The Benefits of Composting – Organic materials buried in landfill sites contribute to about 38 per cent of Canada’s total greenhouse gasses. Soil erosion can create new sources of pollution when nutrients, sediments and chemicals are carried into waterways. Recycling and composting of organic materials makes a positive environmental difference by reducing pollution and the need for chemical fertilizers.
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What is Compost ?
Gardeners have used compost for centuries to improve their soil and help plant growth. Incorporating compost into light, sandy soil helps it hold both moisture and nutrients while adding it to heavy soil improves drainage. Compost is a natural fertilizer and soil conditioner made from organic materials such as kitchen scraps and garden waste. When put into a pile, these materials naturally decompose, turning into a rich, soil-like material called compost or humus. Composting binds soil particles together, improves water retention and provides essential organic matter for the soil, which is of fundamental importance to its heaths, vitality and fertility.
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Composting Basics
The single most important ingredient for healthy and productive soil is compost. All composting requires three basic ingredients. Browns (Carbon) – materials such as dead leaves, branches, twigs, cardboard and paper provide carbon to your compost. Greens (Nitrogen) – grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, and coffee grounds provide nitrogen. Water – the right amount of moisture combined with greens and browns is important for compost development.
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| What Not To Compost And Why | ||
| Black walnut tree leaves or twigs release substances that might be harmful to plants. Coal or charcoal ash might contain substances harmful to plants. Dairy products (e.g., butter, milk, sour cream, yogurt) and eggs create odour problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies. Diseased or insect-ridden plants might survive and be transferred back to other plants. Fats, grease, lard, or oils create odour problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies. Meat or fish bones and scraps create odour problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies. Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter) might contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses harmful to humans. Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides might kill beneficial composting organisms. | ||
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How To Create Compost
Piling 4 to 8 inch thick layers of green and brown materials in a composting structure is a good way to start. Adding an additional thin layer of soil on top of each green and brown layer plus a bit of water optimizes the decomposition process.
Regular turning of the material every 4 to 7 days with a shovel or pitch fork helps distribute air and moisture evenly and ensures efficient composting. As the compost starts to mature, it may need to be turned less often.
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While most of the moisture in a compost pile should come from rain, it may need to be watered occasionally to help keep it moist. When the pile becomes soggy or it starts to emit odour it needs turning or more brown materials added to remove excess moisture.
Uses For Compost
The Benefits of Composting and its applications are endless. Compost can be used around a home to add nutrients to lawns, trees, shrubs, vegetable garden, potted plants and more.
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1. Amending Soil – Compost can be used to improve soils everywhere in a garden and it should be done before planting, in spring or early summer. The soil should be dug in or tilled to a depth of 2 to 4 inches.
2. Compost Tea – Compost tea can be used as liquid fertilizer on your garden plants. Making this ‘tea’ is simple as it only requires a shovel of compost placed in a burlap sack and steeped for 2 to 5 days in water.
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3. Lawn Top Dressing – Lawn top dressing is quite literally a top layer of compost added to grass. Once added to the top of the lawn, it will work its way into the soil as the grass begins to grow. Top dressing should be added during the spring or at the end of the growing season to create healthier soil that will hold water better and keep grass vibrant green.
4. Mulch – Compost is an ideal mulch alternative that can hold moisture and add nutrients when spread around trees, shrubs, and plants. Added once or twice annually, the compost will be regularly boosting the soil’s fertility.
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Composting Structures
The first step to composting is determining where to place a compost heap or bin. An outdoor location with partial shade and removed from animals, including pets and wildlife is ideal. To save space, keep a yard looking neat and speed up composting time, compost should be contained in some type of structure.
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Unenclosed compost piles usually spread out and become unsightly. Enclosed structures encourage faster composting as the outer portion of the pile acts as an insulator that creates higher temperatures near the center. The style of structure depends on how much space is available.
There are many types of manufactured structures available through garden centers or they can be ordered online and delivered to your door. Do-it-yourself structures can be made from cement blocks, brick, wood, woven wire fencing, metal posts or other materials. Wood should be painted to resit rot but not pressure treated with a harmful wood preservative..
It is up to you to decide which composting method fits best your lifestyle. Fortunately, composting is incredibly easy, environmentally friendly and it is a treat for your garden. For more information about the The Benefits of Composting, ask the friendly and knowledgeable staff at Nicholas Alexander – Vernon’s New Home and Garden Center of Choice !
Fall Cover Crops For Vegetable Gardens are the best organic choice of rebuilding soil conditions to an ideal state to successfully grow next year’s vegetable garden. Cover crops offer a wide variety of advantages for the garden. They are mostly annual plants that are grown to add organic matter and nutrients to the soil and to protect it from wind and water erosion in the fall, winter and spring. Most cover crops grow throughout the winter and then accelerate their growth in the spring. Then gardeners till the crop into the soil as a “green manure” before the crop goes to seed or they simply tarp up the patch and let it cook by the sun. In three or four weeks, the cover crop has composted and begun releasing its nutrients into the soil.
