?

Getting started

Making compost

What can I compost?

A home for your compost

Worm composting

Other composting techniques

How to use your compost

The creatures in your compost heap

Composting in the community

Frequently asked questions

Resources

Picture Credits

Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

Composting makes the world go round. It recycles the nutrients that make plants (and animals) grow, feeds the bugs that keep the soil healthy and is a sustainable, low-cost way of dealing with “rubbish that rots.” And it can be fun too.

Looking at a handful of compost you might wonder what all the fuss is about. How could a whole book be written about something that looks like “dirt.” How can people be so passionate about a process that goes on in the natural world all the time? We hope that by the time you have made your first batch of compost you will be equally inspired – or at the very least feel that it is something worth doing again.

WHAT IS GARDEN COMPOST?

It is important to be clear about what is meant by the word “compost.” Compost, which looks like a rich dark-brown soil, is a product that results from the slow decomposition of plant and animal matter by living organisms. It is nature’s way of recycling the nutrients that exist in all living plants and animals and returning them to the soil to enrich and feed further generations of flora and fauna.

Compost is not the same as the seed, potting and multi-purpose composts on sale in garden shops. These, which are more correctly called growing media, are carefully formulated mixtures, designed for the specific purpose of raising and growing plants.

Compost-making is for everyone. You don’t need to be a keen gardener or have a science degree – the advice and instructions in this book are given in clear and simple terms.

A METHOD FOR EVERY SITUATION

Compost can be made in back yards, small or large gardens, school playgrounds, and on balconies and boats. This book has methods to suit every situation – including cool heaps, worm composting, Bokashi treatment and compost tumblers. There are also techniques to fit a range of lifestyles. Some composting methods involve little time and effort, while others can be turned into an enjoyable hobby. Choose the one that suits you and your family best; composting can be a great activity for children too. If you are new to composting, this book will show you how to get started, using a method that suits the range of items that you have available to compost. Within the chapter entitled “Getting Started” there is a flow chart to help you choose the method that suits your circumstances (see here). If you have already tried making compost and are not satisfied with the results, this book will help you to work out what you need to do to achieve your aims.

Composting need not involve much work. Heap suitable materials into a compost bin and let nature do the rest.

Compost is such wonderful stuff that it is often referred to as “black gold.”

There is a chapter on composting containers and where to put them, a chapter devoted to worm composting, and one on other techniques and treatments with full instructions on how to proceed. There is also a chapter focused on the helpful creatures that live in your compost and how they do their work.

“Can I compost it?” is a frequently asked question. At the heart of this book is an invaluable chart to refer to when you are unsure if a particular item is suitable for composting. This list might also encourage you to compost and recycle items that you might not have thought of before (see “What can I compost” here).

Making compost, leaf mold and so on should not be an end in itself. The recycling process is only really complete when the product is put back on to the soil (or into your pots and containers), and the plant foods it contains are used again by growing plants. This book also includes advice on how to make best use of the products you have made.

A handful of worm compost will pep up a hanging basket.

GARDEN ORGANIC

This book has been written by a team of experts at Garden Organic, the UK’s charity for organic gardening. The organization, founded as the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA) by Lawrence D. Hills, has been promoting organic gardening in homes, communities and schools since the 1950s.

Compost-making is at the heart of organic gardening, where the aim is to minimize the need to use outside resources and materials, and reduce the risk of polluting the wider environment. Developing biodiversity in the garden is also a key feature of organic gardening. Treating the soil with compost helps to increase biodiversity in the soil, which helps to maintain soil health. It has even been shown to help plants resist some pests and diseases. No surprise then that Garden Organic has been promoting composting for over 60 years. The charity works with individuals, communities, schools and care providers, helping them with practical advice on how to develop gardening projects and grow organically. We also house the Heritage Seed Library. This collection conserves rare vegetable varieties that are no longer commercially available. To support the charity or become a member visit www.gardenorganic.org.uk.

Garden Organic has been a major player in the modernization of home composting. Its work – giving advice and training advisors – has helped thousands of people make compost successfully. Garden Organic also established the Composting Association for large and industrial-scale composting. Now an independent organization, the Organics Recycling Group works with the huge industry that composting has become.

The biodynamic garden at Ryton Gardens.

The Cook’s Garden at Ryton Gardens grows an amazing array of decorative and edible plants.

An overview of Ryton Gardens – demonstration organic gardens in Warwickshire.

People have been making compost, in some form or another, for thousands of years. But in fact what they have really been doing is simply replicating, in a rather more organized form, what nature has been doing for a great deal longer. You only have to “kick” your way across a woodland floor to see the quality of nature’s compost! So, composting is a process that is as old as time, but it is also totally up-to-date, ticking all the boxes for a sustainable, twenty-first century lifestyle.

