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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + + +Created by: Steve Solomon ssolomon@soilandhealth.org + + + + +Organic Gardener's Composting + +by Steve Solomon + + + + + + +Foreword + + + + + +Back in the '70's, I made the momentous move from the East Coast to +the West and quickly discovered that much of my garden knowledge +needed an update. Seattle's climate was unlike anything I had +experienced in Massachusetts or Ohio or Colorado, and many of my +favorite vegetables simply didn't grow well. A friend steered me to +a new seed company, a tiny business called Territorial Seed, unique +in that, rather than trying to tout its wares all over the country, +it would only sell to people living west of the Cascade Mountains. +Every vegetable and cover crop listed had been carefully tested and +selected by Steve Solomon for its performance in the maritime +Northwest. + +The 1980's saw the revival of regional gardening, a concept once +widely accepted, but since lost to the sweeping homogeneity of the +'50s and '60s. Steve Solomon and his Territorial Seed Company +directly influenced the return of regional garden making by creating +an awareness of climatic differences and by providing quantities of +helpful information specific to this area. Not only could customers +order regionally appropriate, flavorful and long-lasting vegetables +from the Territorial catalog's pages, we could also find recipes for +cooking unfamiliar ones, as well as recipes for building organic +fertilizers of all sorts. Territorial's catalog offered information +about organic or environmentally benign pest and disease controls, +seasonal cover crops, composts and mulches, and charts guiding us to +optimal planting patterns. Every bit of it was the fruit of Steve +Solomon's work and observation. I cannot begin to calculate the +disappointments and losses Steve helped me to avoid, nor the hours +of effort he saved for me and countless other regional gardeners. We +came to rely on his word, for we found we could; If Steve said this +or that would grow in certain conditions, by gum, it would. Better +yet, if he didn't know something, or was uncertain about it, he said +so, and asked for our input. Before long, a network of +environmentally concerned gardeners had formed around Territorial's +customer base, including several Tilth communities, groups of +gardeners concerned with promoting earth stewardship and organic +husbandry in both rural and urban settings. + +In these days of generalized eco-awareness, it is easy to forget +that a few short years ago, home gardeners were among the worst +environmental offenders, cheerfully poisoning anything that annoyed +them with whatever dreadful chemical that came to hand, unconscious +of the long-term effects on fauna and flora, water and soil. Now, +thank goodness, many gardeners know that their mandate is to heal +the bit of earth in their charge. Composting our home and garden +wastes is one of the simplest and most beneficial things we can do, +both to cut down the quantity of wastes we produce, and to restore +health to the soil we garden upon I can think of no better guide to +the principles and techniques of composting than Steve Solomon. +Whether you live in an urban condo or farm many acres, you will find +in these pages practical, complete and accessible information that +serves your needs, served up with the warmth and gentle humor that +characterizes everything Steve does. + +Ann Lovejoy, Bainbridge Island, Washington, 1993 + + + + + + +To My Readers + + + + + +A few special books live on in my mind. These were always enjoyable +reading. The author's words seemed to speak directly to me like a +good friend's conversation pouring from their eyes, heart and soul. +When I write I try to make the same thing happen for you. I imagine +that there is an audience hearing my words, seated in invisible +chairs behind my word processor. You are part of that group. I +visualize you as solidly as I can. I create by talking to you. + +It helps me to imagine that you are friendly, accepting, and +understand my ideas readily. Then I relax, enjoy writing to you and +proceed with an open heart. Most important, when the creative +process has been fun, the writing still sparkles when I polish it up +the next day. + +I wrote my first garden book for an audience of one: what seemed a +very typical neighbor, someone who only thought he knew a great deal +about raising vegetables. Constitutionally, he would only respect +and learn from a capital "A" authority who would direct him +step-by-step as a cookbook recipe does. So that is what I pretended +to be. The result was a concise, basic regional guide to year-round +vegetable production. Giving numerous talks on gardening and +teaching master gardener classes improved my subsequent books. With +this broadening, I expanded my imaginary audience and filled the +invisible chairs with all varieties of gardeners who had differing +needs and goals. + +This particular book gives me an audience problem. Simultaneously I +have two quite different groups of composters in mind. What one set +wants the other might find boring or even irritating. The smaller +group includes serious food gardeners like me. Vegetable gardeners +have traditionally been acutely interested in composting, soil +building, and maintaining soil organic matter. We are willing to +consider anything that might help us grow a better garden and we +enjoy agricultural science at a lay person's level. + +The other larger audience, does not grow food at all, or if they do +it is only a few tomato plants in a flower bed. A few are apartment +dwellers who, at best, keep a few house plants. Yet even renters may +want to live with greater environmental responsibility by avoiding +unnecessary contributions of kitchen garbage to the sewage treatment +system. Similarly, modern home owners want to stop sending yard +wastes to landfills. These days householders may be offered +incentives (or threatened with penalties) by their municipalities to +separate organic, compostable garbage from paper, from glass, from +metal or from plastic. Individuals who pay for trash pickup by +volume are finding that they can save considerable amounts of money +by recycling their own organic wastes at home. + +The first audience is interested in learning about the role of +compost in soil fertility, better soil management methods and +growing healthier, more nutritious food. Much like a serious home +bread baker, audience one seeks exacting composting recipes that +might result in higher quality. Audience two primarily wants to know +the easiest and most convenient way to reduce and recycle organic +debris. + +Holding two conflicting goals at once is the fundamental definition +of a problem. Not being willing to abandon either (or both) goals is +what keeps a problem alive. Different and somewhat opposing needs of +these two audiences make this book somewhat of a problem. To +compensate I have positioned complex composting methods and the +connections between soil fertility and plant health toward the back +of the book. The first two-thirds may be more than sufficient for +the larger, more casual members of my imaginary audience. But I +could not entirely divide the world of composting into two +completely separate levels. + +Instead, I tried to write a book so interesting that readers who do +not food garden will still want to read it to the end and will +realize that there are profound benefits from at-home food +production. These run the gamut from physical and emotional health +to enhanced economic liberty. Even if it doesn't seem to +specifically apply to your recycling needs, it is my hope that you +will become more interested in growing some of your own food. I +believe we would have a stronger, healthier and saner country if +more liberty-loving Americans would grow food gardens. + + + + + + +CHAPTER ONE + +What Is Compost + + + + + +Do you know what really happens when things rot? Have other garden +books confused you with vague meanings for words like "stabilized +humus?" This book won't. Are you afraid that compost making is a +nasty, unpleasant, or difficult process? It isn't. + +A compost pile is actually a fast-track method of changing crude +organic materials into something resembling soil, called humus. But +the word "humus" is often misunderstood, along with the words +"compost," and "organic matter." And when fundamental ideas like +these are not really defined in a person's mind, the whole subject +they are a part of may be confused. So this chapter will clarify +these basics. + +Compost making is a simple process. Done properly it becomes a +natural part of your gardening or yard maintenance activities, as +much so as mowing the lawn. And making compost does not have to take +any more effort than bagging up yard waste. + +Handling well-made compost is always a pleasant experience. It is +easy to disregard compost's vulgar origins because there is no +similarity between the good-smelling brown or black crumbly +substance dug out of a compost pile and the manure, garbage, leaves, +grass clippings and other waste products from which it began. + +Precisely defined, composting means 'enhancing the consumption of +crude organic matter by a complex ecology of biological +decomposition organisms.' As raw organic materials are eaten and +re-eaten by many, many tiny organisms from bacteria (the smallest) +to earthworms (the largest), their components are gradually altered +and recombined. Gardeners often use the terms organic matter, +compost, and humus as interchangeable identities. But there are +important differences in meaning that need to be explained. + +This stuff, this organic matter we food gardeners are vitally +concerned about, is formed by growing plants that manufacture the +substances of life. Most organic molecules are very large, complex +assemblies while inorganic materials are much simpler. Animals can +break down, reassemble and destroy organic matter but they cannot +create it. Only plants can make organic materials like cellulose, +proteins, and sugars from inorganic minerals derived from soil, air +or water. The elements plants build with include calcium, magnesium, +potassium, phosphorus, sodium, sulfur, iron, zinc, cobalt, boron, +manganese, molybdenum, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. + +So organic matter from both land and sea plants fuels the entire +chain of life from worms to whales. Humans are most familiar with +large animals; they rarely consider that the soil is also filled +with animal life busily consuming organic matter or each other. Rich +earth abounds with single cell organisms like bacteria, +actinomycetes, fungi, protozoa, and rotifers. Soil life forms +increase in complexity to microscopic round worms called nematodes, +various kinds of mollusks like snails and slugs (many so tiny the +gardener has no idea they are populating the soil), thousands of +almost microscopic soil-dwelling members of the spider family that +zoologists call arthropods, the insects in all their profusion and +complexity, and, of course, certain larger soil animals most of us +are familiar with such as moles. The entire sum of all this organic +matter: living plants, decomposing plant materials, and all the +animals, living or dead, large and small is sometimes called +_biomass._ One realistic way to gauge the fertility of any +particular soil body is to weigh the amount of biomass it sustains. + +_Humus_ is a special and very important type of decomposed organic +matter. Although scientists have been intently studying humus for a +century or more, they still do not know its chemical formula. It is +certain that humus does not have a single chemical structure, but is +a very complex mixture of similar substances that vary according to +the types of organic matter that decayed, and the environmental +conditions and specific organisms that made the humus. + +Whatever its varied chemistry, all humus is brown or black, has a +fine, crumbly texture, is very light-weight when dry, and smells +like fresh earth. It is sponge-like, holding several times its +weight in water. Like clay, humus attracts plant nutrients like a +magnet so they aren't so easily washed away by rain or irrigation. +Then humus feeds nutrients back to plants. In the words of soil +science, this functioning like a storage battery for minerals is +called cation exchange capacity. More about that later. + +Most important, humus is the last stage in the decomposition of +organic matter. Once organic matter has become humus it resists +further decomposition. Humus rots slowly. When humus does get broken +down by soil microbes it stops being organic matter and changes back +to simple inorganic substances. This ultimate destruction of organic +matter is often called nitrification because one of the main +substances released is nitrate--that vital fertilizer that makes +plants grow green and fast. + +Probably without realizing it, many non-gardeners have already +scuffed up that thin layer of nearly pure humus forming naturally on +the forest floor where leaves and needles contact the soil. Most +Americans would be repelled by many of the substances that decompose +into humus. But, fastidious as we tend to be, most would not be +offended to barehandedly cradle a scoop of humus, raise it to the +nose, and take an enjoyable sniff. There seems to be something built +into the most primary nature of humans that likes humus. + +In nature, the formation of humus is a slow and constant process +that does not occur in a single step. Plants grow, die and finally +fall to earth where soil-dwelling organisms consume them and each +other until eventually there remains no recognizable trace of the +original plant. Only a small amount of humus is left, located close +to the soil's surface or carried to the depths by burrowing +earthworms. Alternately, the growing plants are eaten by animals +that do not live in the soil, whose manure falls to the ground where +it comes into contact with soil-dwelling organisms that eat it and +each other until there remains no recognizable trace of the original +material. A small amount of humus is left. Or the animal itself +eventually dies and falls to the earth where .... + +Composting artificially accelerates the decomposition of crude +organic matter and its recombination into humus. What in nature +might take years we can make happen in weeks or months. But compost +that seems ready to work into soil may not have quite yet become +humus. Though brown and crumbly and good-smelling and well +decomposed, it may only have partially rotted. + +When tilled into soil at that point, compost doesn't act at once +like powerful fertilizer and won't immediately contribute to plant +growth until it has decomposed further. But if composting is allowed +to proceed until virtually all of the organic matter has changed +into humus, a great deal of biomass will be reduced to a relatively +tiny remainder of a very valuable substance far more useful than +chemical fertilizer. + +For thousands of years gardeners and farmers had few fertilizers +other than animal manure and compost. These were always considered +very valuable substances and a great deal of lore existed about +using them. During the early part of this century, our focus changed +to using chemicals; organic wastes were often considered nuisances +with little value. These days we are rediscovering compost as an +agent of soil improvement and also finding out that we must compost +organic waste materials to recycle them in an ecologically sound +manner. + +Making Compost + +The closest analogies to composting I can imagine are concocting +similar fermented products like bread, beer, or sauerkraut. But +composting is much less demanding. Here I can speak with authority, +for during my era of youthful indiscretions I made homebrews good +enough have visitors around my kitchen table most every evening. +Now, having reluctantly been instructed in moderation by a liver +somewhat bruised from alcohol, I am the family baker who turns out +two or three large, rye/wheat loaves from freshly ground grain every +week without fail. + +Brew is dicey. Everything must be sterilized and the fermentation +must go rapidly in a narrow range of temperatures. Should stray +organisms find a home during fermentation, foul flavors and/or +terrible hangovers may result. The wise homebrewer starts with the +purest and best-suited strain of yeast a professional laboratory can +supply. Making beer is a process suited to the precisionist +mentality, it must be done just so. Fortunately, with each batch we +use the same malt extracts, the same hops, same yeast, same +flavorings and, if we are young and foolish, the same monosaccarides +to boost the octane over six percent. But once the formula is found +and the materials worked out, batch after batch comes out as +desired. + +So it is with bread-making. The ingredients are standardized and +repeatable. I can inexpensively buy several bushels of wheat- and +rye-berries at one time, enough to last a year. Each sack from that +purchase has the same baking qualities. The minor ingredients that +modify my dough's qualities or the bread's flavors are also +repeatable. My yeast is always the same; if I use sourdough starter, +my individualized blend of wild yeasts remains the same from batch +to batch and I soon learn its nature. My rising oven is always close +to the same temperature; when baking I soon learn to adjust the oven +temperature and baking time to produce the kind of crust and +doneness I desire. Precisionist, yes. I must bake every batch +identically if I want the breads to be uniformly good. But not +impossibly rigorous because once I learn my materials and oven, I've +got it down pat. + +Composting is similar, but different and easier. Similar in that +decomposition is much like any other fermentation. Different in that +the home composter rarely has exactly the same materials to work +with from batch to batch, does not need to control the purity and +nature of the organisms that will do the actual work of humus +formation, and has a broad selection of materials that can go into a +batch of compost. Easier because critical and fussy people don't eat +or drink compost, the soil does; soil and most plants will, within +broad limits, happily tolerate wide variations in compost quality +without complaint. + +Some composters are very fussy and much like fine bakers or skilled +brewers, take great pains to produce a material exactly to their +liking by using complex methods. Usually these are food gardeners +with powerful concerns about health, the nutritional quality of the +food they grow and the improved growth of their vegetables. However, +there are numerous simpler, less rigorous ways of composting that +produce a product nearly as good with much less work. These more +basic methods will appeal to the less-committed backyard gardener or +the homeowner with lawn, shrubs, and perhaps a few flower beds. One +unique method suited to handling kitchen garbage--vermicomposting +(worms)--might appeal even to the ecologically concerned apartment +dweller with a few house plants. + +An Extremely Crude Composting Process + +I've been evolving a personally-adapted composting system for the +past twenty years. I've gone through a number of methods. I've used +and then abandoned power chipper/shredders, used home-made bins and +then switched to crude heaps; I've sheet composted, mulched, and +used green manure. I first made compost on a half-acre lot where +maintaining a tidy appearance was a reasonable concern. Now, living +in the country, I don't have be concerned with what the neighbors +think of my heaps because the nearest neighbor's house is 800 feet +from my compost area and I live in the country because I don't much +care to care what my neighbors think. + +That's why I now compost so crudely. There are a lot of refinements +I could use but don't bother with at this time. I still get fine +compost. What follows should be understood as a description of my +unique, personal method adapted to my temperament and the climate I +live in. I start this book off with such a simple example because I +want you to see how completely easy it can be to make perfectly +usable compost. I intend this description for inspiration, not +emulation. + +I am a serious food gardener. Starting in spring I begin to +accumulate large quantities of vegetation that demand handling. +There are woody stumps and stalks of various members of the cabbage +family that usually overwinter in western Oregon's mild winters. +These biennials go into bloom by April and at that point I pull them +from the garden with a fair amount of soil adhering to the roots. +These rough materials form the bottom layer of a new pile. + +Since the first principle of abundant living is to produce two or +three times as much as you think you'll need, my overly-large garden +yields