Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8
Compost
Compost is our way of mimicking nature, yet speeding it up substantially. Whereas
nature slowly decomposes animal manure, leaves and other organic matter all over the
ground, we put a large amount of these things into a pile, in specific combinations and ra-
tios, to make it happen quickly.
Compost is not natural. I love making and using compost, but we should remember that
fact. Nature makes humus by covering the ground in plants that continually grow and die
throughout the seasons and years. Masanobu Fukuoka points out in
The One-Straw Revolu-
tion
that we don't need to compost if we maintain plant cover and mulch. This is true. The
reason we compost is just to speed things up a little bit, particularly when we're dealing
with degraded soils. It works, but it doesn't mean we should forget about mulching and
maintaining plant cover.
We add compost to our soil to quickly increase the number and diversity of microbes and
small animals, organic matter content, and nutrients in our soil, all of which are often low
because of past gardening or other land use practices. A lot of resources refer to the organic
matter and nutrients, but fail to focus on the microbes. The way compost breaks down is
through the action of microbes, earthworms and insects. Their numbers multiply many
times in the pile, and to me, they are the number one reason to compost. For most of us,
getting that biology back into the soil is more important than using fertilizers.
How much compost should you make? As much as you're willing to make. I've never
heard a gardener complain of having too much compost. That being said, it's better to con-
centrate your efforts on one properly managed pile than many, poorly managed piles. As
you'll see, you actually need very little compost to get big benefits. And you don't have to
get too scientific about it, but you do need to do a few things right. Poorly made compost
can be plant-toxic putrefying organic matter.
