The benefits of composting
June 8, 2012 in Edible Garden
If you are a gardener one of the best things you could do for your garden and the environment is compost!
Compost material:
- contains macro and micronutrients often absent in synthetic fertilizers
- releases nutrients slowly—over months or years, unlike synthetic fertilizers
- enriched soil retains fertilizers better. Less fertilizer runs off to pollute waterways
- buffers the soil, neutralizing both acid & alkaline soils, bringing pH levels to the optimum range for nutrient availability to plants
- makes soil easier to work with
- makes sandy soil retain more nutrients
- helps to keep soil healthy
If you are clueless to where to start, check out the website Compost 101 for tips, advice and everything you need to know about composting.
If you are just tossing out your pulp from your juicer (and not using it for some of our recipes) then you’ve already got a great source of composting material to start with!
Might I add that using worm compost is also terrific. I have had two worm farms and loved the results. In fact my neighborhoods have bloomed as well. Thus far, I am new to my home and evaluating the risk to red wigglers in this emense heat. But try it, its not as dirty as you might think.
Thanks very much for the comment! I’ll have to look into that.