dozens and dozens of such stumps and still more dozens of +uneaten savoy cabbages, more dozens of three foot tall Brussels +sprouts stalks and cart loads of enormous blooming kale plants. At +the same time, from our insulated but unheated garage comes buckets +and boxes of sprouting potatoes and cart loads of moldy uneaten +winter squashes. There may be a few crates of last fall's withered +apples as well. Sprouting potatoes, mildewed squash, and shriveled +apples are spread atop the base of brassica stalks. + +I grow my own vegetable seed whenever possible, particularly for +biennials such as brassicas, beets and endive. During summer these +generate large quantities of compostable straw after the seed is +thrashed. Usually there is a big dry bean patch that also produces a +lot of straw. There are vegetable trimmings, and large quantities of +plant material when old spring-sown beds are finished and the soil +is replanted for fall harvest. With the first frost in October there +is a huge amount of garden clean up. + +As each of these materials is acquired it is temporarily placed next +to the heap awaiting the steady outpourings from our 2-1/2 gallon +kitchen compost pail. Our household generates quite a bit of +garbage, especially during high summer when we are canning or +juicing our crops. But we have no flies or putrid garbage smells +coming from the compost pile because as each bucketful is spread +over the center of the pile the garbage is immediately covered by +several inches of dried or wilted vegetation and a sprinkling of +soil. + +By October the heap has become about six feet high, sixteen feet +long and about seven feet wide at the base. I've made no attempt to +water this pile as it was built, so it is quite dry and has hardly +decomposed at all. Soon those winter rains that the Maritime +northwest is famous for arrive. From mid-October through mid-April +it drizzles almost every day and rains fairly hard on occasion. Some +45 inches of water fall. But the pile is loosely stacked with lots +of air spaces within and much of the vegetation started the winter +in a dry, mature form with a pretty hard "bark" or skin that resists +decomposition. Winter days average in the high 40s, so little +rotting occurs. + +Still, by next April most of the pile has become quite wet. Some +garbagey parts of it have decomposed significantly, others not at +all; most of it is still quite recognizable but much of the +vegetation has a grayish coating of microorganisms or has begun to +turn light brown. Now comes the only two really hard hours of +compost-making effort each year. For a good part of one morning I +turn the pile with a manure fork and shovel, constructing a new pile +next to the old one. + +First I peel off the barely-rotted outer four or five inches from +the old pile; this makes the base of the new one. Untangling the +long stringy grasses, seed stalks, and Brussels sprout stems from +the rest can make me sweat and even curse, but fortunately I must +stop occasionally to spray water where the material remains dry and +catch my wind. Then, I rearrange the rest so half-decomposed +brassica stumps and other big chunks are placed in the center where +the pile will become the hottest and decomposition will proceed most +rapidly. As I reform the material, here and there I lightly sprinkle +a bit of soil shoveled up from around the original pile. When I've +finished turning it, the new heap is about five feet high, six feet +across at the bottom, and about eight feet long. The outside is then +covered with a thin layer of crumbly, black soil scraped up where +the pile had originally stood before I turned it. + +Using hand tools for most kinds of garden work, like weeding, +cultivating, tilling, and turning compost heaps is not as difficult +or nearly as time consuming as most people think if one has the +proper, sharp tools. Unfortunately, the knowledge of how to use hand +tools has largely disappeared. No one has a farm-bred grandfather to +show them how easy it is to use a sharp shovel or how impossibly +hard it can be to drive a dull one into the soil. Similarly, weeding +with a _sharp_ hoe is effortless and fast. But most new hoes are +sold without even a proper bevel ground into the blade, much less +with an edge that has been carefully honed. So after working with +dull shovels and hoes, many home food growers mistakenly conclude +that cultivation is not possible without using a rotary tiller for +both tillage and weeding between rows. But instead of an expensive +gasoline-powered machine all they really needed was a little +knowledge and a two dollar file. + +Similarly, turning compost can be an impossible, sweat-drenching, +back-wrenching chore, or it can be relatively quick and easy. It is +very difficult to drive even a very sharp shovel into a compost +pile. One needs a hay fork, something most people call a +"pitchfork." The best type for this task has a very long, delicate +handle and four, foot long, sharp, thin tines. Forks with more than +four times grab too much material. If the heap has not rotted very +thoroughly and still contains a lot of long, stringy material, a +five or six tine fork will grab too much and may require too much +strength. Spading forks with four wide-flat blades don't work well +for turning heaps, but _en extremis_ I'd prefer one to a shovel. + +Also, there are shovels and then, there are shovels. Most gardeners +know the difference between a spade and a shovel. They would not try +to pick up and toss material with a spade designed only to work +straight down and loosen soil. However, did you know that there are +design differences in the shape of blade and angle of handle in +shovels. The normal "combination" shovel is made for builders to +move piles of sand or small gravel. However, use a combination +shovel to scrape up loose, fine compost that a fork won't hold and +you'll quickly have a sore back from bending over so far. Worse, the +combination shovel has a decidedly curved blade that won't scrape up +very much with each stroke. + +A better choice is a flat-bladed, square-front shovel designed to +lift loose, fine-textured materials from hard surfaces. However, +even well-sharpened, these tend to stick when they bump into any +obstacle. Best is an "irrigator's shovel." This is a lightweight +tool looking like an ordinary combination shovel but with a flatter, +blunter rounded blade attached to the handle at a much sharper +angle, allowing the user to stand straighter when working. _Sharp_ +irrigator's shovels are perfect for scooping up loosened soil and +tossing it to one side, for making trenches or furrows in tilled +earth and for scraping up the last bits of a compost heap being +turned over. + +Once turned, my long-weathered pile heats up rapidly. It is not as +hot as piles can cook, but it does steam on chilly mornings for a +few weeks. By mid-June things have cooled. The rains have also +ceased and the heap is getting dry. It has also sagged considerably. +Once more I turn the pile, watering it down with a fine mist as I do +so. This turning is much easier as the woody brassica stalks are +nearly gone. The chunks that remain as visible entities are again +put into the new pile's center; most of the bigger and +less-decomposed stuff comes from the outside of the old heap. Much +of the material has become brown to black in color and its origins +are not recognizable. The heap is now reduced to four feet high, +five feet wide, and about six feet long. Again I cover it with a +thin layer of soil and this time put a somewhat brittle, recycled +sheet of clear plastic over it to hold in the moisture and increase +the temperature. Again the pile briefly heats and then mellows +through the summer. + +In September the heap is finished enough to use. It is about thirty +inches high and has been reduced to less than one-eighth of its +starting volume eighteen months ago. What compost I don't spread +during fall is protected with plastic from being leached by winter +rainfall and will be used next spring. Elapsed time: 18-24 months +from start to finish. Total effort: three turnings. Quality: very +useful. + +Obviously my method is acceptable to me because the pile is not +easily visible to the residents or neighbors. It also suits a lazy +person. It is a very slow system, okay for someone who is not in a +hurry to use their compost. But few of my readers live on really +rural properties; hopefully, most of them are not as lazy as I am. + +At this point I could recommend alternative, improved methods for +making compost much like cookbook recipes from which the reader +could pick and choose. There could be a small backyard recipe, the +fast recipe, the apartment recipe, the wintertime recipe, the making +compost when you can't make a pile recipes. Instead, I prefer to +compliment your intelligence and first explore the principles behind +composting. I believe that an understanding of basics will enable +you to function as a self-determined individual and adapt existing +methods, solve problems if they arise, or create something personal +and uniquely correct for your situation. + + + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + +Composting Basics + + + + + +Managing living systems usually goes better when our methods imitate +nature's. Here's an example of what happens when we don't. + +People who keep tropical fish in home aquariums are informed that to +avoid numerous fish diseases they must maintain sterile conditions. +Whenever the fish become ill or begin dying, the hobbyist is advised +to put antibiotics or mild antiseptics into the tank, killing off +most forms of microlife. But nature is not sterile. Nature is +healthy. + +Like many an apartment dweller, in my twenties I raised tropical +fish and grew house plants just to have some life around. The plants +did fine; I guess I've always had a green thumb. But growing tired +of dying fish and bacterial blooms clouding the water, I reasoned +that none of the fish I had seen in nature were diseased and their +water was usually quite clear. Perhaps the problem was that my +aquarium had an overly simplified ecology and my fish were being fed +processed, dead food when in nature the ecology was highly complex +and the fish were eating living things. So I bravely attempted the +most radical thing I could think of; I went to the country, found a +small pond and from it brought home a quart of bottom muck and pond +water that I dumped into my own aquarium. Instead of introducing +countless diseases and wiping out my fish, I actually had introduced +countless living things that began multiplying rapidly. The water +soon became crystal clear. Soon the fish were refusing to eat the +scientifically formulated food flakes I was supplying. The profuse +variety of little critters now living in the tank's gravel ate it +instead. The fish ate the critters and became perfectly healthy. + +When the snails I had introduced with the pond mud became so +numerous that they covered the glass and began to obscure my view, +I'd crush a bunch of them against the wall of the aquarium and the +fish would gorge on fresh snail meat. The angelfish and guppies +especially began to look forward to my snail massacres and would +cluster around my hand when I put it into the tank. On a diet of +living things in a natural ecology even very difficult species began +breeding. + +Organic and biological farmers consider modern "scientific" farming +practices to be a similar situation. Instead of imitating nature's +complex stability, industrial farmers use force, attempting to bend +an unnaturally simplified ecosystem to their will. As a result, most +agricultural districts are losing soil at a non-sustainable rate and +produce food of lowered nutritional content, resulting in decreasing +health for all the life forms eating the production of our farms. +Including us. + +I am well aware that these condemnations may sound quite radical to +some readers. In a book this brief I cannot offer adequate support +for my concerns about soil fertility and the nation's health, but I +can refer the reader to the bibliography, where books about these +matters by writers far more sagely than I can be found. I especially +recommend the works of William Albrecht, Weston Price, Sir Robert +McCarrison, and Sir Albert Howard. + +Making Humus + +Before we ask how to compost, since nature is maximally efficient +perhaps it would benefit us to first examine how nature goes about +returning organic matter to the soil from whence it came. If we do +nearly as well, we can be proud. + +Where nature is allowed to operate without human intervention, each +place develops a stable level of biomass that is inevitably the +highest amount of organic life that site could support. Whether +deciduous forest, coniferous forest, prairie, even desert, nature +makes the most of the available resources and raises the living +drama to its most intense and complex peak possible. There will be +as many mammals as there can be, as many insects, as many worms, as +many plants growing as large as they can get, as much organic matter +in all stages of decomposition and the maximum amount of relatively +stable humus in the soil. All these forms of living and decomposing +organisms are linked in one complex system; each part so closely +connected to all the others that should one be lessened or +increased, all the others change as well. + +The efficient decomposition of leaves on a forest floor is a fine +example of what we might hope to achieve in a compost pile. Under +the shade of the trees and mulched thickly by leaves, the forest +floor usually stays moist. Although the leaves tend to mat where +they contact the soil, the wet, somewhat compacted layer is thin +enough to permit air to be in contact with all of the materials and +to enter the soil. + +Living in this very top layer of fluffy, crumbly, moist soil mixed +with leaf material and humus, are the animals that begin the process +of humification. Many of these primary decomposers are larger, +insect-like animals commonly known to gardeners, including the wood +lice that we call pill bugs because they roll up defensively into +hard armadillo-like shells, and the highly intrusive earwigs my +daughter calls pinch bugs. There are also numerous types of insect +larvae busily at work. + +A person could spend their entire life trying to understand the +ecology of a single handful of humus-rich topsoil. For a century +now, numerous soil biologists have been doing just that and still +the job is not finished. Since gardeners, much less ordinary people, +are rarely interested in observing and naming the tiny animals of +the soil, especially are we disinterested in those who do no damage +to our crops, soil animals are usually delineated only by Latin +scientific names. The variations with which soil animals live, eat, +digest, reproduce, attack, and defend themselves fills whole +sections of academic science libraries. + +During the writing of this book I became quite immersed in this +subject and read far more deeply into soil biology and microbiology +than I thought I ever would. Even though this area of knowledge has +amused me, I doubt it will entertain most of you. If it does, I +recommend that you first consult specialist source materials listed +in the bibliography for an introduction to a huge universe of +literature. + +I will not make you yawn by mentioning long, unfamiliar Latin names. +I will not astonish you with descriptions of complex reproductive +methods and beautiful survival strategies. Gardeners do not really +need this information. But managing the earth so that soil animals +are helped and not destroyed is essential to good gardening. And +there are a few qualities of soil animals that are found in almost +all of them. If we are aware of the general characteristics of soil +animals we can evaluate our composting and gardening practices by +their effect on these minuscule creatures. + +Compared to the atmosphere, soil is a place where temperature +fluctuations are small and slow. Consequently, soil animals are +generally intolerant to sudden temperature changes and may not +function well over a very wide range. That's why leaving bare earth +exposed to the hot summer sun often retards plant growth and why +many thoughtful gardeners either put down a thin mulch in summer or +try to rapidly establish a cooling leaf canopy to shade raised beds. +Except for a few microorganisms, soil animals breathe oxygen just +like other living things and so are dependent on an adequate air +supply. Where soil is airless due to compaction, poor drainage, or +large proportions of very fine clay, soil animals are few in number. + +The soil environment is generally quite moist; even when the soil +seems a little dryish the relative humidity of the soil air usually +approaches 100 percent. Soil animals consequently have not developed +the ability to conserve their body moisture and are speedily killed +by dry conditions. When faced with desiccation they retreat deeper +into the soil if there is oxygen and pore spaces large enough to +move about. So we see another reason why a thin mulch that preserves +surface moisture can greatly increase the beneficial population of +soil animals. Some single-cell animals and roundworms are capable of +surviving stress by encysting themselves, forming a little "seed" +that preserves their genetic material and enough food to reactivate +it, coming back to life when conditions improve. These cysts may +endure long periods of severe freezing and sometimes temperatures of +over 150 degree F. + +Inhabitants of leaf litter reside close to the surface and so must +be able to experience exposure to dryer air and light for short +times without damage. The larger litter livers are called primary +decomposers. They spend most of their time chewing on the thick +reserve of moist leaves contacting the forest floor. Primary +decomposers are unable to digest the entire leaf. They extract only +the easily assimilable substances from their food: proteins, sugars +and other simple carbohydrates and fats. Cellulose and lignin are +the two substances that make up the hard, permanent, and woody parts +of plants; these materials cannot be digested by most soil animals. +Interestingly, just like in a cow's rumen, there are a few larvae +whose digestive tract contains cellulose-decomposing bacteria but +these larvae have little overall effect. + +After the primary consumers are finished the leaves have been +mechanically disintegrated and thoroughly moistened, worked over, +chewed to tiny pieces and converted into minuscule bits of moist +excrement still containing active digestive enzymes. Many of the +bacteria and fungi that were present on the leaf surfaces have +passed through this initial digestion process alive or as spores +waiting and ready to activate. In this sense, the excrement of the +primary decomposers is not very different than manure from large +vegetarian mammals like cows and sheep although it is in much +smaller pieces. + +Digestive wastes of primary decomposers are thoroughly inoculated +with microorganisms that can consume cellulose and lignin. Even +though it looks like humus, it has not yet fully decomposed. It does +have a water-retentive, granular structure that facilitates the +presence of air and moisture throughout the mass creating perfect +conditions for microbial digestion to proceed. + +This excrement is also the food for a diverse group of nearly +microscopic soil animals called secondary decomposers. These are +incapable of eating anything that has not already been predigested +by the primary decomposers. The combination of microbes and the +digestive enzymes of the primary and secondary decomposers breaks +down resistant cellulose and to some degree, even lignins. The +result is a considerable amount of secondary decomposition excrement +having a much finer crumb structure than what was left by the +primary decomposers. It is closer to being humus but is still not +quite finished. + +Now comes the final stage in humus formation. Numerous species of +earthworms eat their way through the soil, taking in a mixture of +earth, microbes, and the excrement of soil animals. All of these +substances are mixed together, ground-up, and chemically recombined +in the worm's highly active and acidic gut. Organic substances +chemically unite with soil to form clay/humus complexes that are +quite resistant to further decomposition and have an extraordinarily +high ability to hold and release the very nutrients and water that +feed plants. Earthworm casts (excrement) are mechanically very +stable and help create a durable soil structure that remains open +and friable, something gardeners and farmers call good tilth or good +crumb. Earthworms are so vitally important to soil fertility and +additionally useful as agents of compost making that an entire +section of this book will consider them in great detail. + +Let's underline a composting lesson to be drawn