Right now, fall in Houston, my yard is covered with leaves. For me, a gardener, fallen leaves are like money in the bank. Being 98 years old, I cannot pick them all up, but I have helpers who will put the leaves in sacks and save them until we can make compost.
In 1973, when I was 64 years old, I had been gardening for many years, but my garden looked bad. There was only one eggplant on the bush. There were leafminors over all the bushes. I was greatly disappointed with the looks of my garden. So I decided to make compost and start a new, healthier garden. Compost (defined
in the dictionary) is “decayed organic material used as a plant fertilizer.” Following instructions in “The Complete Book of Composting”, by J.I. Rodale, I gathered all my plants and threw them in a pile. My helper; Raul Lopez, and I started the compost pile between the side of the garage and my neighbor’s fence. The compost pile would be 5 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 5 feet high. I told Raul that some of the plants were too big that he would have to cut them up with clippers. (Some gardeners shred plants by running over them with a lawn mower). Raul emptied a bag of leaves in the space and put two inches of grass, weeds, shrubbery clippings, old zinnia bushes, green leaves from pruning (any- thing green has nitrogen in it) until the pile reached 6 inches high. Then we scattered over the organic matter a thin layer of dirt (potting soil) mixed with the fertilizer, 13,13,13. The method described by Rodale calls for manure, but I cannot use manure in my neighborhood because of the odor. You can use organic nitrogen, manure, dried blood meal, cottonseed meal and bone meal. (I remember my grandfather’s plate-sized tomatoes and luscious peaches that he grew in Navasota, Texas. He used cottonseed meal in his compost as he had a cotton gin.)
Next I told Raul to shoot water over the layer we had made just enough to dampen it, not soak it. We continued to make one layer after the other until the pile was 5 feet high, which is enough to generate heat. The compost pile will heat up to 160 degrees if the pile is made correctly. Next, I told Raul that the microorganisms, or invisible bugs, have food and water, but they need air. I put several poles in the pile to introduce air. The best way to furnish air is to turn the compost pile with a pitchfork. So after three days, turn it, if you can. The more often you turn the pile the more air you get, and the quicker the compost will decompose. My compost was ready in 14 days. The decomposition of the compost depends upon the microorganisms (tiny bugs in the soil) doing their job. Unfavorable conditions that might happen to the compost are: becoming too wet, too dry, too acid, too alkaline, containing too little nitrogen or organic material, or leaves too tightly packed down. If any of these conditions exist the bugs will be unhappy.
In his book, Rodale says no one really knows what goes on in a compost pile. He says the action of the microorganisms is like a drama where a different group of bugs comes on stage on cue, performs its special task and leaves to be followed by the next group. These microorganisms are: phages, viruses, bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, protozoa, algae, as well as larger bugs: nematodes, earthworms, and insects. All play various roles in the drama of creating, compost.After I completed my first compost pile, I had good, rich soil. Raul put wheelbarrows of the compost into my flower beds. The flowers began to grow better. My garden is full of beds with rich soil, such as my tomato bed, which has been replanted for several years. When the tomato bed came to an end this spring, and I was pulling up the tomato bushes, I counted 200 tomatoes.
When a compost pile is in the woods, the compost makes itself. The leaves fall on the earth. The earth blows over the pile and covers it. The rains come and feed the bugs water. Animals go over the pile back and forth spreading the animal manure, so a compost pile is made.
In my backyard Raul keeps a new pile of compost he is starting to make separate from the finished compost. If the microorganisms get the dirt, grass, water, air and fertilizer they need, they do their work.
Without the enriched soil from the compost pile, I would not have my roses, zinnias, pansies, celosia, hibiscus, bougainvillea, cosmos, plumbago, sultana, ferns, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers and radishes. But more important — making compost helps replenish the earth in its continuous cycle of death and life. From the waste of dead plants Raul and I bring back beautiful blooming flowers. Making the compost makes me feel good, as if I am helping renew the earth — from my tiny spot in the world.
HOW TO MAKE COMPOST
Start With shredded leaves, grass cuttings, and plants and add the following: I. Dirt 2. Fertilizer, 13, 13, I3 3. Water
4. Air–turn pile with a pitchfork
Note: This article appeared in the November/December 2007 issue of “Texas Gardener” Magazine