What Plants To Use For Cover Crops – The most common cover crop plants are legumes such as alfalfa, peas, beans and clovers. These are a favourite because they have the ability to draw nitrogen from the air. When they are tilled into the soil, the nitrogen is released and is available for the next vegetable crop planted there. Grasses are another common and popular choice for garden cover crops. These add organic matter to the soil and are easily removed or tilled in as their roots grow relatively shallow. Seed mixtures are also available with both grasses and legumes.
When to Sow & Terminate Cover Crops – In the fall, immediately after all vegetables have been harvested and weeds and plant debris has been removed, cover crop seeds should be sown allowing at least four weeks of growth before cold weather. Cover crops should then be watered as needed. In the spring, cover crops must be turned under at least three weeks before planting new vegetables to allow organic matter to decompose. Flowering cover crops should not be allowed to go to seed and should be terminated when about one-third of the plants are in flower. This is the point where plants provide the greatest amount of biomass and nutrients to the soil.
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) – Hardy to zone 5 Winter-hardy, short-lived and a superb nitrogen fixer – this is considered one of the best green manures. Sow it in early spring through September. Attractive with its traditional cloverleaf and honey-scented flowers, it reaches a mature height of only 30 cm (12 in.), with a taproot three times as long. A food source for bees and shelter for beneficial ground beetles. This clover is a useful cover crop in summer or winter.
Fava Bean (Vicia faba) – Hardy to zone 7 or 8, this is an excellent nitrogen fixer with an extraordinarily long taproot useful for breaking up clay or compacted soils. When tilled in, the leaves decompose rapidly; However, the fibrous stem will loosen heavy soils. It may also be cut and composted, leaving the nitrogen-fixing roots in the soil. Plant in early fall or early spring, as it thrives in cooler temperatures. Pull the plants or till them in before they form pods.
Fall Rye (Secale cereale) – Hardy to zone 3. This cover crop suppresses weeds and prevents erosion and soil compaction. It grows well from fall through spring. It is quite fibrous and should be tilled in three weeks before planting. It is an excellent soil amender and supplier of nutrients, particularly phosphorus.
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) – Hardy to zone 5, Alfalfa fixes nitrogen and is an excellent weed suppressor. Its roots can go down 1.2 m (4 ft.) to reach nutrients deep in the earth and break up the subsoil. It can be grown year-round. Alfalfa will die back in severely cold winters but should resprout in spring. It should be double-tilled to prevent resprouting. Alfalfa does not like water-logged or acidic soil.
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Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa) – Hardy to zone 4. This is an excellent weed suppressor and supplier of nitrogen. Winter-hardy and tolerant of poor soil conditions, this can grow where no other cover crop can survive. Sow in fall or spring and till or dig in at the first sight of blooms.
Austrian Winter Pea (Pisum arvense) – Hardy to zone 6. This pea is an excellent nitrogen fixer and can be companion-planted with fall rye. Sow in fall or early spring. The wiry stems can be tilled in, as they compost quickly. The crop provides a home for many beneficial insects. Till, cut or compost, when flowers appear.
Pro-Mix HP Mycorrhizae is – The Best Planting Soil Mix For Okanagan Gardeners because of its a high porosity (HP) peat-based growing medium containing, beneficial ingredients. “Myco” – “rhiza” literally means “fungus” – “root” and describes the mutually beneficial relationship between the plant and root fungus (mycorrhizae is the plural form of mycorrhiza). These specialized fungi colonize plant roots and extend far into the soil. Mycorrhizal fungal filaments in the soil are truly extensions of root systems and are more effective in nutrient and water absorption than the roots themselves.
PRO-MIX HP MYCORRHIZAE HP – High Porosity
With its lightweight granular content (perlite) this soil mix provides a great growing environment with a significant drainage capacity, increased air porosity and lower water retention. The added benefit of fibrous peat moss and coarse perlite makes this formulation ideal for gardeners who require a superior-quality product adapted to their needs for watering flexibility.
Undisturbed soils are full of beneficial soil organisms including mycorrhizal fungi. Many common practices can degrade this potential of soil. Tillage, removal of topsoil, erosion, site preparation, compaction, fumigation and invasion of weeds are some of the activities that can reduce or eliminate these beneficial soil fungi. Scientific studies indicate mycorrhizal populations are slow to recolonize naturally, therefore, reintroducing mycorrhizal fungi in areas where they have been lost or in artificial growing media can dramatically improve plant performance with less water, fertilizer and at a reduced cost.
The spore of mycorrhizal fungi germinate in the soil and make their way to the nearest roots. The roots are then colonized by the fungi, and mycorrhizae are established. The fungi penetrate the root, and create an internal network of fungal structure inside the root cells, where the plant and mycorrhizae exchange sugars and nutrients. Finally, the structure of fungi continue to develop outside the roots forming an extended network of fine filaments which cover up to 700 times more soil area than the plants own roots. This secondary root system draws in extra beneficial nutrients and water, supporting a plant for its entire lifetime.
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Nicholas Alexander Home and Garden, Vernon’s NEW Garden Centre of Choice carries a broad range of ingeniously engineered Pro-Mix products from soil mixes, to garden fertilizers and more. Check ’em out today and find your choice of The Best Planting Soil Mix For Okanagan Gardeners !