Backyard composting can turn household waste into garden gold
Q: I am a relatively new gardener and, having moved here from the Yukon a few years ago, I am still learning the ins and outs of gardening in Edmonton. This past winter I constructed a compost bin and plan on making my own compost this summer. Can you help me get started with how to do it?
A: It is easy to remember how to compost if you use the green and brown principle. Green materials are high in nitrogen and are easy to break down. Examples include lettuce leaves, carrot peelings, apple cores, grass clippings, weeds, etc. Brown material is high in carbon content and breaks down more slowly, unless mixed with green material. Brown material includes things like sawdust, shredded branches and twigs, dried leaves, soil, manure, etc. For a list of what you can compost check out the City of Edmonton website on composting.
To start the process, layer brown material at the bottom of your composter. Using a layer of finished compost, soil, or wellrotted manure will provide the organisms necessary to start your composting process. Alternate layers of green and brown material, adding another layer of soil or manure every so often as you fill your composter. The composting material needs to be moist, around the same consistency as a wrung-out sponge.
You will need to turn the composting material every one or two weeks. This is sufficient to move the outside material into the centre and add air to the mix. Check the moisture level when you turn the compost, and add water if it feels dry. Too much water will cause aerobic bacteria to die, and the anaerobic type will take over. This is often accompanied by a foul odour. If this happens, turn your compost more frequently to help the pile dry out.
As the microorganisms consume the organic matter, heat is produced. It is not unusual for a compost pile to reach temperatures of 40-45 C. Depending on what you add to the pile, you could have compost in two months from start to finish. The composting process stops (or is drastically reduced) in winter. You can save your household “greens” in a garbage can over winter, allowing them to freeze. You can then add them to your composter the next spring.
PERENNIALS PRESERVED
Back in October a reader wrote in about trying to save her perennials over the winter. She wrote, “I’ve got 42 one-gallon pots of perennials that I’m taking from my old house to my new house, and this snow has caught me off guard.” My advice to her was, “The best way to preserve the ones in your one-gallon pots is to insulate them as best you can. Heeling them into the ground would be the best, but if you can’t do that then try getting some straw and piling the straw in and around the pots to help insulate them. Some of the hardier perennials will make it through regardless, but the touchy ones would benefit from the insulation. Pile as much straw as you can around the pots and hope for the best.”
I recently received an email from the same reader, and I am pleased to share it: “I thought I would let you know that I was able to bury the pots in the ground as you suggested. I used some bagged potting soil to bring them up to the same level, though I didn’t do any straw around them. They were piled with snow during the winter to insulate them. I’m so happy to report that I only lost one of them over this past winter. I only lost one of 42 pots!”
I’d say that was a success.
Gerald Filipski is a member of the Garden Writers Association of America. Email questions to filipskigerald@gmail.com. He is the author of Just Ask Jerry. To read previous columns, go to edmontonjournal.com/filipski.
Depending on what you add to the pile, you could have compost in two months from start to finish.