from the forest +floor. In nature, humus formation goes on in the presence of air and +moisture. The agents of its formation are soil animals ranging in +complexity from microorganisms through insects working together in a +complex ecology. These same organisms work our compost piles and +help us change crude vegetation into humus or something close to +humus. So, when we make compost we need to make sure that there is +sufficient air and moisture. + +Decomposition is actually a process of repeated digestions as +organic matter passes and repasses through the intestinal tracts of +soil animals numerous times or is attacked by the digestive enzymes +secreted by microorganisms. At each stage the vegetation and +decomposition products of that vegetation are thoroughly mixed with +animal digestive enzymes. Soil biologists have observed that where +soil conditions are hostile to soil animals, such as in compacted +fine clay soils that exclude air, organic matter is decomposed +exclusively by microorganisms. Under those conditions virtually no +decomposition-resistant humus/clay complexes form; almost everything +is consumed by the bacterial community as fuel. And the +non-productive soil is virtually devoid of organic matter. + +Sir Albert Howard has been called the 'father of modern composting.' +His first composting book (1931) _The Waste Products of +Agriculture,_ stressed the vital importance of animal digestive +enzymes from fresh cow manure in making compost. When he +experimented with making compost without manure the results were +less than ideal. Most gardeners cannot obtain fresh manure but +fortunately soil animals will supply similar digestive enzymes. +Later on when we review Howard's Indore composting method we will +see how brilliantly Sir Albert understood natural decomposition and +mimicked it in a composting method that resulted in a very superior +product. + +At this point I suggest another definition for humus. Humus is the +excrement of soil animals, primarily earthworms, but including that +of some other species that, like earthworms, are capable of +combining partially decomposed organic matter and the excrement of +other soil animals with clay to create stable soil crumbs resistant +to further decomposition or consumption. + +Nutrients in the Compost Pile + +Some types of leaves rot much faster on the forest floor than +others. Analyzing why this happens reveals a great deal about how to +make compost piles decompose more effectively. + +Leaves from leguminous (in the same botanical family as beans and +peas) trees such as acacia, carob, and alder usually become humus +within a year. So do some others like ash, cherry, and elm. More +resistant types take two years; these include oak, birch, beech, and +maple. Poplar leaves, and pine, Douglas fir, and larch needles are +very slow to decompose and may take three years or longer. Some of +these differences are due to variations in lignin content which is +highly resistant to decomposition, but speed of decomposition is +mainly influenced by the amount of protein and mineral nutrients +contained in the leaf. + +Plants are composed mainly of carbohydrates like cellulose, sugar, +and lignin. The element carbon is by far the greater part of +carbohydrates [carbo(n)hydr(ogen)ates] by weight. Plants can readily +manufacture carbohydrates in large quantities because carbon and +hydrogen are derived from air (C02) and water (H2O), both substances +being available to plants in almost unlimited quantities. + +Sugar, manufactured by photosynthesis, is the simplest and most +vital carbohydrate. Sugar is "burned" in all plant cells as the +primary fuel powering all living activities. Extra sugar can be more +compactly stored after being converted into starches, which are long +strings of sugar molecules linked together. Plants often have +starch-filled stems, roots, or tubers; they also make enzymes +capable of quickly converting this starch back into sugar upon +demand. We homebrewers and bakers make practical use of a similar +enzyme process to change starches stored in grains back to sugar +that yeasts can change into alcohol. + +C/N of Various Tree Leaves/Needles + +False acacia 14:1 Fir 48:1 + +Black alder 15:1 Birch 50:1 + +Gray alder 19:1 Beech 51:1 + +Ash 21:1 Maple 52:1 + +Birds's eye cherry 22:1 Red oak 53:1 + +Hornbeam 23:1 Poplar 63:1 + +Elm 28:1 Pine 66:1 + +Lime 37:1 Douglas fir 77:1 + +Oak 47:1 Larch 113:1 + +The protein content of tree leaves is very similar to their ratio of +carbon (C) compared to nitrogen (N) + +Sometimes plants store food in the form of oil, the most +concentrated biological energy source. Oil is also constructed from +sugar and is usually found in seeds. Plants also build structural +materials like stem, cell walls, and other woody parts from sugars +converted into cellulose, a substance similar to starch. Very strong +structures are constructed with lignins, a material like cellulose +but much more durable. Cellulose and lignins are permanent. They +cannot be converted back into sugar by plant enzymes. Nor can most +animals or bacteria digest them. + +Certain fungi can digest cellulose and lignin, as can the symbiotic +bacteria inhabiting a cow's rumen. In this respect the cow is a very +clever animal running a cellulose digestion factory in the first and +largest of its several stomachs. There, it cultures bacteria that +eat cellulose; then the cow digests the bacteria as they pass out of +one stomach and into another. + +Plants also construct proteins, the vital stuff of life itself. +Proteins are mainly found in those parts of the plant involved with +reproduction and photosynthesis. Protein molecules differ from +starches and sugars in that they are larger and amazingly more +complex. Most significantly, while carbohydrates are mainly carbon +and hydrogen, proteins contain large amounts of nitrogen and +numerous other mineral nutrients. + +Proteins are scarce in nature. Plants can make them only in +proportion to the amount of the nutrient, nitrogen, that they take +up from the soil. Most soils are very poorly endowed with nitrogen. +If nitrate-poor, nutrient-poor soil is well-watered there may be +lush vegetation but the plants will contain little protein and can +support few animals. But where there are high levels of nutrients in +the soil there will be large numbers of animals, even if the land is +poorly watered and grows only scrubby grasses--verdant forests +usually feed only a few shy deer while the short grass semi-desert +prairies once supported huge herds of grazing animals. + +Ironically, just as it is with carbon, there is no absolute shortage +of nitrogen on Earth. The atmosphere is nearly 80 percent nitrogen. +But in the form of gas, atmospheric nitrogen is completely useless +to plants or animals. It must first be combined chemically into +forms plants can use, such as nitrate (NO3) or ammonia (NH3). These +chemicals are referred to as "fixed nitrogen." + +Nitrogen gas strongly resists combining with other elements. +Chemical factories fix nitrogen only at very high temperatures and +pressures and in the presence of exotic catalysts like platinum or +by exposing nitrogen gas to powerful electric sparks. Lightning +flashes can similarly fix small amounts of nitrogen that fall to +earth dissolved in rain. + +And certain soil-dwelling microorganisms are able to fix atmospheric +nitrogen. But these are abundant only where the earth is rich in +humus and minerals, especially calcium. So in a soil body where +large quantities of fixed nitrogen are naturally present, the soil +will also be well-endowed with a good supply of mineral nutrients. + +Most of the world's supply of combined nitrogen is biologically +fixed at normal temperatures and standard atmospheric pressure by +soil microorganisms. We call the ones that live freely in soil +"azobacteria" and the ones that associate themselves with the roots +of legumes "rhizobia." Blue-green algae of the type that thrive in +rice paddies also manufacture nitrate nitrogen. We really don't know +how bacteria accomplish this but the nitrogen they "fix" is the +basis of most proteins on earth. + +All microorganisms, including nitrogen-fixing bacteria, build their +bodies from the very same elements that plants use for growth. Where +these mineral elements are abundant in soil, the entire soil body is +more alive and carries much more biomass at all levels from bacteria +through insects, plants, and even mammals. + +Should any of these vital nutrient substances be in short supply, +all biomass and plant growth will decrease to the level permitted by +the amount available, even though there is an overabundance of all +the rest. The name for this phenomena is the "Law of Limiting +Factors." The concept of limits was first formulated by a scientist, +Justus von Liebig, in the middle of the last century. Although +Liebig's name is not popular with organic gardeners and farmers +because misconceptions of his ideas have led to the widespread use +of chemical fertilizers, Liebig's theory of limits is still good +science. + +Liebig suggested imagining a barrel being filled with water as a +metaphor for plant growth: the amount of water held in the barrel +being the amount of growth. Each stave represents one of the factors +or requirements plants need in order to grow such as light, water, +oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, copper, boron, etc. Lowering any one +stave of the barrel, no matter which one, lessens the amount of +water that can be held and thus growth is reduced to the level of +the most limited growth factor. + +For example, one essential plant protein is called chlorophyll, the +green pigment found in leaves that makes sugar through +photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is a protein containing significant +amounts of magnesium. Obviously, the plant's ability to grow is +limited by its ability to find enough fixed nitrogen and also +magnesium to make this protein. + +Animals of all sizes from elephants to single cell microorganisms +are primarily composed of protein. But the greatest portion of plant +material is not protein, it is carbohydrates in one form or another. +Eating enough carbohydrates to supply their energy requirements is +rarely the survival problem faced by animals; finding enough protein +(and other vital nutrients) in their food supply to grow and +reproduce is what limits their population. The numbers and health of +grazing animals is limited by the protein and other nutrient content +of the grasses they are eating, similarly the numbers and health of +primary decomposers living on the forest floor is limited by the +nutrient content of their food. And so is the rate of decomposition. +And so too is this true in the compost pile. + +The protein content of vegetation is very similar to its ratio of +carbon (C) compared to nitrogen (N). Quick laboratory analysis of +protein content is not done by measuring actual protein itself but +by measuring the amount of combined nitrogen the protein gives off +while decomposing. Acacia, alder, and leaves of other proteinaceous +legumes such as locust, mesquite, scotch broom, vetch, alfalfa, +beans, and peas have low C/N ratios because legume roots uniquely +can shelter clusters of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. These +microorganisms can supply all the nitrate nitrogen fast-growing +legumes can use if the soil is also well endowed with other mineral +nutrients rhizobia need, especially calcium and phosphorus. Most +other plant families are entirely dependent on nitrate supplies +presented to them by the soil. Consequently, those regions or +locations with soils deficient in mineral nutrients tend to grow +coniferous forests while richer soils support forests with more +protein in their leaves. There may also be climatic conditions that +favor conifers over deciduous trees, regardless of soil fertility. + +It is generally true that organic matter with a high ratio of carbon +to nitrogen also will have a high ratio of carbon to other minerals. +And low C/N materials will contain much larger amounts of other +vital mineral nutrients. When we make compost from a wide variety of +materials there are probably enough quantity and variety of +nutrients in the plant residues to form large populations of +humus-forming soil animals and microorganisms. However, when making +compost primarily with high C/N stuff we need to blend in other +substances containing sufficient fixed nitrogen and other vital +nutrient minerals. Otherwise, the decomposition process will take a +very long time because large numbers of decomposing organisms will +not be able to develop. + +C/N of Compostable Materials + ++/-6:1 +/-12:1 +/-25:1 +/-50:1 +/-100:1 +Bone Meal Vegetables Summer grass cornstalks (dry) Sawdust +Meat scraps Garden weeds Seaweed Straw (grain) Paper +Fish waste Alfalfa hay Legume hulls Hay (low quality) Tree bark +Rabbit manure Horse manure Fruit waste Bagasse +Chicken manure Sewage sludge Hay (top quality) Grain chaff +Pig manure Silage Corn cobs +Seed meal Cow manure Cotton mill + waste + +The lists in this table of carbon/nitrogen ratios are broken out as +general ranges of C/N. It has long been an unintelligent practice of +garden-level books to state "precise" C/N ratios for materials. One +substance will be "23:1" while another will be "25:1." Such +pseudoscience is not only inaccurate but it leads readers into +similar misunderstandings about other such lists, like nitrogen +contents, or composition breakdowns of organic manures, or other +organic soil amendments. Especially misleading are those tables in +the back of many health and nutrition books spelling out the "exact" +nutrient contents of foods. There is an old saying about this: +'There are lies, then there are damned lies, and then, there are +statistics. The worse lies of all can be statistics.' + +The composition of plant materials is very dependent on the level +and nature of the soil fertility that produced them. The nutrition +present in two plants of the same species, even in two samples of +the exact same variety of vegetable raised from the same packet of +seed can vary enormously depending on where the plants were grown. +William Albrecht, chairman of the Soil Department at the University +of Missouri during the 1930s, was, to the best of my knowledge, the +first mainstream scientist to thoroughly explore the differences in +the nutritional qualities of plants and to identify specific aspects +of soil fertility as the reason why one plant can be much more +nutritious than another and why animals can be so much healthier on +one farm compared to another. By implication, Albrecht also meant to +show the reason why one nation of people can be much less healthy +than another. Because his holistic outlook ran counter to powerful +vested interests of his era, Albrecht was professionally scorned and +ultimately left the university community, spending the rest of his +life educating the general public, especially farmers and health +care professionals. + +Summarized in one paragraph, Albrecht showed that within a single +species or variety, plant protein levels vary 25 percent or more +depending on soil fertility, while a plant's content of vital +nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus can simultaneously +move up or down as much as 300 percent, usually corresponding to +similar changes in its protein level. Albrecht also discovered how +to manage soil in order to produce highly nutritious food. Chapter +Eight has a lot more praise for Dr. Albrecht. There I explore this +interesting aspect of gardening in more detail because how we make +and use organic matter has a great deal to do with the resulting +nutritional quality of the food we grow. + +Imagine trying to make compost from deficient materials such as a +heap of pure, moist sawdust. What happens? Very little and very, +very slowly. Trees locate most of their nutrient accumulation in +their leaves to make protein for photosynthesis. A small amount goes +into making bark. Wood itself is virtually pure cellulose, derived +from air and water. If, when we farmed trees, we removed only the +wood and left the leaves and bark on the site, we would be removing +next to nothing from the soil. If the sawdust comes from a lumber +mill, as opposed to a cabinet shop, it may also contain some bark +and consequently small amounts of other essential nutrients. + +Thoroughly moistened and heaped up, a sawdust pile would not heat +up, only a few primary decomposers would take up residence. A person +could wait five years for compost to form from pure moist sawdust +and still not much would happen. Perhaps that's why the words +"compost" and "compot" as the British mean it, are connected. In +England, a compot is a slightly fermented mixture of many things +like fruits. If we mixed the sawdust with other materials having a +very low C/N, then it would decompose, along with the other items. + + + + + + +CHAPTER THREE + +Practical Compost Making + + + + + +To make compost rot rapidly you need to achieve a strong and lasting +rise in temperature. Cold piles will eventually decompose and humus +will eventually form but, without heat, the process can take a long, +long time. Getting a pile to heat up promptly and stay hot requires +the right mixture of materials and a sensible handling of the pile's +air and moisture supply. + +Compost piles come with some built-in obstacles. The intense heat +and biological activity make a heap slump into an airless mass, yet +if composting is to continue the pile must allow its living +inhabitants sufficient air to breath. Hot piles tend to dry out +rapidly, but must be kept moist or they stop working. But heat is +desirable and watering cools a pile down. If understood and managed, +these difficulties are really quite minor. + +Composting is usually an inoffensive activity, but if done +incorrectly there can be problems with odor and flies. This chapter +will show you how to make nuisance-free compost. + +Hot Composting + +The main difference between composting in heaps and natural +decomposition on the earth's surface is temperature. On the forest +floor, leaves leisurely decay and the primary agents of +decomposition are soil animals. Bacteria and other microorganisms +are secondary. In a compost pile the opposite occurs: we substitute +a violent fermentation by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. +Soil animals are secondary and come into play only after the +microbes have had their hour. + +Under decent conditions, with a relatively unlimited food supply, +bacteria, yeasts, and fungi can double their numbers every twenty to +thirty minutes, increasing geometrically: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, +128, 256, 512, 1,024, 2,048, 4,096, etc. In only four hours one cell +multiplies to over four thousand. In three more hours there will be +two million. + +For food, they consume the compost heap. Almost all oxygen-breathing +organisms make energy by "burning" some form of organic matter as +fuel much like gasoline powers an automobile. This cellular burning +does not happen violently with flame and light. Living things use +enzymes to break complex organic molecules down into simpler ones +like sugar (and others) and then enzymatically unite these with +oxygen. But as gentle as enzymatic combustion may seem, it still is +burning. Microbes can "burn" starches, cellulose, lignin, proteins, +and fats, as well as sugars. + +No engine is one hundred percent efficient. All motors give off +waste heat as they run. Similarly, no plant or animal is capable of +using every bit of energy released from their food, and consequently +radiate heat. When working hard, living things give off more heat; +when resting, less. The ebb and flow of heat production matches +their oxygen consumption, and matches their physical and metabolic +activities, and growth rates. Even single-celled animals like +bacteria and fungi breathe oxygen and give off heat. + +Soil animals and microorganisms working over the thin layer of leaf +litter on the forest floor also generate heat but it dissipates +without making any perceptible increase in temperature. However, +compostable materials do not transfer heat readily. In the language +of architecture and home building they might be said to have a high +"R" value or to be good insulators When a large quantity of +decomposing materials are heaped up, biological heat is trapped +within the pile and temperature increases, further accelerating the +rate of decomposition. + +Temperature controls how rapidly living things carry out their +activities. Only birds and mammals are warm blooded-capable of +holding the rate of their metabolic chemistry constant by holding +their body temperature steady. Most animals and all microorganisms +have no ability to regulate their internal temperature; when they +are cold they are sluggish, when warm, active. Driven by +cold-blooded soil animals and microorganisms, the