COMPOSTING FOR GROWING

A plant takes up minerals from the soil as it grows. When it dies it decays and is taken back into the soil by worms and other creatures. The same happens to animals. This is how nature recycles nutrients, so the land continues to be productive. Until the advent of “artificial,” man-made fertilizers around 60 years ago, this was also the way gardeners and farmers kept their land fertile. Then the majority abandoned recycling and compost-making in favour of the “granules from the bag.” Of course, the plant and animal wastes that had once been recycled in farms and gardens had to be disposed of somehow. Burning and dumping waste in landfill sites were two popular options – both with environmental drawbacks.

This became the common practice, apart from those committed to organic farming and gardening. Lawrence D. Hills, founder of Garden Organic, was one of those who were not convinced that the “chemical” road was the one to follow for long-term sustainability. In the twenty-first century, his fears appear to have been well founded.

Every part of the garden will benefit from the addition of compost.

Worms will work their way through a huge variety of compostable waste, turning it into a valuable resource.

COMPOST AS WASTE DISPOSAL

In the 1990s a number of apparently disparate issues came together – and the result was compost! Environmentalists called for strategies for waste minimization and recycling, proposing a target of 25 percent for household waste recycling by the year 2000. Local authorities realized that recycling bottles, paper and other items alone could not meet this target. They began to consider how to deal with the “putrescible” fraction of the waste (items such as kitchen and garden waste that can rot and smell), which made up around 30–40 percent of the contents of the average garbage can at that time. One relatively low-cost partial solution to the problem was home composting. Since then composting has become a recognized method of waste disposal.

At that time Garden Organic was one of the main sources of practical advice on home composting. It set up a local authority membership scheme to deal with the flood of enquiries. Other organizations helped localities minimize waste and make best use of resources. Home composting programs enabled local authorities to encourage home composting, in particular offering low-cost compost bins to householders.

EDUCATION AND SUPPORT

It became clear that more education and support was needed if the local residents were to compost effectively. It was to help address this issue that Garden Organic started its Master Composter scheme – based on the US model. Garden Organic’s Master Composters are volunteers who spend time promoting home composting in their local community, encouraging householders to take up composting and ensuring those already composting continue to do so effectively. Master Composters come from many backgrounds and age groups; their unifying feature is their enthusiasm for encouraging more environmentally friendly waste management practices. Volunteers, after the necessary training, work in their community to promote composting and to give help and advice to individuals, communities and schools.

FROM PIGS TO WORMS

The lifestyle and living conditions of the new generations being encouraged to make compost meant that composting methods needed an update. The traditional advice – to make a large compost heap, carefully constructed over a short period of time, that heated up to steaming temperatures and was turned regularly – was no longer appropriate for the majority wanting to use composting as a means of waste management. Fortunately, composting still works very well in smaller, neat-looking compost bins that are filled on an ad hoc basis and otherwise ignored.

The Centre for Alternative Technology took a fresh look at what could be composted from the waste items produced by modern households. This turned out to be kitchen waste and lots of low-grade cardboard and paper. This led to the development of the high-fiber heap using just these items. Adding egg boxes, cardboard cartons, and so on to a compost bin is now common practice.

The move to vegetable-based printing inks removed the concern over contamination from cadmium and other heavy metals traditionally used in printing.

In the past, many households would have kept a pig in the back yard to convert food scraps into manure and useful meat. The modern equivalent, but without the smell, is worm composting. Worms for fishing bait are raised on compostable waste. As you don’t need a garden to make worm compost, it extends the scope of composting considerably.

DANGERS?

There were rumors that home composting, that most innocuous of pastimes, might have its dangers. This came out of the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic in the UK, which cost the country millions. It relates to the composting of food waste from domestic kitchens. The fear was that unless the disposal of this waste was strictly controlled, foot-and-mouth disease would continue to spread.

Fortunately, home composting is still quite legal and generally safe. It is fine to make compost on the premises where it originates, and to use the compost on the land at those premises, as long as pigs or ruminants (cattle, goats and sheep) are not kept there. If there is poultry on the premises, composting may be done, but it must be done in a closed container.

FULL CIRCLE

The recent revival of interest in growing fruit and vegetables at home and in allotments, now with many more people using organic methods, takes us full circle. Homemade compost is just what the garden needs to grow healthy, productive crops, in a sustainable way.

Growing your own fruit and vegetables is made easier and more sustainable if you make your own valuable compost.

Composting is something that humankind has been doing for centuries, but in this day and age, why should we as individuals bother? We now know that typically over 40 percent of household waste can be composted, but why not leave it for local authorities to deal with? Does home composting really solve any problems? Can something as simple as composting kitchen and garden waste help mitigate the effects of climate change? Can it benefit you or your children? If you are not interested in gardening or only have a balcony or tiny backyard, is it worth the trouble? The answer to all those questions is “yes.” Read on to find out the many reasons why home composting is a worthwhile and beneficial practice.

