Would you like a garden that requires less labor, produces stronger and healthier plants with less chemicals and other pest management treatments, and uses less water and fertilizer? If so, you need to change the fertility and physical condition of your soil from the natural hard pack Georgia red clay (commonly known as “dirt”) to a wonderfully loose crumbly lightweight bio-system known as “soil”—full of the microorganisms that assist all our plants to thrive. To do this, we must add compost, a soil conditioner and wonder food for these microorganisms that create the soil bio-system.
What is compost? It is nothing more than organic matter – leaves, grass trimmings, kitchen peelings, shredded paper and chopped up plants that assist microorganisms to “eat.” Compost is made by mixing organic matter together in an optimum ratio of four parts carbon sources (leaves, grass clippings paper, cardboard) to one part nitrogen sources (kitchen peelings,) chopping it all up into small particles, wetting it down to provide water for the microorganisms that come from the small amount of soil we add, and putting it into a pile big enough to retain the heat generated by the growth of the microorganisms (heat helps speed the process along). Flipping the pile every couple of weeks helps speed the decomposition of the organic matter into a loose, crumbly, earthy-smelling material we call compost.
How does compost do all these great things for our garden? First, as a soil conditioner, its small particles break up hard pack clay when mixed in, either by the action of earthworms or by the actions of humans with tools. Clay particles are like little plates that can pack tightly together. Compost particles, once they get between these “plates,” keep open spaces between them, allowing air and water (up to 50% by volume) to freely enter and leave. The…
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