hotter the compost +pile gets the faster it is consumed. + +This relationship between temperature and the speed of biological +activity also holds true for organic chemical reactions in a +test-tube, the shelf-life of garden seed, the time it takes seed to +germinate and the storage of food in the refrigerator. At the +temperature of frozen water most living chemical processes come to a +halt or close to it. That is why freezing prevents food from going +through those normal enzymatic decomposition stages we call +spoiling. + +By the time that temperature has increased to about 50 degree F, the +chemistry of most living things is beginning to operate efficiently. +From that temperature the speed of organic chemical reactions then +approximately doubles with each 20 degree increase of temperature. +So, at 70 degree F decomposition is running at twice the rate it +does at 50 degree, while at 90 degree four times as rapidly as at 50 +degree and so on. However, when temperatures get to about 150 degree +organic chemistry is not necessarily racing 32 times as fast as +compared to 50 degree because many reactions engendered by living +things decline in efficiency at temperatures much over 110 degree. + +This explanation is oversimplified and the numbers I have used to +illustrate the process are slightly inaccurate, however the idea +itself is substantially correct. You should understand that while +inorganic chemical reactions accelerate with increases in +temperature almost without limit, those processes conducted by +living things usually have a much lower terminal temperature. Above +some point, life stops. Even the most heat tolerant soil animals +will die or exit a compost pile by the time the temperature exceeds +120 degree, leaving the material in the sole possession of +microorganisms. + +Most microorganisms cannot withstand temperatures much over 130 +degree. When the core of a pile heats beyond this point they either +form spores while waiting for things to cool off, or die off. Plenty +of living organisms will still be waiting in the cooler outer layers +of the heap to reoccupy the core once things cool down. However, +there are unique bacteria and fungi that only work effectively at +temperatures exceeding 110 degree. Soil scientists and other +academics that sometimes seem to measure their stature on how well +they can baffle the average person by using unfamiliar words for +ordinary notions call these types of organisms _thermophiles,_ a +Latin word that simply means "heat lovers." + +Compost piles can get remarkably hot. Since thermophilic +microorganisms and fungi generate the very heat they require to +accelerate their activities and as the ambient temperature increases +generate even more heat, the ultimate temperature is reached when +the pile gets so hot that even thermophilic organisms begin to die +off. Compost piles have exceeded 160 degree. You should expect the +heaps you build to exceed 140 degree and shouldn't be surprised if +they approach 150 degree + +Other types of decomposing organic matter can get even hotter. For +example, haystacks commonly catch on fire because dry hay is such an +excellent insulator. If the bales in the center of a large hay stack +are just moist enough to encourage rapid bacterial decomposition, +the heat generated may increase until dryer bales on the outside +begin to smoke and then burn. Wise farmers make sure their hay is +thoroughly dry before baling and stacking it. + +How hot the pile can get depends on how well the composter controls +a number of factors. These are so important that they need to be +considered in detail. + +_Particle size. _Microorganisms are not capable of chewing or +mechanically attacking food. Their primary method of eating is to +secrete digestive enzymes that break down and then dissolve organic +matter. Some larger single-cell creatures can surround or envelop +and then "swallow" tiny food particles. Once inside the cell this +material is then attacked by similar digestive enzymes. + +Since digestive enzymes attack only outside surfaces, the greater +the surface area the composting materials present the more rapidly +microorganisms multiply to consume the food supply. And the more +heat is created. As particle size decreases, the amount of surface +area goes up just about as rapidly as the number series used a few +paragraphs back to illustrate the multiplication of microorganisms. + +The surfaces presented in different types of soil similarly affect +plant growth so scientists have carefully calculated the amount of +surface areas of soil materials. Although compost heaps are made of +much larger particles than soil, the relationship between particle +size and surface area is the same. Clearly, when a small difference +in particle size can change the amount of surface area by hundreds +of times, reducing the size of the stuff in the compost pile will: + +- expose more material to digestive enzymes; + +- greatly accelerate decomposition; + +- build much higher temperatures. + +_Oxygen supply. _All desirable organisms of decomposition are oxygen +breathers or "aerobes. There must be an adequate movement of air +through the pile to supply their needs. If air supply is choked off, +aerobic microorganisms die off and are replaced by anaerobic +organisms. These do not run by burning carbohydrates, but derive +energy from other kinds of chemical reactions not requiring oxygen. +Anaerobic chemistry is slow and does not generate much heat, so a +pile that suddenly cools off is giving a strong indication that the +core may lack air. The primary waste products of aerobes are water +and carbon dioxide gas--inoffensive substances. When most people +think of putrefaction they are actually picturing decomposition by +anaerobic bacteria. With insufficient oxygen, foul-smelling +materials are created. Instead of humus being formed, black, tarlike +substances develop that are much less useful in soil. Under airless +conditions much nitrate is permanently lost. The odiferous wastes of +anaerobes also includes hydrogen sulfide (smells like rotten eggs), +as well as other toxic substances with very unpleasant qualities. + +Heaps built with significant amounts of coarse, strong, irregular +materials tend to retain large pore spaces, encourage airflow and +remain aerobic. Heat generated in the pile causes hot air in the +pile's center to rise and exit the pile by convection. This +automatically draws in a supply of fresh, cool air. But heaps made +exclusively of large particles not only present little surface area +to microorganisms, they permit so much airflow that they are rapidly +cooled. This is one reason that a wet firewood rick or a pile of +damp wood chips does not heat up. At the opposite extreme, piles +made of finely ground or soft, wet materials tend to compact, ending +convective air exchanges and bringing aerobic decomposition to a +halt. In the center of an airless heap, anaerobic organisms +immediately take over. + +Surface Area of One Gram of Soil Particles + +Particle Size Diameter of Number of Surface Area + Particles in mm Particles per gm per square cm + +Very Coarse Sand 2.00-1.00 90 11 +Coarse Sand 1.00-0.50 720 23 +Medium Sand 0.50-0.25 5,700 45 +Find Sand 0.25-0.10 46,000 91 +Very Fine Sand 0.10-005 772,000 227 +Silt 0.05-0.002 5,776,000 454 + +Composters use several strategies to maintain airflow. The most +basic one is to blend an assortment of components so that coarse, +stiff materials maintain a loose texture while soft, flexible stuff +tends to partially fill in the spaces. However, even if the heap +starts out fluffy enough to permit adequate airflow, as the +materials decompose they soften and tend to slump together into an +airless mass. + +Periodically turning the pile, tearing it apart with a fork and +restacking it, will reestablish a looser texture and temporarily +recharge the pore spaces with fresh air. Since the outer surfaces of +a compost pile do not get hot, tend to completely dry out, and fail +to decompose, turning the pile also rotates the unrotted skin to the +core and then insulates it with more-decomposed material taken from +the center of the original pile. A heap that has cooled because it +has gone anaerobic can be quickly remedied by turning. + +Piles can also be constructed with a base layer of fine sticks, +smaller tree prunings, and dry brushy material. This porous base +tends to enhance the inflow of air from beneath the pile. One +powerful aeration technique is to build the pile atop a low platform +made of slats or strong hardware cloth. + +Larger piles can have air channels built into them much as light +wells and courtyards illuminate inner rooms of tall buildings. As +the pile is being constructed, vertical heavy wooden fence posts, 4 +x 4's, or large-diameter plastic pipes with numerous quarter-inch +holes drilled in them are spaced every three or four feet. Once the +pile has been formed and begins to heat, the wooden posts are +wiggled around and then lifted out, making a slightly conical airway +from top to bottom. Perforated plastic vent pipes can be left in the +heap. With the help of these airways, no part of the pile is more +than a couple of feet from oxygen + +_Moisture. _A dry pile is a cold pile. Microorganisms live in thin +films of water that adhere to organic matter whereas fungi only grow +in humid conditions; if the pile becomes dry, both bacteria and +fungi die off. The upwelling of heated air exiting the pile tends to +rapidly dehydrate the compost heap. It usually is necessary to +periodically add water to a hot working heap. Unfortunately, +remoistening a pile is not always simple. The nature of the +materials tends to cause water to be shed and run off much like a +thatched roof protects a cottage. + +Since piles tend to compact and dry out at the same time, when they +are turned they can simultaneously be rehydrated. When I fork over a +heap I take brief breaks and spray water over the new pile, layer by +layer. Two or three such turnings and waterings will result in +finished compost. + +The other extreme can also be an obstacle to efficient composting. +Making a pile too wet can encourage soft materials to lose all +mechanical strength, the pile immediately slumps into a chilled, +airless mass. Having large quantities of water pass through a pile +can also leach out vital nutrients that feed organisms of +decomposition and later on, feed the garden itself. I cover my heaps +with old plastic sheeting from November through March to protect +them from Oregon's rainy winter climate. + +Understanding how much moisture to put into a pile soon becomes an +intuitive certainty. Beginners can gauge moisture content by +squeezing a handful of material very hard. It should feel very damp +but only a few drops of moisture should be extractable. Industrial +composters, who can afford scientific guidance to optimize their +activities, try to establish and maintain a laboratory-measured +moisture content of 50 to 60 percent by weight. When building a +pile, keep in mind that certain materials like fresh grass clippings +and vegetable trimmings already contain close to 90 percent moisture +while dry components such as sawdust and straw may contain only 10 +percent and resist absorbing water at that. But, by thoroughly +mixing wet and dry materials the overall moisture content will +quickly equalize. + +_Size of the pile._ It is much harder to keep a small object hot +than a large one. That's because the ratio of surface area to volume +goes down as volume goes up. No matter how well other factors +encourage thermophiles, it is still difficult to make a pile heat up +that is less than three feet high and three feet in diameter. And a +tiny pile like that one tends to heat only for a short time and then +cool off rapidly. Larger piles tend to heat much faster and remain +hot long enough to allow significant decomposition to occur. Most +composters consider a four foot cube to be a minimum practical size. +Industrial or municipal composters build windrows up to ten feet at +the base, seven feet high, and as long as they want. + +However, even if you have unlimited material there is still a limit +to the heap's size and that limiting factor is air supply. The +bigger the compost pile the harder it becomes to get oxygen into the +center. Industrial composters may have power equipment that +simultaneously turns and sprays water, mechanically oxygenating and +remoistening a massive windrow every few days. Even poorly-financed +municipal composting systems have tractors with scoop loaders to +turn their piles frequently. At home the practical limit is probably +a heap six or seven feet wide at the base, initially about five feet +high (it will rapidly slump a foot or so once heating begins), and +as long as one has material for. + +Though we might like to make our compost piles so large that +maintaining sufficient airflow becomes the major problem we face, +the home composter rarely has enough materials on hand to build a +huge heap all at once. A single lawn mowing doesn't supply that many +clippings; my own kitchen compost bucket is larger and fills faster +than anyone else's I know of but still only amounts to a few gallons +a week except during August when we're making jam, canning +vegetables, and juicing. Garden weeds are collected a wheelbarrow at +a time. Leaves are seasonal. In the East the annual vegetable garden +clean-up happens after the fall frost. So almost inevitably, you +will be building a heap gradually. + +That's probably why most garden books illustrate compost heaps as +though they were layer cakes: a base layer of brush, twigs, and +coarse stuff to allow air to enter, then alternating thin layers of +grass clippings, leaves, weeds, garbage, grass, weeds, garbage, and +a sprinkling of soil, repeated until the heap is five feet tall. It +can take months to build a compost pile this way because heating and +decomposition begin before the pile is finished and it sags as it is +built. I recommend several practices when gradually forming a heap. + +Keep a large stack of dry, coarse vegetation next to a building +pile. As kitchen garbage, grass clippings, fresh manure or other wet +materials come available the can be covered with and mixed into this +dry material. The wetter, greener items will rehydrate the dry +vegetation and usually contain more nitrogen that balances out the +higher carbon of dried grass, tall weeds, and hay. + +If building the heap has taken several months, the lower central +area will probably be well on its way to becoming compost and much +of the pile may have already dried out by the time it is fully +formed. So the best time make the first turn and remoisten a +long-building pile is right after it has been completed. + +Instead of picturing a layer cake, you will be better off comparing +composting to making bread. Flour, yeast, water, molasses, sunflower +seeds, and oil aren't layered, they're thoroughly blended and then +kneaded and worked together so that the yeast can interact with the +other materials and bring about a miraculous chemistry that we call +dough. + +_Carbon to nitrogen ratio._ C/N is the most important single aspect +that controls both the heap's ability to heat up and the quality of +the compost that results. Piles composed primarily of materials with +a high ratio of carbon to nitrogen do not get very hot or stay hot +long enough. Piles made from materials with too low a C/N get too +hot, lose a great deal of nitrogen and may "burn out." + +The compost process generally works best when the heap's starting +C/N is around 25:1. If sawdust, straw, or woody hay form the bulk of +the pile, it is hard to bring the C/N down enough with just grass +clippings and kitchen garbage. Heaps made essentially of high C/N +materials need significant additions of the most potent manures +and/or highly concentrated organic nitrogen sources like seed meals +or slaughterhouse concentrates. The next chapter discusses the +nature and properties of materials used for composting in great +detail. + +I have already stressed that filling this book with tables listing +so-called precise amounts of C/N for compostable materials would be +foolish. Even more wasteful of energy would be the composter's +attempt to compute the ratio of carbon to nitrogen resulting from +any mixture of materials. For those who are interested, the sidebar +provides an illustration of how that might be done. + +Balancing C/N + +Here's a simple arithmetic problem that illustrates how to balance +carbon to nitrogen. + +_QUESTION:_ I have 100 pounds of straw with a C/N of 66:1, how much +chicken manure (C/N of 8:1) do I have to add to bring the total to +an average C/N of 25:1. + +_ANSWER:_ There is 1 pound of nitrogen already in each 66 pounds of +straw, so there are already about 1.5 pounds of N in 100 pounds of +straw. 100 pounds of straw-compost at 25:1 would have about 4 pounds +of nitrogen, so I need to add about 2.5 more pounds of N. Eight +pounds of chicken manure contain 1 pound of N; 16 pounds have 2. So, +if I add 32 pounds of chicken manure to 100 pounds of straw, I will +have 132 pounds of material containing about 5.5 pounds of N, a C/N +of 132:5.5 or about 24:1. + +It is far more sensible to learn from experience. Gauge the +proportions of materials going into a heap by the result. If the +pile gets really hot and stays that way for a few weeks before +gradually cooling down then the C/N was more or less right. If, +after several turnings and reheatings, the material has not +thoroughly decomposed, then the initial C/N was probably too high. +The words "thoroughly decomposed" mean here that there are no +recognizable traces of the original materials in the heap and the +compost is dark brown to black, crumbly, sweet smelling and most +importantly, _when worked into soil it provokes a marked growth +response, similar to fertilizer._ + +If the pile did not initially heat very much or the heating stage +was very brief, then the pile probably lacked nitrogen. The solution +for a nitrogen-deficient pile is to turn it, simultaneously blending +in more nutrient-rich materials and probably a bit of water too. +After a few piles have been made novice composters will begin to get +the same feel for their materials as bakers have for their flour, +shortening, and yeast. + +It is also possible to err on the opposite end of the scale and make +a pile with too much nitrogen. This heap will heat very rapidly, +become as hot as the microbial population can tolerate, lose +moisture very quickly, and probably smell of ammonia, indicating +that valuable fixed nitrogen is escaping into the atmosphere. When +proteins decompose their nitrogen content is normally released as +ammonia gas. Most people have smelled small piles of spring grass +clippings doing this very thing. Ammonia is always created when +proteins decompose in any heap at any C/N. But a properly made +compost pile does not permit this valuable nitrogen source to +escape. + +There are other bacteria commonly found in soil that uptake ammonia +gas and change it to the nitrates that plants and soil life forms +need to make other proteins. These nitrification microorganisms are +extremely efficient at reasonable temperatures but cannot survive +the extreme high temperatures that a really hot pile can achieve. +They also live only in soil. That is why it is very important to +ensure that about 10 percent of a compost pile is soil and to coat +the outside of a pile with a frosting of rich earth that is kept +damp. One other aspect of soil helps prevent ammonia loss. Clay is +capable of attracting and temporarily holding on to ammonia until it +is nitrified by microorganisms. Most soils contain significant +amounts of clay. + +The widespread presence of clay and ammonia-fixing bacteria in all +soils permits industrial farmers to inject gaseous ammonia directly +into the earth where it is promptly and completely altered into +nitrates. A very hot pile leaking ammonia may contain too little +soil, but more likely it is also so hot that the nitrifying bacteria +have been killed off. Escaping ammonia is not only an offensive +nuisance, valuable fertility is being lost into the atmosphere. + +_Weather and season. _You can adopt a number of strategies to keep +weather from chilling a compost pile. Wind both lowers temperature +and dries out a pile, so if at all possible, make compost in a +sheltered location. Heavy, cold rains can chill and waterlog a pile. +Composting under a roof will also keep hot sun from baking moisture +out of a pile in summer. Using bins or other compost structures can +hold in heat that might otherwise be lost from the sides of +unprotected heaps. + +It is much easier to maintain a high core temperature when the +weather is warm. It may not be so easy to make hot compost heaps +during a northern winter. So in some parts of the country I would +not expect too much from a compost pile made from autumn cleanup. +This stack of leaves and frost-bitten