BENEFITS TO YOU

Turning waste into something of value, rather than just passing it on to someone else to deal with, is very empowering. Taking responsibility means that you are reducing the impact of the waste you produce on the wider community and environment.

These days there are so many large environmental issues such as climate change that seem too big for an individual to do anything about, but composting is something that we can all do. Composting can help the average household cut the amount of waste it puts in the bin (or recycling box) by 40 percent – a considerable figure. The small task of starting to home compost means that you will be helping to work towards a sustainable future.

ORGANIC GARDENING

If you have a garden and aim to manage it organically, then making compost is essential. Home composting plays a key role in organic growing – compost helps keep plants healthy and can make it easier to avoid the use of pesticides.

SAVING MONEY AND TIME

Making compost, leaf mold and mulches reduces the amount of money you spend on buying fertilizers, soil conditioner and potting composts. Using these home-produced products reduces the need for watering – a valuable time-saver and cost-cutter if your water is on a meter.

Millions of tons of food are thrown away every year after purchase – this is good food that doesn’t actually get to the table but is thrown away before being prepared or eaten. Collecting food waste to compost helps to make you aware of how much food your household is wasting and may concentrate your mind when it comes to shopping. This new awareness may not help your compost heap, but it could be good for your budget!

Adding homemade compost to your plants is environmentally responsible and reduces the need for water and fertilizer.

Reducing the volume of waste that your public works needs to collect and recycle may also help cut its costs, which can only be good for taxes. Reducing the amount of trash that we dispose of is not only desirable, it is becoming increasingly necessary as we run out of suitable landfill sites and require greater capacity to burn waste for energy.

SLIM YOUR BIN

Home composting can cut the speed at which your garbage can fills up, and reduce the risk of unpleasant odors from the bin. With cuts in the frequency of garbage collection in many areas, this can be an important issue.

SLIM YOURSELF

Composting could keep you fitter and healthier. A bit far fetched you may think? None of the jobs connected with making compost are particularly strenuous, however, every little bit adds up. Think of the daily stroll to and from the compost bin, turning the heap (if that’s the method you decide upon), harvesting the finished compost and, finally, spreading it on the garden. In addition to this, being outside, either making or using your compost, will help give you the “feel-good factor.”

Collecting kitchen waste for composting can actually help reduce the quantity of food that you waste.

ENGAGING CHILDREN

Children soon take to the idea of putting waste in a compost bin rather than into the garbage can. This helps to raise awareness of all sorts of other environmental issues vital to their future.

An amazing number of creatures live in a compost heap – from woodlice to toads, from beetles to worms. You can find more in here. This makes compost a fascinating resource for children (and adults) to explore.

BENEFITS TO THE GARDEN

Making compost turns vegetable scraps, cereal boxes, weeds, fruit peels, egg boxes and a host of other unlikely items into that high-quality soil improver and fertility builder, compost. Composting recycles all the plant foods in these “waste products” into a form that can be used again by the millions of tiny creatures that live in the soil, and by the plants growing in it.

Compost could be seen as a “wholefood” providing nutrients in a balanced form, and lots of fiber! When you add compost to your garden, the soil-living creatures get to work to break it down further, meanwhile improving the soil and making nutrients available to growing plants. The chapter entitled “How to use your compost” (see here) explains how compost and other recycled garden products can be used to enhance and improve your garden, whatever its style and size.

Homemade compost is all that these cabbages need to produce a good crop. The benefits to garden flowers are evident too.

How compost benefits the garden

•   Makes your garden grow!

•   Makes heavy clay soil lighter, so it drains better and is easier for plant roots to penetrate.

•   Adds “body” to light soil so that it holds on to water and plant foods, thus reducing the need for feeding and watering.

•   Feeds the millions of soil-living creatures that keep the soil healthy.

•   Helps plants to resist pest and disease attack.

This crop of sweetcorn and beans has benefited from homemade compost. Herbs and flowers (above) will also show the results of compost use.

NO MORE BONFIRES!

Although bonfires are banned in many areas now, they can still be a common sight (and smell) in some places. This is a waste of resources and is unnecessary, particularly as nearly all weeds and crop wastes can be composted and broken down, returning their nutrients to the soil.

BENEFITS FOR THE FUTURE ENVIRONMENT

We are told that we must make lifestyle changes to reduce the impact of climate change and minimize our personal carbon footprint. How can home composting kitchen scraps and garden rubbish make a difference?

SAVING PEAT BOGS

Homemade compost, leaf mold and mulches can be used in the garden in place of peat and peat-based seed and potting composts used by amateur gardeners.

So why is using peat a problem?