By recycling the organic materials, valuable nutrients and organic matter are recycled. You have helped alleviate the solid waste problem! Return to Whatcom County Composting. Compost Benefits Using compost as mulch, in the soil or as potting media is beneficial in many ways. Compost contains macro and micronutrients often absent in synthetic fertilizers. Compost releases nutrients slowly—over months or years, unlike synthetic fertilizers Compost enriched soil retains fertilizers better.
Less fertilizer runs off to pollute waterways. Compost helps sandy soil retain water and nutrients. Composting adds humus proteins which are helpful in binding the soil particles in place, so that the soil resists compaction and holds nutrients and moisture more efficiently.
When composting breaks down organic material in a pile, the best fertilizer that you would ever find anywhere is produced. It becomes a group of organisms that live in your soil, including microorganisms like fungi and bacteria , and macro-organisms like beetles and earthworms.
While you may not like these organisms crawling in your garden, they are essential for the health of your garden soil and are really helpful in improving your crop yield. In addition, compost also introduces a number of vital nutrients to the garden soil, including nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, iron, copper etc. If you want to know which are the most effective, take a look at our article on the best food scraps for compost.
As your garden soil structure improves and its nutrient content gets a boost, it gains higher moisture retention , due to which you are required to give less water to your garden. As organic matter is introduced, your soil becomes capable of holding water and resisting compaction, thus reducing runoff and erosion. The best ratio is 1 part green to 1 part brown material. Shredding, chopping or mowing these materials into smaller pieces will help speed the composting process by increasing the surface area.
For piles that have mostly brown material dead leaves , try adding a handful of commercial fertilizer to supply nitrogen and speed the compost process. Moisture is important to support the composting process. Compost should be comparable to the wetness of a wrung-out sponge. If the pile is too dry, materials will decompose very slowly. Add water during dry periods or when adding large amounts of brown organic material. If the pile is too wet, turn the pile and mix the materials.
Another option is to add dry, brown organic materials. Oxygen is needed to support the breakdown of plant material by bacteria. To supply oxygen, you will need to turn the compost pile so that materials at the edges are brought to the center of the pile.
Turning the pile is important for complete composting and for controlling odor. Wait at least two weeks before turning the pile, to allow the center of the pile to "heat up" and decompose. Once the pile has cooled in the center, decomposition of the materials has taken place. Frequent turning will help speed the composting process.
Bacteria and other microorganisms are the real workers in the compost process. By supplying organic materials, water, and oxygen, the already present bacteria will break down the plant material into useful compost for the garden.
As the bacteria decompose the materials, they release heat, which is concentrated in the center of the pile. You may also add layers of soil or finished compost to supply more bacteria and speed the composting process.
Commercial starters are available but should not be necessary for compost piles that have a proper carbon to nitrogen ratio 1 part green organic material to 1 part brown organic material.
In addition to bacteria, larger organisms including insects and earthworms are active composters.
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