garden plants may have to +await the spring thaw, then to be mixed with potent spring grass +clippings and other nitrogenous materials in order to heat up and +complete the composting process. What to do with kitchen garbage +during winter in the frozen North makes an interesting problem and +leads serious recyclers to take notice of vermicomposting. (See +Chapter 6.) + +In southern regions the heap may be prevented from overheating by +making it smaller or not as tall. Chapter Nine describes in great +detail how Sir Albert Howard handled the problem of high air +temperature while making compost in India. + +The Fertilizing Value of Compost + +It is not possible for me to tell you how well your own homemade +compost will fertilize plants. Like home-brewed beer and home-baked +bread you can be certain that your compost may be the equal of or +superior to almost any commercially made product and certainly will +be better fertilizer than the high carbon result of municipal solid +waste composting. But first, let's consider two semi-philosophical +questions, "good for what?" and "poor as what?" + +Any compost is a "social good" if it conserves energy, saves space +in landfills and returns some nutrients and organic matter to the +soil, whether for lawns, ornamental plantings, or vegetable gardens. +Compared to the fertilizer you would have purchased in its place, +any homemade compost will be a financial gain unless you buy +expensive motor-powered grinding equipment to produce only small +quantities. + +Making compost is also a "personal good." For a few hours a year, +composting gets you outside with a manure fork in your hand, working +up a sweat. You intentionally participate in a natural cycle: the +endless rotation of carbon from air to organic matter in the form of +plants, to animals, and finally all of it back into soil. You can +observe the miraculous increase in plant and soil health that +happens when you intensify and enrich that cycle of carbon on land +under your control. + +So any compost is good compost. But will it be good fertilizer? +Answering that question is a lot harder: it depends on so many +factors. The growth response you'll get from compost depends on what +went into the heap, on how much nitrate nitrogen was lost as ammonia +during decomposition, on how completely decomposition was allowed to +proceed, and how much nitrate nitrogen was created by microbes +during ripening. + +The growth response from compost also depends on the soil's +temperature. Just like every other biological process, the nutrients +in compost only GROW the plant when they decompose in the soil and +are released. Where summer is hot, where the average of day and +night temperatures are high, where soil temperatures reach 80 degree +for much of the frost-free season, organic matter rots really fast +and a little compost of average quality makes a huge increase in +plant growth. Where summer is cool and soil organic matter +decomposes slowly, poorer grades of compost have little immediate +effect, or worse, may temporarily interfere with plant growth. +Hotter soils are probably more desperate for organic matter and may +give you a marked growth response from even poor quality compost; +soils in cool climates naturally contain higher quantities of humus +and need to be stoked with more potent materials if high levels of +nutrients are to be released. + +Compost is also reputed to make enormous improvements in the +workability, or tilth of the soil. This aspect of gardening is so +important and so widely misunderstood, especially by organic +gardeners, that most of Chapter Seven is devoted to considering the +roles of humus in the soil. + +GROWing the plant + +One of the things I enjoy most while gardening is GROWing some of my +plants. I don't GROW them all because there is no point in having +giant parsley or making the corn patch get one foot taller. Making +everything get as large as possible wouldn't result in maximum +nutrition either. But just for fun, how about a 100-plus-pound +pumpkin? A twenty-pound savoy cabbage? A cauliflower sixteen inches +in diameter? An eight-inch diameter beet? Now that's GROWing! + +Here's how. Simply remove as many growth limiters as possible and +watch the plant's own efforts take over. One of the best examples +I've ever seen of how this works was in a neighbor's backyard +greenhouse. This retired welder liked his liquor. Having more time +than money and little respect for legal absurdities, he had +constructed a small stainless steel pot still, fermented his own +mash, and made a harsh, hangover-producing whiskey from grain and +cane sugar that Appalachians call "popskull." To encourage rapid +fermentation, his mashing barrel was kept in the warm greenhouse. +The bubbling brew gave off large quantities of carbon dioxide gas. + +The rest of his greenhouse was filled with green herbs that flowered +fragrantly in September. Most of them were four or five feet tall +but those plants on the end housing the mash barrel were seven feet +tall and twice as bushy. Why? Because the normal level of +atmospheric CO2 actually limits plant growth. + +We can't increase the carbon supply outdoors. But we can loosen the +soil eighteen to twenty-four inches down (or more for deeply-rooting +species) in an area as large as the plant's root system could +possibly ramify during its entire growing season. I've seen some +GROWers dig holes four feet deep and five feet in diameter for +individual plants. We can use well-finished, strong compost to +increase the humus content of that soil, and supplement that with +manure tea or liquid fertilizer to provide all the nutrients the +plant could possibly use. We can allocate only one plant to that +space and make sure absolutely no competition develops in that space +for light, water, or nutrients. We can keep the soil moist at all +times. By locating the plant against a reflective white wall we can +increase its light levels and perhaps the nighttime temperatures +(plants make food during the day and use it to grow with at night). + +Textural improvements from compost depend greatly on soil type. +Sandy and loamy soils naturally remain open and workable and sustain +good tilth with surprisingly small amounts of organic matter. Two or +three hundred pounds (dry weight) of compost per thousand square +feet per year will keep coarse-textured soils in wonderful physical +condition. This small amount of humus is also sufficient to +encourage the development of a lush soil ecology that creates the +natural health of plants. + +Silty soils, especially ones with more clay content, tend to become +compacted and when low in humus will crust over and puddle when it +rains hard. These may need a little more compost, perhaps in the +range of three to five hundred pounds per thousand square feet per +year. + +Clay soils on the other hand are heavy and airless, easily +compacted, hard to work, and hard to keep workable. The mechanical +properties of clay soils greatly benefit from additions of organic +matter several times larger than what soils composed of larger +particles need. Given adequate organic matter, even a heavy clay can +be made to behave somewhat like a rich loam does. + +Perhaps you've noticed that I've still avoided answering the +question, "how good is your compost?" First, lets take a look at +laboratory analyses of various kinds of compost, connect that to +what they were made from and that to the kind of growing results one +might get from them. I apologize that despite considerable research +I was unable to discover more detailed breakdowns from more +composting activities. But the data I do have is sufficient to +appreciate the range of possibilities. + +Considered as a fertilizer to GROW plants, Municipal Solid Waste +(MSW) compost is the lowest grade material I know of. It is usually +broadcast as a surface mulch. The ingredients municipal composters +must process include an indiscriminate mixture of all sorts of urban +organic waste: paper, kitchen garbage, leaves, chipped tree +trimmings, commercial organic garbage like restaurant waste, cannery +wastes, etc. Unfortunately, paper comprises the largest single +ingredient and it is by nature highly resistant to decomposition. +MSW composting is essentially a recycling process, so no soil, no +manure and no special low C/N sources are used to improve the +fertilizing value of the finished product. + +Municipal composting schemes usually must process huge volumes of +material on very valuable land close to cities. Economics mean the +heaps are made as large as possible, run as fast as possible, and +gotten off the field without concern for developing their highest +qualities. Since it takes a long time to reduce large proportions of +carbon, especially when they are in very decomposition-resistant +forms like paper, and since the use of soil in the compost heap is +essential to prevent nitrate loss, municipal composts tend to be low +in nitrogen and high in carbon. By comparison, the poorest home +garden compost I could find test results for was about equal to the +best municipal compost. The best garden sample ("B") is pretty fine +stuff. I could not discover the ingredients that went into either +garden compost but my supposition is that gardener "A" incorporated +large quantities of high C/N materials like straw, sawdust and the +like while gardener "B" used manure, fresh vegetation, grass +clippings and other similar low C/N materials. The next chapter will +evaluate the suitability of materials commonly used to make compost. + +Analyses of Various Composts + +Source N% P% K% Ca% C/N + +Vegetable trimmings & paper 1.57 0.40 0.40 24:1 +Municipal refuse 0.97 0.16 0.21 24:1 +Johnson City refuse 0.91 0.22 0.91 1.91 36:1 +Gainsville, FL refuse 0.57 0.26 0.22 1.88 ? +Garden compost "A" 1.40 0.30 0.40 25:1 +Garden compost "B" 3.50 1.00 2.00 10:1 + +To interpret this chart, let's make as our standard of comparison +the actual gardening results from some very potent organic material +I and probably many of my readers have probably used: bagged chicken +manure compost. The most potent I've ever purchased is inexpensively +sold in one-cubic-foot plastic sacks stacked up in front of my local +supermarket every spring. The sacks are labeled 4-3-2. I've +successfully grown quite a few huge, handsome, and healthy +vegetables with this product. I've also tried other similar sorts +also labeled "chicken manure compost" that are about half as potent. + +From many years of successful use I know that 15 to 20 sacks (about +300-400 dry-weight pounds) of 4-3-2 chicken compost spread and +tilled into one thousand square feet will grow a magnificent garden. +Most certainly a similar amount of the high analysis Garden "B" +compost would do about the same job. Would three times as much less +potent compost from Garden "A" or five times as much even poorer +stuff from the Johnson City municipal composting operation do as +well? Not at all! Neither would three times as many sacks of dried +steer manure. Here's why. + +If composted organic matter is spread like mulch atop the ground on +lawns or around ornamentals and allowed to remain there its nitrogen +content and C/N are not especially important. Even if the C/N is +still high soil animals will continue the job of decomposition much +as happens on the forest floor. Eventually their excrement will be +transported into the soil by earthworms. By that time the C/N will +equal that of other soil humus and no disruption will occur to the +soil's process. + +Growing vegetables is much more demanding than growing most +perennial ornamentals or lawns. Excuse me, flower gardeners, but +I've observed that even most flowers will thrive if only slight +improvements are made in their soil. The same is true for most +herbs. Difficulties with ornamentals or herbs are usually caused by +attempting to grow a species that is not particularly well-adapted +to the site or climate. Fertilized with sacked steer manure or +mulched with average-to-poor compost, most ornamentals will grow +adequately. + +But vegetables are delicate, pampered critters that must grow as +rapidly as they can grow if they are to be succulent, tasty, and +yield heavily. Most of them demand very high levels of available +nutrients as well as soft, friable soil containing reasonable levels +of organic matter. So it is extremely important that a vegetable +gardener understand the inevitable disruption occurring when organic +matter that has a C/N is much above 12:1 is tilled into soil. + +Organic matter that has been in soil for a while has been altered +into a much studied substance, humus. We know for example that humus +always has a carbon to nitrogen ratio of from 10:1 to about 12:1, +just like compost from Garden "B." Garden writers call great compost +like this, "stable humus," because it is slow to decompose. Its +presence in soil steadily feeds a healthy ecology of microorganisms +important to plant health, and whose activity accelerates release of +plant nutrients from undecomposed rock particles. Humus is also +fertilizer because its gradual decomposition provides mineral +nutrients that make plants grow. The most important of these +nutrients is nitrate nitrogen, thus soil scientists may call humus +decomposition "nitrification." + +When organic material with a C/N below 12:1 is mixed into soil its +breakdown is very rapid. Because it contains more nitrogen than +stable humus does, nitrogen is rapidly released to feed the plants +and soil life. Along with nitrogen comes other plant nutrients. This +accelerated nitrification continues until the remaining nitrogen +balances with the remaining carbon at a ratio of about 12:1. Then +the soil returns to equilibrium. The lower the C/N the more rapid +the release, and the more violent the reaction in the soil. Most low +C/N organic materials, like seed meal or chicken manure, rapidly +release nutrients for a month or two before stabilizing. What has +been described here is fertilizer. + +When organic material with a C/N higher than 12:1 is tilled into +soil, soil animals and microorganisms find themselves with an +unsurpassed carbohydrate banquet. Just as in a compost heap, within +days bacteria and fungi can multiply to match any food supply. But +to construct their bodies these microorganisms need the same +nutrients that plants need to grow--nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, +calcium, magnesium, etc. There are never enough of these nutrients +in high C/N organic matter to match the needs of soil bacteria, +especially never enough nitrogen, so soil microorganisms uptake +these nutrients from the soil's reserves while they "bloom" and +rapidly consume all the new carbon presented to them. + +During this period of rapid decomposition the soil is thoroughly +robbed of plant nutrients. And nitrification stops. Initially, a +great deal of carbon dioxide gas may be given off, as carbon is +metabolically "burned." However, CO2 in high concentrations can be +toxic to sprouting seeds and consequently, germination failures may +occur. When I was in the seed business I'd get a few complaints +every year from irate gardeners demanding to know why every seed +packet they sowed failed to come up well. There were two usual +causes. Either before sowing all the seeds were exposed to +temperatures above 110 degree or more likely, a large quantity of +high C/N "manure" was tilled into the garden just before sowing. In +soil so disturbed transplants may also fail to grow for awhile. If +the "manure" contains a large quantity of sawdust the soil will seem +very infertile for a month or three. + +Sir Albert Howard had a unique and pithy way of expressing this +reality. He said that soil was not capable of working two jobs at +once. You could not expect it to nitrify humus while it was also +being required to digest organic matter. That's one reason he +thought composting was such a valuable process. The digestion of +organic matter proceeds outside the soil; when finished product, +humus, is ready for nitrification, it is tilled in. + +Rapid consumption of carbon continues until the C/N of the new +material drops to the range of stable humus. Then decay +microorganisms die off and the nutrients they hoarded are released +back into the soil. How long the soil remains inhospitable to plant +growth and seed germination depends on soil temperature, the amount +of the material and how high its C/N is, and the amount of nutrients +the soil is holding in reserve. The warmer and more fertile the soil +was before the addition of high C/N organic matter, the faster it +will decompose. + +Judging by the compost analyses in the table, I can see why some +municipalities are having difficulty disposing of the solid waste +compost they are making. One governmental composting operation that +does succeed in selling everything they can produce is Lane County, +Oregon. Their _yard waste compost_ is eagerly paid for by local +gardeners. Lane County compost is made only from autumn leaves, +grass clippings, and other yard wastes. No paper! + +Yard waste compost is a product much like a homeowner would produce. +And yard waste compost contains no industrial waste or any material +that might pose health threats. All woody materials are finely +chipped before composting and comprise no more than 20 percent of +the total undecayed mass by weight. Although no nutrient analysis +has been done by the county other than testing for pH (around 7.0) +and, because of the use of weed and feed fertilizers on lawns, for +2-4D (no residual trace ever found present), I estimate that the +overall C/N of the materials going into the windrows at 25:1. I +wouldn't be surprised if the finished compost has a C/N close to +12:1. + +Incidentally, Lane County understands that many gardeners don't have +pickup trucks. They reasonably offer to deliver their compost for a +small fee if at least one yard is purchased. Other local governments +also make and deliver yard waste compost. + +So what about your own home compost? If you are a flower, +ornamental, or lawn grower, you have nothing to worry about. Just +compost everything you have available and use all you wish to make. +If tilling your compost into soil seems to slow the growth of +plants, then mulch with it and avoid tilling it in, or adjust the +C/N down by adding fertilizers like seed meal when tilling it in. + +If you are a vegetable gardener and your compost doesn't seem to +provoke the kind of growth response you hoped for, either shallowly +till in compost in the fall for next year's planting, by which time +it will have become stable humus, or read further. The second half +of this book contains numerous hints about how to make potent +compost and about how to use complete organic fertilizers in +combination with compost to grow the lushest garden imaginable. + + + + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + +All About Materials + + + + + +In most parts of the country, enough organic materials accumulate +around an average home and yard to make all the compost a backyard +garden needs. You probably have weeds, leaves, perhaps your own +human hair (my wife is the family barber), dust from the vacuum +cleaner, kitchen garbage and grass clippings. But, there may not be +enough to simultaneously build the lushest lawn, the healthiest +ornamentals _and _grow the vegetables. If you want to make more +compost than your own land allows, it is not difficult to find very +large quantities of organic materials that are free or cost very +little. + +The most obvious material to bring in for composting is animal +manure. Chicken and egg raisers and boarding stables often give +manure away or sell it for a nominal fee. For a few dollars most +small scale animal growers will cheerfully use their scoop loader to +fill your pickup truck till the springs sag. + +As useful as animal manure can be in a compost pile, there are other +types of low C/N materials too. Enormous quantities of loose alfalfa +accumulate around hay bale stacks at feed and grain stores. To the +proprietor this dusty chaff is a nuisance gladly given to anyone +that will neatly sweep it up and truck it away. To the home +gardener, alfalfa in any form is rich as gold. + +Some years, rainy Oregon weather is still unsettled at haying season +and farmers are stuck with spoiled hay. I'm sure this happens most +places that grass hay is grown on natural rainfall. Though a shrewd +farmer may try to sell moldy hay at a steep discount by representing +it to still have feed value, actually these ruined bales must be +removed from a field before they interfere with working the land. A +hard bargainer can often get spoiled hay in exchange for hauling the +wet bales out of the field + +There's one local farmer near me whose entire family tree holds a +well-deserved reputation for hard, self-interested dealing. One +particularly wet, cool unsettled haying season, after starting the +spoiled-hay dicker at 90 cents per bale asked--nothing