If you're like most gardeners, you'll be spending the winter studying plant and seed catalogs and dreaming of new spring flowerbeds. You can do more than dream in the winter - compost now!
Go get your lawnmower and bagger, if you have one; if not, bring the rake. Mow over the leaves and pine straw on your lawn to get it chopped or shredded. Then fill big black plastic garbage bags - not quite to the top - with the shredded material.
Next, take a look around and decide where you want a new gardening area. Outline the bed area with chalk or an old garden hose. Place the filled garbage bags inside the outlined area so your compost will be where you need it once it's ready.
To prepare compost you need organic material, microorganisms, air, water, a small amount of nitrogen, and a compost container. Here is the recipe:
- Compost container: black plastic garbage bags
- Organic Matter: shredded leaves and pine straw
- Microorganisms: one to two shovels full of garden soil
- Nitrogen: 1/2 cup high nitrogen fertilizer OR two shovels full of cow manure
- Water: just enough to moisten leaves
- Air: 10-15 holes punched in the bags
Once you've got the shredded leaves in the bags, add the other ingredients. Use a rubber band to secure the opening. In 7-10 days, open the bags and add moisture if needed; then secure the bags' openings and turn them over. Repeat every 7-10 days.
Under most circumstances the compost will be ready in 6-8 weeks. During this time period the grass and weeds beneath the bags will have weakened or died, making the digging of your new bed easier.
Now go back inside and study some more seed catalogs!
Carolyn Sunde, Smith County Master Gardener
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