offered but +hauling the soggy bales out of the field my offer--I finally agreed +to take away about twenty tons at ten cents per bale. This small sum +allowed the greedy b-----to feel he had gotten the better of me. He +needed that feeling far more than I needed to win the argument or to +keep the few dollars Besides, the workings of self-applied justice +that some religious philosophers call karma show that over the long +haul the worst thing one person can do to another is to allow the +other to get away with an evil act. + +Any dedicated composter can make contacts yielding cheap or free +organic materials by the ton. Orchards may have badly bruised or +rotting fruit. Small cider mills, wineries, or a local juice bar +restaurant may be glad to get rid of pomace. Carpentry shops have +sawdust. Coffee roasters have dust and chaff. The microbrewery is +becoming very popular these days; mall-scale local brewers and +distillers may have spent hops and mash. Spoiled product or chaff +may be available from cereal mills. + +City governments often will deliver autumn leaves by the ton and +will give away or sell the output of their own municipal composting +operations. Supermarkets, produce wholesalers, and restaurants may +be willing to give away boxes of trimmings and spoiled food. Barbers +and poodle groomers throw away hair. + +Seafood processors will sell truckloads of fresh crab, fish and +shrimp waste for a small fee. Of course, this material becomes +evil-smelling in very short order but might be relatively +inoffensive if a person had a lot of spoiled hay or sawdust waiting +to mix into it. Market gardeners near the Oregon coast sheet-compost +crab waste, tilling it into the soil before it gets too "high." +Other parts of the country might supply citrus wastes, sugar cane +bagasse, rice hulls, etc. + +About Common Materials + +_Alfalfa_ is a protein-rich perennial legume mainly grown as animal +feed. On favorable soil it develops a deep root system, sometimes +exceeding ten feet. Alfalfa draws heavily on subsoil minerals so it +will be as rich or poor in nutrients as the subsoil it grew in. Its +average C/N is around 12:1 making alfalfa useful to compensate for +larger quantities of less potent material. Sacked alfalfa meal or +pellets are usually less expensive (and being "stemmy," have a +slightly higher C/N) than leafy, best-quality baled alfalfa hay. +Rain-spoiled bales of alfalfa hay are worthless as animal feed but +far from valueless to the composter. + +Pelletized rabbit feed is largely alfalfa fortified with grain. +Naturally, rabbit manure has a C/N very similar to alfalfa and is +nutrient rich, especially if some provision is made to absorb the +urine. + +_Apple pomace_ is wet and compact. If not well mixed with stiff, +absorbent material, large clumps of this or other fruit wastes can +become airless regions of anaerobic decomposition. Having a high +water content can be looked upon as an advantage. Dry hay and +sawdust can be hard to moisten thoroughly; these hydrate rapidly +when mixed with fruit pulp. Fermenting fruit pulp attracts yellow +jackets so it is sensible to incorporate it quickly into a pile and +cover well with vegetation or soil. + +The watery pulp of fruits is not particularly rich in nutrients but +apple, grape, and pear pulps are generously endowed with soft, +decomposable seeds. Most seeds contain large quantities of +phosphorus, nitrogen, and other plant nutrients. It is generally +true that plants locate much of their entire yearly nutrient +assimilation into their seeds to provide the next generation with +the best possible start. Animals fed on seeds (such as chickens) +produce the richest manures. + +Older books about composting warn about metallic pesticide residues +adhering to fruit skins. However, it has been nearly half a century +since arsenic and lead arsenate were used as pesticides and mercury +is no longer used in fungicides. + +_Bagasse_ is the voluminous waste product from extracting cane +sugar. Its C/N is extremely high, similar to wheat straw or sawdust, +and it contains very little in the way of plant nutrients. However, +its coarse, strong, fibrous structure helps build lightness into a +pile and improve air flow. Most sugar mills burn bagasse as their +heat source to evaporate water out of the sugary juice squeezed from +the canes. At one time there was far more bagasse produced than the +mills needed to burn and bagasse often became an environmental +pollutant. Then, bagasse was available for nothing or next to +nothing. These days, larger, modern mills generate electricity with +bagasse and sell their surplus to the local power grid. Bagasse is +also used to make construction fiberboard for subwall and +insulation. + +_Banana skins _and stalks are soft and lack strong fiber. They are +moderately rich in phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. Consequently +they rot quickly. Like other kitchen garbage, banana waste should be +put into the core of a compost pile to avoid attracting and breeding +flies. See also: _Garbage._ + +_Basic slag_ is an industrial waste from smelting iron. Ore is +refined by heating it with limestone and dolomite. The impurities +combine with calcium and magnesium, rise to the surface of the +molten metal, and are skimmed off. Basic slag contains quite a bit +of calcium plus a variety of useful plant nutrients not usually +found in limestone. Its exact composition varies greatly depending +on the type of ore used. + +Slag is pulverized and sold in sacks as a substitute for +agricultural lime. The intense biological activity of a compost pile +releases more of slag's other mineral content and converts its +nutrients to organic substances that become rapidly available once +the compost is incorporated into soil. Other forms of powdered +mineralized rock can be similarly added to a compost pile to +accelerate nutrient release. + +Rodale Press, publisher of _Organic Gardening_ magazine is located +in Pennsylvania where steel mills abound. Having more experience +with slag, Rodale advises the user to be alert to the fact that some +contain little in the way of useful nutrients and/or may contain +excessive amounts of sulfur. Large quantities of sulfur can acidify +soil. Read the analysis on the label. Agriculturally useful slag has +an average composition of 40 percent calcium and 5 percent +magnesium. It must also be very finely ground to be effective. See +also: _Lime_ and _Rock dust._ + +_Beet wastes,_ like bagasse, are a residue of extracting sugar. They +have commercial value as livestock feed and are sold as dry pulp in +feed stores located near regions where sugar beets are grown. Their +C/N is in the vicinity of 20:1 and they may contain high levels of +potassium, reaching as much as 4 percent. + +_Brewery wastes._ Both spent hops (dried flowers and leaves) and +malt (sprouted barley and often other grains) are potent nutrient +sources with low C/N ratios. Spent malt is especially potent because +brewers extract all the starches and convert them to sugar, but +consider the proteins as waste because proteins in the brew make it +cloudy and opaque. Hops may be easier to get. Malt has uses as +animal feed and may be contracted for by some local feedlot or +farmer. These materials will be wet, heavy and frutily odoriferous +(though not unpleasantly so) and you will want to incorporate them +into your compost pile immediately. + +_Buckwheat hulls._ Buckwheat is a grain grown in the northeastern +United States and Canada. Adapted to poor, droughty soils, the crop +is often grown as a green manure. The seeds are enclosed in a +thin-walled, brown to black fibrous hulls that are removed at a +groat mill. Buckwheat hulls are light, springy, and airy. They'll +help fluff up a compost heap. Buckwheat hulls are popular as a mulch +because they adsorb moisture easily, look attractive, and stay in +place. Their C/N is high. Oat and rice hulls are similar products. + +_Canola meal._ See: _Cottonseed meal._ + +_Castor pomace_ is pulp left after castor oil has been squeezed from +castor bean seeds. Like other oil seed residues it is very high in +nitrogen, rich in other plant nutrients, particularly phosphorus, +Castor pomace may be available in the deep South; it makes a fine +substitute for animal manure. + +_Citrus wastes_ may be available to gardeners living near industrial +processors of orange, lemon, and grapefruit. In those regions, dried +citrus pulp may also be available in feed stores. Dried orange skins +contain about 3 percent phosphorus and 27 percent potassium. Lemons +are a little higher in phosphorus but lower in potassium. Fruit +culls would have a similar nutrient ratio on a dry weight basis, but +they are largely water. Large quantities of culls could be useful to +hydrate stubbornly dry materials like straw or sawdust. + +Like other byproducts of industrial farming, citrus wastes may +contain significant amounts of pesticide residues. The composting +process will break down and eliminate most toxic organic residues, +especially if the pile gets really hot through and through. (See +also: _Leaves) _The effect of such high levels of potassium on the +nutritional qualities of my food would also concern me if the +compost I was making from these wastes were used for vegetable +gardening. + +_Coffee grounds_ are nutrient-rich like other seed meals. Even after +brewing they can contain up to 2 percent nitrogen, about 1/2 percent +phosphorus and varying amounts of potassium usually well below 1 +percent. Its C/N runs around 12:1. Coffee roasters and packers need +to dispose of coffee chaff, similar in nutrient value to used +grounds and may occasionally have a load of overly roasted beans. + +Coffee grounds seem the earthworm's food of choice. In worm bins, +used grounds are more vigorously devoured than any other substance. +If slight odor is a consideration, especially if doing in-the-home +vermicomposting, coffee grounds should be incorporated promptly into +a pile to avoid the souring that results from vinegar-producing +bacteria. Fermenting grounds may also attract harmless fruit flies. +Paper filters used to make drip coffee may be put into the heap or +worm box where they contribute to the bedding. See also: _Paper._ + +_Corncobs_ are no longer available as an agricultural waste product +because modern harvesting equipment shreds them and spits the +residue right back into the field. However, home gardeners who fancy +sweet corn may produce large quantities of cobs. Whole cobs will +aerate compost heaps but are slow to decompose. If you want your +pile ready within one year, it is better to dry and then grind the +cobs before composting them. + +_Cottonseed meal_ is one of this country's major oil seed residues. +The seed is ginned out of the cotton fiber, ground, and then its oil +content is chemically extracted. The residue, sometimes called oil +cake or seed cake, is very high in protein and rich in NPK. Its C/N +runs around 5:1, making it an excellent way to balance a compost +pile containing a lot of carboniferous materials. + +Most cottonseed meal is used as animal feed, especially for beef and +dairy cattle. Purchased in garden stores in small containers it is +very expensive; bought by the 50-to 80-pound sack from feed stores +or farm coops, cottonseed meal and other oil seed meals are quite +inexpensive. Though prices of these types of commodities vary from +year to year, oil cakes of all kinds usually cost between $200 to +$400 per ton and only slightly higher purchased sacked in +less-than-ton lots. + +The price of any seed meal is strongly influenced by freight costs. +Cottonseed meal is cheapest in the south and the southwest where +cotton is widely grown. Soybean meal may be more available and +priced better in the midwest. Canadian gardeners are discovering +canola meal, a byproduct from producing canola (or rapeseed) oil. +When I took a sabbatical in Fiji, I advised local gardeners to use +coconut meal, an inexpensive "waste" from extracting coconut oil. +And I would not be at all surprised to discover gardeners in South +Dakota using sunflower meal. Sesame seed, safflower seed, peanut and +oil-seed corn meals may also be available in certain localities. + +Seed meals make an ideal starting point for compounding complete +organic fertilizer mixes. The average NPK analysis of most seed +meals is around 6-4-2. Considered as a fertilizer, oil cakes are +somewhat lacking in phosphorus and sometimes in trace minerals. By +supplementing them with materials like bone meal, phosphate rock, +kelp meal, sometimes potassium-rich rock dusts and lime or gypsum, a +single, wide-spectrum slow-release trace-mineral-rich organic +fertilizer source can be blended at home having an analysis of about +5-5-5. Cottonseed meal is particularly excellent for this purpose +because it is a dry, flowing, odorless material that stores well. I +suspect that cottonseed meal from the southwest may be better +endowed with trace minerals than that from leached-out southeastern +soils or soy meal from depleted midwestern farms. See the last +section of Chapter Eight. + +Some organic certification bureaucracies foolishly prohibit or +discourage the use of cottonseed meal as a fertilizer. The rationale +behind this rigid self-righteousness is that cotton, being a nonfood +crop, is sprayed with heavy applications of pesticides and/or +herbicides that are so hazardous that they not permitted on food +crops. These chemicals are usually dissolved in an emulsified +oil-based carrier and the cotton plant naturally concentrates +pesticide residues and breakdown products into the oily seed. + +I believe that this concern is accurate as far as pesticide residues +being translocated into the seed. However, the chemical process used +to extract cottonseed oil is very efficient The ground seeds are +mixed with a volatile solvent similar to ether and heated under +pressure in giant retorts. I reason that when the solvent is +squeezed from the seed, it takes with it all not only the oil, but, +I believe, virtually all of the pesticide residues. Besides, any +remaining organic toxins will be further destroyed by the biological +activity of the soil and especially by the intense heat of a compost +pile. + +What I _personally_ worry about is cottonseed oil. I avoid prepared +salad dressings that may contain cottonseed oil, as well as many +types of corn and potato chips, tinned oysters, and other prepared +food products. I also suggest that you peek into the back of your +favorite Oriental and fast food restaurants and see if there aren't +stacks of ten gallon cottonseed oil cans waiting to fill the +deep-fat fryer. I fear this sort of meal as dangerous to my health. +If you still fear that cottonseed meal is also a dangerous product +then you certainly won't want to be eating feedlot beef or drinking +milk or using other dairy products from cattle fed on cottonseed +meal. + +_Blood meal_ runs 10-12 percent nitrogen and contains significant +amounts of phosphorus. It is the only organic fertilizer that is +naturally water soluble. Blood meal, like other slaughterhouse +wastes, may be too expensive for use as a compost activator. + +Sprinkled atop soil as a side-dressing, dried blood usually provokes +a powerful and immediate growth response. Blood meal is so potent +that it is capable of burning plants; when applied you must avoid +getting it on leaves or stems. Although principally a source of +nitrogen, I reason that there are other nutritional substances like +growth hormones or complex organic "phytamins" in blood meal. +British glasshouse lettuce growers widely agree that lettuce +sidedressed with blood meal about three weeks before harvest has a +better "finish," a much longer shelf-life, and a reduced tendency to +"brown butt" compared to lettuce similarly fertilized with urea or +chemical nitrate sources. + +_Feathers_ are the birds' equivalent of hair on animals and have +similar properties. See _Hair_ + +_Fish and shellfish waste._ These proteinaceous, high-nitrogen and +trace-mineral-rich materials are readily available at little or no +cost in pickup load lots from canneries and sea food processors. +However, in compost piles, large quantities of these materials +readily putrefy, make the pile go anaerobic, emit horrid odors, and +worse, attract vermin and flies. To avoid these problems, fresh +seafood wastes must be immediately mixed with large quantities of +dry, high C/N material. There probably are only a few homestead +composters able to utilize a ton or two of wet fish waste at one +time. + +Oregonians pride themselves for being tolerant, slow-to-take-offense +neighbors. Along the Oregon coast, small-scale market gardeners will +thinly spread shrimp or crab waste atop a field and promptly till it +in. Once incorporated in the soil, the odor rapidly dissipates. In +less than one week. + +_Fish meal_ is a much better alternative for use around the home. Of +course, you have to have no concern for cost and have your mind +fixed only on using the finest possible materials to produce the +nutritionally finest food when electing to substitute fish meal for +animal manures or oil cakes. Fish meal is much more potent than +cottonseed meal. Its typical nutrient analysis runs 9-6-4. However, +figured per pound of nutrients they contain, seed meals are a much +less expensive way to buy NPK. Fish meal is also mildly odoriferous. +The smell is nothing like wet seafood waste, but it can attract +cats, dogs, and vermin. + +What may make fish meal worth the trouble and expense is that sea +water is the ultimate depository of all water-soluble nutrients that +were once in the soil. Animals and plants living in the sea enjoy +complete, balanced nutrition. Weston Price's classic book, +_Nutrition and Physical Degeneration,_ attributes nearly perfect +health to humans who made seafoods a significant portion of their +diets. Back in the 1930s--before processed foods were universally +available in the most remote locations-people living on isolated sea +coasts tended to live long, have magnificent health, and perfect +teeth. See also: _Kelp meal._ + +_Garbage. _Most forms of kitchen waste make excellent compost. But +Americans foolishly send megatons of kitchen garbage to landfills or +overburden sewage treatment plants by grinding garbage in a +disposal. The average C/N of garbage is rather low so its presence +in a compost heap facilitates the decomposition of less potent +materials. Kitchen garbage can also be recycled in other ways such +as vermicomposting (worm boxes) and burying it in the garden in +trenches or post holes. These alternative composting methods will be +discussed in some detail later. + +Putting food scraps and wastes down a disposal is obviously the +least troublesome and apparently the most "sanitary" method, passing +the problem on to others. Handled with a little forethought, +composting home food waste will not breed flies or make the kitchen +untidy or ill smelling. The most important single step in keeping +the kitchen clean and free of odor is to put wastes in a small +plastic bucket or other container of one to two gallons in size, and +empty it every few days. Periodically adding a thin layer of sawdust +or peat moss supposedly helps to prevent smells. In our kitchen, +we've found that covering the compost bucket is no alternative to +emptying it. When incorporating kitchen wastes into a compost pile, +spread them thinly and cover with an inch or two of leaves, dry +grass, or hay to adsorb wetness and prevent access by flies. It may +be advisable to use a vermin-tight composting bin. + +_Granite dust._ See _Rock dust._ + +_Grape wastes._ See _Apple pomace._ + +_Grass clippings._ Along with kitchen garbage, grass clippings are +the compostable material most available to the average homeowner. +Even if you (wisely) don't compost all of your clippings (see +sidebar), your foolish neighbors may bag theirs up for you to take +away. If you mulch with grass clippings, make sure the neighbors +aren't using "weed and feed" type fertilizers, or the clippings may +cause the plants that are mulched to die. Traces of the those types +of broadleaf herbicides allowed in "weed and feed" fertilizers, are +thoroughly decomposed in the composting process. + +It is not necessary to return every bit of organic matter to +maintain a healthy lawn. Perhaps one-third to one-half the annual +biomass production may be taken away and used for composting without +seriously depleting the lawn's vigor--especially if one application +of a quality fertilizer is given to the lawn each year. Probably the +best time of year to remove clippings is during the spring while the +grass is growing most rapidly. Once a clover/grass mix is +established it is less necessary to use nitrogen fertilizers. In +fact, high levels of soil nitrates reduces the clover's ability to +fix atmospheric nitrogen. However, additions of other mineral +nutrients like phosphorus, potassium, and especially calcium may +still be necessary. + +Lawn health is similar to garden health. Both depend on the presence +of large enough quantities of organic material in the soil. This +organic matter holds a massive reserve of nutrition built up over +the years by the growing plants themselves. When, for reasons of +momentary aesthetics, we bag up and remove clippings from our lawn, +we prevent the grass from recycling its own fertility. + +It was once mistakenly believed that unraked lawn clippings built up +on the ground as unrotted thatch, promoting harmful insects and +diseases. This is a half-truth. Lawns repeatedly fertilized with +sulfur-based chemical fertilizers, especially ammonium sulfate and +superphosphate, become so acid and thus so hostile to bacterial +decomposition and soil animals that a thatch of unrotted clippings +and dead sod can build up and thus promote disease and insect +problems. + +However, lawns given lime or gypsum to supply calcium that is so +vital to the healthy growth of clover, and seed meals and/or +dressings of finely decomposed compost or manure become naturally +healthy. Clippings falling on such a lawn rot rapidly because of the +high level of microorganisms in the soil, and disappear in days. +Dwarf white clover can produce all the nitrate nitrogen that grasses +need to stay green and grow lustily. Once this state of health is +developed, broadleaf weeds have a hard time competing with the lusty +grass/clover sod and gradually disappear. Fertilizing will rarely be +necessary again if little biomass is removed. + +Homeowners who demand the spiffy appearance of a raked lawn but +still want a healthy lawn have several options. They may compost +their grass clippings and then return the compost to the lawn. They +may use a side-discharge mower and cut two days in succession. The +first cut will leave rows of clippings to dry on the lawn; the +second cut will disintegrate those clippings and pretty much make +them disappear. Finally, there are "mulching" mowers with blades +that chop green grass clippings into tiny pieces and drops them +below the mower where they are unnoticeable. + +Grass clippings, especially spring grass, are very high in nitrogen, +similar to the best horse or cow manure. Anyone who has piled up +fresh grass clippings has noticed how rapidly they heat up, how +quickly the pile turns into a slimy, airless, foul-smelling +anaerobic mess, and how much ammonia may be given off. Green grass +should be thoroughly dispersed into a pile, with plenty of dry +material. Reserve bags of leaves from the fall or have a bale of +straw handy to mix in if needed. Clippings allowed to sun dry for a +few days before raking or bagging behave much better in the compost +heap. + +_Greensand._ See _Rock dust._ + +_Hair _contains ten times the nitrogen of most manures. It resists +absorbing moisture and readily compresses, mats, and sheds water, so +hair needs to be mixed with other wetter materials. If I had easy +access to a barber shop, beauty salon, or poodle grooming business, +I'd definitely use hair in my compost. Feathers, feather meal and +feather dust (a bird's equivalent to hair) have similar qualities. + +_Hay._ In temperate climates, pasture grasses go through an annual +cycle that greatly changes their nutrient content. Lawn grasses are +not very different. The first cuttings of spring grass are potent +sources of nitrogen, high in protein and other vital mineral +nutrients. In fact, spring grass may be as good an animal feed as +alfalfa or other legume hay. Young ryegrass, for example, may exceed +two percent nitrogen-equaling about 13 percent protein. That's why +cattle and horses on fresh spring grass frisk around and why June +butter is so dark yellow, vitamin-rich and good-flavored. + +In late spring, grasses begin to form seed and their chemical +composition changes. With the emergence of the seed stalk, nitrogen +content drops markedly and the leaves become more fibrous, +ligninous, and consequently, more reluctant to decompose. At +pollination ryegrass has dropped to about l percent nitrogen and by +the time mature seed has developed, to about 0.75 percent. + +These realities have profound implications for hay-making, for using +grasses as green manures, and for evaluating the C/N of hay you may +be planning to use in a compost heap. In earlier times, making grass +hay that would be nutritious enough to maintain the health of cattle +required cutting the grass before, or just at, the first appearance +of seed stalks. Not only did early harvesting greatly reduce the +bulk yield, it usually meant that without concern for cost or hours +of labor the grass had to be painstakingly dried at a time of year +when there were more frequent rains and lower temperatures. In +nineteenth-century England, drying grass was draped by hand over low +hurdles, dotting each pasture with hundreds of small racks that shed +water like thatched roofs and allowed air flow from below. It is +obvious to me where the sport of running hurdles came from; I +envision energetic young countryfolk, pepped up on that rich spring +milk and the first garden greens of the year, exuberantly racing +each other across the just-mowed fields during haying season. + +In more recent years, fresh wet spring grass was packed green into +pits and made into silage where a controlled anaerobic fermentation +retained its nutritional content much like sauerkraut keeps cabbage. +Silage makes drying unnecessary. These days, farm labor is expensive +and tractors are relatively inexpensive. It seems that grass hay +must be cut later when the weather is more stable, economically +dried on the ground, prevented from molding by frequent raking, and +then baled mechanically. + +In regions enjoying relatively rainless springs or where agriculture +depends on irrigation, this system may result in quality hay. But +most modern farmers must supplement the low-quality hay with oil +cakes or other concentrates. Where I live, springs are cool and damp +and the weather may not stabilize until mid-June. By this date grass +seed is already formed and beginning to dry down. This means our +local grass hay is very low in protein, has a high C/N, and is very +woody--little better than wheat straw. Pity the poor horses and +cattle that must try to extract enough nutrition from this stuff. + +Western Oregon weather conditions also mean that farmers often end +up with rain-spoiled hay they are happy to sell cheaply. Many years +I've made huge compost piles largely from this kind of hay. One +serious liability from cutting grass hay late is that it will +contain viable seeds. If the composting process does not thoroughly +heat all of these seeds, the compost will sprout grass all over the +garden. One last difficulty with poor quality grass hay: the tough, +woody stems are reluctant to absorb moisture. + +The best way to simultaneously overcome all of these liabilities is +first to permit the bales to thoroughly spoil and become moldy +through and through before composting them. When I have a ton or two +of spoiled hay bales around, I spread them out on the ground in a +single layer and leave them in the rain for an entire winter. Doing +this sprouts most of the grass seed within the bales, thoroughly +moistens the hay, and initiates decomposition. Next summer I pick up +this material, remove the baling twine, and mix it into compost +piles with plenty of more nitrogenous stuff. + +One last word about grass and how it works when green manuring. If a +thick stand of grasses is tilled in during spring before seed +formation begins, its high nitrogen content encourages rapid +decomposition. Material containing 2 percent nitrogen and lacking a +lot of tough fiber can be totally rotted and out of the way in two +weeks, leaving the soil ready to plant. This variation on green +manuring works like a charm. + +However, if unsettled weather conditions prevent tillage until seed +formation has begun, the grasses will contain much less nitrogen and +will have developed a higher content of resistant lignins. If the +soil does not become dry and large reserves of nitrogen are already +waiting in the soil to balance the high C/N of mature grass, it may +take only a month to decompose But there will be so much +decomposition going on for the first few weeks that even seed +germination is inhibited. Having to wait an unexpected month or six +weeks after wet weather prevented forming an early seed bed may +delay sowing for so long that the season is missed for the entire +year. Obstacles like this must be kept in mind when considering +using green manuring as a soil-building technique. Cutting the grass +close to the soil line and composting the vegetation off the field +eliminates this problem. + +_Hoof and horn meal._ Did you know that animals construct their +hooves and horns from compressed hair? The meal is similar in +nutrient composition to blood meal, leather dust, feather meal, or +meat meal (tankage). It is a powerful source of nitrogen with +significant amounts of phosphorus. Like other slaughterhouse +byproducts its high cost may make it impractical to use to adjust +the C/N of compost piles. Seed meals or chicken manure (chickens are +mainly fed seeds) have somewhat lower nitrogen contents than animal +byproducts but their price per pound of actual nutrition is more +reasonable. If hoof and horn meal is not dispersed through a pile it +may draw flies and putrefy. I would prefer to use expensive +slaughterhouse concentrates to blend into organic fertilizer mixes. + +_Juicer pulp:_ See _Apple pomace._ + +_Kelp meals_ from several countries are available in feed and grain +stores and better garden centers, usually in 25 kg (55-pound) sacks +ranging in cost from $20 to $50. Considering this spendy price, I +consider using kelp meal more justifiable in complete organic +fertilizer mixes as a source of trace minerals than as a composting +supplement. + +There is a great deal of garden lore about kelp meal's +growth-stimulating and stress-fortifying properties. Some +garden-store brands tout these qualities and charge a very high +price. The best prices are found at feed dealers where kelp meal is +considered a bulk commodity useful as an animal food supplement. + +I've purchased kelp meal from Norway, Korea, and Canada. There are +probably other types from other places. I don't think there is a +significant difference in the mineral content of one source compared +to another. I do not deny that there may be differences in how well +the packers processing method preserved kelp's multitude of +beneficial complex organic chemicals that improve the growth and +overall health of plants by functioning as growth stimulants, +phytamins, and who knows what else. + +Still, I prefer to buy by price, not by mystique, because, after +gardening for over twenty years, garden writing for fifteen and +being in the mail order garden seed business for seven I have been +on the receiving end of countless amazing claims by touters of +agricultural snake oils; after testing out dozens of such +concoctions I tend to disbelieve mystic contentions of unique +superiority. See also: _Seaweed_. + +_Leather dust_ is a waste product of tanneries, similar to hoof and +horn meal or tankage. It may or may not be contaminated with high +levels of chromium, a substance used to tan suede. If only +vegetable-tanned leather is produced at the tannery in question, +leather dust should be a fine soil amendment. Some organic +certification bureaucrats prohibit its use, perhaps rightly so in +this case. + +_Leaves._ Soil nutrients are dissolved by rain and leached from +surface layers, transported to the subsoil, thence the ground water, +and ultimately into the salty sea. Trees have deep root systems, +reaching far into the subsoil to bring plant nutrients back up, +making them nature's nutrient recycler. Because they greatly +increase soil fertility, J. Russell Smith called trees "great +engines of production." Anyone who has not read his visionary book, +_Tree Crops, _should. Though written in 1929, this classic book is +currently in print. + +Once each year, leaves are available in large quantity, but aren't +the easiest material to compost. Rich in minerals but low in +nitrogen, they are generally slow to decompose and tend to pack into +an airless mass. However, if mixed with manure or other +high-nitrogen amendment and enough firm material to prevent +compaction, leaves rot as well as any other substance. Running dry +leaves through a shredder or grinding them with a lawnmower greatly +accelerates their decomposition. Of all the materials I've ever put +through a garden grinder, dry leaves are the easiest and run the +fastest. + +Once chopped, leaves occupy much less volume. My neighbor, John, a +very serious gardener like me, keeps several large garbage cans +filled with pulverized dry leaves for use as mulch when needed. Were +I a northern gardener I'd store shredded dry leaves in plastic bags +over the winter to mix into compost piles when spring grass +clippings and other more potent materials were available. Some +people fear using urban leaves because they may contain automotive +pollutants such as oil and rubber components. Such worries are +probably groundless. Dave Campbell who ran the City of Portland +(Oregon) Bureau of Maintenance leaf composting program said he has +run tests for heavy metals and pesticide residues on every windrow +of compost he has made. + +"Almost all our tests so far have shown less than the background +level for heavy metals, and no traces of pesticides [including] +chlorinated and organophosphated pesticides.... It is very rare for +there to be any problem." + +Campbell tells an interesting story that points out how thoroughly +composting eliminates pesticide residues. He said, + +"Once I was curious about some leaves we were getting from a city +park where I knew the trees had been sprayed with a pesticide just +about a month before the leaves fell and we collected them. In this +case, I had the uncomposted leaves tested and then the compost +tested. In the fresh leaves a trace of . . . residue was detected, +but by the time the composting process was finished, no detectable +level was found." + +_Lime._ There is no disputing that calcium is a vital soil nutrient +as essential to the formation of plant and animal proteins as +nitrogen. Soils deficient in calcium can be inexpensively improved +by adding agricultural lime which is relatively pure calcium +carbonate (CaC03). The use of agricultural lime or dolomitic lime in +compost piles is somewhat controversial. Even the most authoritative +of authorities disagree. There is no disputing that the calcium +content of plant material and animal manure resulting from that +plant material is very dependent on the amount of calcium available +in the soil. Chapter Eight contains quite a thorough discussion of +this very phenomena. If a compost pile is made from a variety of +materials grown on soils that contained adequate calcium, then +adding additional lime should be unnecessary. However, if the +materials being composted are themselves deficient in calcium then +the organisms of decomposition may not develop fully. + +While preparing this book, I queried the venerable Dr. Herbert H. +Koepf about lime in the compost heap. Koepf's biodynamic books +served as my own introduction to gardening in the early 1970s. He is +still active though in his late seventies. Koepf believes that lime +is not necessary when composting mixtures that contain significant +amounts of manure because the decomposition of proteinaceous +materials develops a more or less neutral pH. However, when +composting mixtures of vegetation without manure, the conditions +tend to become very acid and bacterial fermentation is inhibited. To +correct low pH, Koepf recommends agricultural lime at 25 pounds per +ton of vegetation, the weight figured on a dry matter basis. To +guestimate dry weight, remember that green vegetation is 70-80 +percent water, to prevent organic material like hay from spoiling it +is first dried down to below 15 percent moisture. + +There is another reason to make sure that a compost pile contains an +abundance of calcium. Azobacteria, that can fix nitrate nitrogen in +mellowing compost piles, depend for their activity on the +availability of calcium. Adding agricultural lime in such a +situation may be very useful, greatly speed the decomposition +process, and improve the quality of the compost. Albert Howard used +small amounts of lime in his compost piles specifically to aid +nitrogen fixation. He also incorporated significant quantities of +fresh bovine manure at the same time. + +However, adding lime to heating manure piles results in the loss of +large quantities of ammonia gas. Perhaps this is the reason some +people are opposed to using lime in any composting process. Keep in +mind that a manure pile is not a compost pile. Although both will +heat up and decay, the starting C/N of a barnyard manure pile runs +around 10:1 while a compost heap of yard waste and kitchen garbage +runs 25:1 to 30:1. Any time highly nitrogenous material, such as +fresh manures or spring grass clippings, are permitted to decompose +without adjustment of the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio with less potent +stuff, ammonia tends to be released, lime or not. + +Only agricultural lime or slightly better, dolomitic lime, are +useful in compost piles. Quicklime or slaked lime are made from +heated limestone and undergo a violent chemical reaction when mixed +with water. They may be fine for making cement, but not for most +agricultural purposes. + +_Linseed meal._ See _Cottonseed meal_. + +_Manure._ Fresh manure can be the single most useful addition to the +compost pile. What makes it special is the presence of large +quantities of active digestive enzymes. These enzymes seem to +contribute to more rapid heating and result in a finer-textured, +more completely decomposed compost that provokes a greater growth +response in plants. Manure from cattle and other multi-stomached +ruminants also contains cellulose-decomposing bacteria. Soil animals +supply similar digestive enzymes as they work over the litter on the +forest floor but before insects and other tiny animals can eat much +of a compost heap, well-made piles will heat up, driving out or +killing everything except microorganisms and fungi. + +All of the above might be of interest to the country dweller or +serious backyard food grower but probably sounds highly impractical +to most of this book's readers. Don't despair if fresh manure is not +available or if using it is unappealing. Compost made with fresh, +unheated manure works only a little faster and produces just a +slightly better product than compost activated with seed meals, +slaughterhouse concentrates, ground alfalfa, grass clippings, +kitchen garbage, or even dried, sacked manures. Compost made without +any manure still "makes!" + +When evaluating manure keep in mind the many pitfalls. Fresh manure +is very valuable, but if you obtain some that has been has been +heaped up and permitted to heat up, much of its nitrogen may already +have dissipated as ammonia while the valuable digestive enzymes will +have been destroyed by the high temperatures at the heap's core. A +similar degradation happens to digestive enzymes when manure is +dried and sacked. Usually, dried manure comes from feedlots where it +has also first been stacked wet and gone through a violent heating +process. So if I were going to use sacked dried manure to lower the +C/N of a compost pile, I'd evaluate it strictly on its cost per +pound of actual nitrogen. In some cases, seed meals might be cheaper +and better able to drop the heap's carbon-to-nitrogen ratio even +more than manure. + +There are many kinds of manure and various samples of the same type +of manure may not be equal. This demonstrates the principle of what +goes in comes out. Plants concentrate proteins and mineral nutrients +in their seed so animals fed on seed (like chickens) excrete manure +nearly as high in minerals and with a C/N like seed meals (around +8:1). Alfalfa hay is a legume with a C/N around 12:1. Rabbits fed +almost exclusively on alfalfa pellets make a rich manure with a +similar C/N. Spring grass and high quality hay and other leafy +greens have a C/N nearly as good as alfalfa. Livestock fed the best +hay supplemented with grain and silage make fairly rich manure. Pity +the unfortunate livestock trying to survive as "strawburners" eating +overly mature grass hay from depleted fields. Their manure will be +as poor as the food and soil they are trying to live on. + +When evaluating manure, also consider the nature and quantity of +bedding mixed into it. Our local boarding stables keep their lazy +horses on fir sawdust. The idle "riding" horses are usually fed very +strawy local grass hay with just enough supplemental alfalfa and +grain to maintain a minimal healthy condition. The "horse manure" +I've hauled from these stables seems more sawdust than manure. It +must have a C/N of 50 or 60:1 because by itself it will barely heat +up. + +Manure mixed with straw is usually richer stuff. Often this type +comes from dairies. Modern breeds of milk cows must be fed seed +meals and other concentrates to temporarily sustain them against +depletion from unnaturally high milk production. + +After rabbit and chicken, horse manure from well-fed animals like +race horses or true, working animals may come next. Certainly it is +right up there with the best cow manure. Before the era of chemical +fertilizer, market gardeners on the outskirts of large cities took +wagon loads of produce to market and returned with an equivalent +weight of "street sweepings." What they most prized was called +"short manure," or horse manure without any bedding. Manure and +bedding mixtures were referred to as "long manure" and weren't +considered nearly as valuable. + +Finally, remember that over half the excretion of animals is urine. +And far too little value is placed on urine. As early as 1900 it was +well known that if you fed one ton (dry weight) of hay and measured +the resulting manure after thorough drying, only 800 pounds was +left. What happened to the other 1,200 pounds of dry material? Some, +of course, went to grow the animal. Some was enzymatically "burned" +as energy fuel and its wastes given off as CO2 and H2O. Most of it +was excreted in liquid form. After all, what is digestion but an +enzymatic conversion of dry material into a water solution so it can +be circulated through the bloodstream to be used and discarded as +needed. Urine also contains numerous complex organic substances and +cellular breakdown products that improve the health of the soil +ecology. + +However, urine is not easy to capture. It tends to leach into the +ground or run off when it should be absorbed into bedding. Chicken +manure and the excrements of other fowl are particularly valuable in +this respect because the liquids and solids of their waste are +uniformly mixed so nothing is lost. When Howard worked out his +system of making superior compost at Indore, he took full measure of +the value of urine and paid great care to its capture and use. + +_Paper_ is almost pure cellulose and has a very high C/N like straw +or sawdust. It can be considered a valuable source of bulk for +composting if you're using compost as mulch. Looked upon another +way, composting can be a practical way to recycle paper at home. + +The key to composting paper is to shred or grind it. Layers of paper +will compress into airless mats. Motor-driven hammermill shredders +will make short work of dry paper. Once torn into tiny pieces and +mixed with other materials, paper is no more subject to compaction +than grass clippings. Even without power shredding equipment, +newsprint can be shredded by hand, easily ripped into narrow strips +by tearing whole sections along the grain of the paper, not fighting +against it. + +Evaluating Nitrogen Content + +A one-cubic foot bag of dried steer manure weighs 25 pounds and is +labeled 1 percent nitrogen. That means four sacks weighs 100 pounds +and contains 1 pound of actual nitrogen. + +A fifty pound bag of cottonseed meal contains six percent nitrogen. +Two sacks weighs 100 pounds and contains 6 pounds of actual +nitrogen. + +Therefore it takes 24 sacks of steer manure to equal the nitrogen +contained in two sacks of cottonseed meal. + +If steer manure costs $1.50 per sack, six pound of actual nitrogen +from steer manure costs 24 x $1.50 = $36.00 + +If fifty pounds of cottonseed meal costs $7.50, then six pounds of +actual nitrogen from cottonseed meal costs 2 x $7.50 = $15.00. + +Now, lets take a brief moment to see why industrial farmers thinking +only of immediate financial profit, use chemical fertilizers. Urea, +a synthetic form of urine used as nitrogen fertilizer contains 48 +percent nitrogen. So 100 pounds of urea contains 48 pounds of +nitrogen. That quantity of urea also costs about $15.00! + +Without taking into account its value in terms of phosphorus, +potassium and other mineral contents, nitrogen from seed meal costs +at least eight times as much per pound as nitrogen from urea. + +Newspapers, even with colored inks, can be safely used in compost +piles. Though some colored inks do contain heavy metals, these are +not used on newsprint. + +However, before beginning to incorporate newsprint into your +composting, reconsider the analyses of various types of compost +broken out as a table in the previous chapter. The main reason many +municipal composting programs make a low-grade product with such a +high C/N is the large proportion of paper used. If your compost is +intended for use as mulch around perennial beds or to be screened +and broadcast atop lawns, then having a nitrogen-poor product is of +little consequence. But if your compost is headed for the vegetable +garden or will be used to grow the largest possible prized flowers +then perhaps newsprint could be recycled in another way. + +Cardboard, especially corrugated material, is superior to newsprint +for compost making because its biodegradable glues contain +significant amounts of nitrogen. Worms love to consume cardboard +mulch. Like other forms of paper, cardboard should be shredded, +ground or chopped as finely as possible, and thoroughly mixed with +other materials when composted._ + +__Pet wastes_ may contain disease organisms that infect humans. +Though municipal composting systems can safely eliminate such +diseases, home composting of dog and cat manure may be risky if the +compost is intended for food gardening. + +_Phosphate rock._ If your garden soil is deficient in phosphorus, +adding rock phosphate to the compost pile may accelerate its +availability in the garden, far more effectively than adding +phosphate to soil. If the vegetation in your vicinity comes from +soils similarly deficient in phosphorus, adding phosphate rock will +support a healthier decomposition ecology and improve the quality of +your compost. Five to ten pounds of rock phosphate added to a cubic +yard of uncomposted organic matter is about the right amount. + +_Rice hulls:_ See _Buckwheat hulls._ + +_Rock dust._ All plant nutrients except nitrogen originally come +from decomposing rock. Not all rocks contain equal concentrations +and assortments of the elements plants use for nutrients. +Consequently, not all soils lustily grow healthy plants. One very +natural way to improve the over all fertility of soil is to spread +and till in finely ground rock flour make from highly mineralized +rocks. + +This method is not a new idea. Limestone and dolomite--soft, easily +powdered rocks--have been used for centuries to add calcium and +magnesium. For over a century, rock phosphate and kainite--a soft, +readily soluble naturally occurring rock rich in potassium, +magnesium and sulfur--have been ground and used as fertilizer. Other +natural rock sources like Jersey greensand have long been used in +the eastern United States on some unusual potassium-deficient soils. + +Lately it has become fashionable to remineralize the earth with +heavy applications of rock flours. Unlike most fads and trends, this +one is wise and should endure. The best rocks to use are finely +ground "basic" igneous rocks like basalts. They are called basic as +opposed to "acid" rocks because they are richer in calcium and +magnesium with lesser quantities of potassium. When soil forms from +these materials it tends to not be acid. Most basic igneous rocks +also contain a wide range of trace mineral nutrients. I have +observed marked improvements in plant growth by incorporating +ordinary basalt dust that I personally shoveled from below a +conveyor belt roller at a local quarry where crushed rock was being +prepared for road building. Basalt dust was an unintentional +byproduct. + +Though highly mineralized rock dust may be a valuable soil +amendment, its value must equal its cost. Application rates of one +or two tons per acre are minimal. John Hamaker's _The Survival of +Civilization _suggests eight to ten tons per acre the first +application and then one or two tons every few years thereafter. +This means the correct price for rock dust is similar to the price +for agricultural lime; in my region that's about $60 to $80 a ton in +sacks. Local farmers pay about $40 a ton in bulk, including +spreading on your field by the seller. A fifty-pound sack of rock +dust should retail for about $2. These days it probably costs +several times that price, tending to keep rock dust a novelty item. + +The activities of fungi and bacteria are the most potent forces +making nutrients available to plants. As useful as tilling rock +powders into soil may be, the intense biological activity of the +compost pile accelerates their availability. And the presence of +these minerals might well make a compost pile containing +nutrient-deficient vegetation work faster and become better +fertilizer. Were the right types of rock dust available and cheap, +I'd make it about 5 percent by volume of my heap, and equal that +with rich soil. + +_Safflowerseed meal._ See _Cottonseed meal._ + +_Sawdust_ contains virtually nothing but carbon. In small quantities +it is useful to fluff up compost piles and prevent compaction. +However this is only true of coarse material like that from sawmills +or chain saws. The fine saw dust from carpentry and cabinet work may +compact and become airless. See _Paper _for a discussion of lowering +the fertilizing value of compost with high C/N materials. + +_Seaweed_ when freshly gathered is an extraordinary material for the +compost pile. Like most living things from the ocean seaweeds are +rich in all of the trace minerals and contain significant amounts of +the major nutrients, especially potassium, with lesser amounts of +phosphorus and nitrogen. Seaweeds enrich the heap, decompose very +rapidly, and assist other materials to break down. Though heavy and +often awkward to gather and haul, if they are available, seaweeds +should not be permitted to go to waste. + +Those with unlimited money may use sprinklings of kelp meal in the +compost pile to get a similar effect. However, kelp meal may be more +economically used as part of a complete organic fertilizer mixture +that is worked into soil. + +_Shrub and tree_ prunings are difficult materials to compost unless +you have a shredder/chipper. Even after being incorporated into one +hot compost heap after another, half-inch diameter twigs may take +several years to fully decompose. And turning a heap containing long +branches can be very difficult. But buying power equipment just to +grind a few cart loads of hedge and tree prunings each year may not +be economical. My suggestion is to neatly tie any stick larger than +your little finger into tight bundles about one foot in diameter and +about 16 inches long and then burn these "faggots" in the fireplace +or wood stove. This will be less work in the long run. + +Soil is an often overlooked but critically important part of the +compost pile. Least of its numerous benefits, soil contains +infinitudes of microorganisms that help start out decomposition. +Many compostable materials come with bits of soil already attached +and few are sterile in themselves. But extra soil ensures that there +will initially be a sufficient number and variety of these valuable +organisms. Soil also contains insoluble minerals that are made +soluble by biological activity. Some of these minerals may be in +short supply in the organic matter itself and their addition may +improve the health and vigor of the whole decomposition ecology. A +generous addition of rock dust may do this even better. + +Most important, soil contains nitrification microorganisms that +readily convert ammonia gas to nitrates, and clay that will catch +and temporarily hold ammonia. Nitrifying bacteria do not live +outside of soil. Finally, a several inch thick layer of soil capping +the heap serves as an extra insulator, holding in heat, raising the +core temperature and helping seal in moisture. Making a compost heap +as much as 10 percent soil by dry weight is the right target + +Try thinking of soil somewhat like the moderators in an atomic +reactor, controlling the reaction by trapping neutrons. Soil won't +change the C/N of a heap but not being subject to significant +breakdown it will slightly lower the maximum temperature of +decomposition; while trapping ammonia emissions; and creating better +conditions for nitrogen fixing bacteria to improve the C/N as the +heap cools and ripens. + +_Soybean meal._ See _Cottonseed meal._ + +_Straw_ is a carboniferous material similar to sawdust but usually +contains more nutrients. It is a valuable aerator, each stalk acting +as a tube for air to enter and move through the pile. Large +quantities of long straw can make it very difficult to turn a heap +the first time. I'd much prefer to have manure mixed with straw than +with sawdust. + +_Sunflowerseed meal._ See _Cottonseed meal._ + +_Tankage_ is another slaughterhouse or rendering plant waste +consisting of all animal refuse except blood and fat. Locally it is +called meat meal. See _Hoof and horn meal._ + +_Tofu factory waste._ Okara is the pulp left after soy milk has been +squeezed from cooked, ground soybeans. Small-scale tofu makers will +have many gallons of okara to dispose of each day. It makes good pig +food so there may be competition to obtain it. Like any other seed +waste, okara is high in nitrogen and will be wet and readily +putrefiable like brewery waste. Mix into compost piles immediately. + +_Urine._ See _Manure._ + +_Weeds. _Their nutrient content is highly variable depending on the +species and age of the plant. Weeds gone to seed are both low in +nitrogen and require locating in the center of a hot heap to kill +off the seeds. Tender young weeds are as rich in nitrogen as spring +grass. + +Weeds that propagate through underground stems or rhizomes like +quack-grass, Johnsongrass, bittersweet, and the like are better +burnt. + +_Wood ash_ from hardwoods is rich in potassium and contains +significant amounts of calcium and other minerals. Ash from conifers +may be similarly rich in potassium but contains little else. Wood +ashes spread on the ground tend to lose their nutrients rapidly +through leaching. If these nutrients are needed in your soil, then +add the ash to your compost piles where it will become an +unreachable part of the biomass that will be gradually released in +the garden when the compost is used. + +_Wood chips _are slow to decompose although they may be added to the +compost pile if one is not in a hurry. Their chunkiness and stiff +mechanical properties help aerate a heap. They are somewhat more +nutrient rich than sawdust. + +_Wool wastes_ are also called shoddy. _See Hair._ + + + + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + +Methods and Variations + + + + + +_A note to the internet reader: In the the print-on-paper edition, +this chapter and the next one on vermicomposting are full of +illustrations showing composting structures and accessories. These +do not reproduce well on-line and are not included._ + +Growing the majority of my family's food absorbs all of the energy I +care to put into gardening. So my yard is neat but shaggy. Motivated +by what I consider total rationality, my lawn is cut only when it +threatens to overwhelm the lawnmower, and the lawn is not irrigated, +so it browns off and stops growing in summer. + +I don't grow flowers because I live on a river in a beautiful +countryside setting surrounded by low mountains. Nothing I created +could begin to compete with what nature freely offers my eye. One +untidy bed of ornamentals by the front door are my bow to +conventionality, but these fit the entrances northeast aspect by +being Oregon woods natives like ferns, salal, Oregon grape and an +almost wild rhododendron--all these species thrive without +irrigation. + +When I give lectures, I am confronted by the amazing gardening +variations that humans are capable of. Some folks' raised vegetable +beds are crude low mounds. Then, I am shown photographs of squared, +paralleled vertical-walled raised beds, uniformly wrapped in cedar +planks. Some gardens are planted in fairly straight rows, some are +laid-out in carefully calculated interplanted hexagonal successions +and some are a wild scattering of catch-as-catch-can. Some people +don't eat many kinds of vegetables yet grow large stands of corn and +beans for canning or freezing. + +Others grow small patches of a great many species, creating a +year-round gourmet produce stand for their personal enjoyment. Some +gardeners grow English-style floral displays occupying every square +inch of their yards and offering a constant succession of color and +texture. + +This chapter presents some of the many different ways people handle +the disposal of yard and kitchen wastes. Compost making, like +gardening, reflects variations in temperament. You probably weren't +surprised at my casual landscaping because you already read about my +unkempt compost heap. So I am similarly not surprised to discover +backyard composting methods as neat as a German village, as +aesthetic as a Japanese garden, as scientific as an engineer would +design and as ugly as . . . + +Containers and Other Similar Methods + +In my days of youthful indiscretions I thought I could improve life +on Earth by civilizing high school youth through engendering in them +an understanding of history. I confess I almost completely failed +and gave up teaching after a few years. However, I personally +learned a great deal about history and the telling of history. I +read many old journals, diaries, and travel accounts. From some of +these documents I gained little while other accounts introduced me +to unique individuals who assisted me in understanding their era. + +It seems that what differentiates good from bad reporting is how +frank and honest the reporter is about their own personal opinions, +prejudices, and outlooks. The more open and direct the reporter, the +better the reader can discount inevitable distortions and get a +picture of what might really have been there. The more the reporter +attempts to be "objective" by hiding their viewpoints, the less +valuable their information. + +That is why before discussing those manufactured aids to composting +that can make a consumer of you, I want to inform you that I am a +frugal person who shuns unnecessary expenditure. I maintain what +seems to me to be a perfect justification for my stinginess: I +prefer relative unemployment. Whenever I want to buy something it +has become my habit first to ask myself if the desired object could +possibly bring me as much pleasure as knowing that I don't have to +get up and go to work the next morning. Usually I decide to save the +money so I do not have to earn more. _En extremis,_ I repeat the old +Yankee marching chant like a mantra: Make do! Wear it out! When it +is gone, do without! Bum, Bum! Bum bi Dum! Bum bi di Dum, Bum bi +Dum! + +So I do not own a shredder/grinder when patience will take its +place. I do not buy or make composting containers when a country +life style and not conforming to the neatness standards of others +makes bins or tumblers unnecessary. However, I do grudgingly accept +that others live differently. Let me warn you that my descriptions +of composting aids and accessories are probably a little jaundiced. +I am doing my best to be fair. + +Visual appeal is the primary benefit of making compost in a +container. To a tidy, northern European sense of order, any +composting structure will be far neater than the raw beauty of a +naked heap. Composting container designs may offer additional +advantages but no single structure will do everything possible. With +an enclosure, it may be possible to heat up a pile smaller than 1' x +4' x 4' because the walls and sometimes the top of the container may +be insulating. This is a great advantage to someone with a postage +stamp backyard that treasures every square foot. Similarly, wrapping +the heap retards moisture loss. Some structures shut out vermin. + +On the other hand, structures can make it more difficult to make +compost. Using a prefabricated bin can prevent a person from readily +turning the heap and can almost force a person to also buy some sort +of shredder/chipper to first reduce the size of the material. Also, +viewed as a depreciating economic asset with a limited life span, +many composting aids cost as much or more money as the value of all +the material they can ever turn out. Financial cost relates to +ecological cost, so spending money on short-lived plastic or easily +rusted metal may negate any environmental benefit gained from +recycling yard wastes. + +Building Your Own Bin + +Probably the best homemade composting design is the multiple bin +system where separate compartments facilitate continuous +decomposition. Each bin is about four feet on a side and three to +four feet tall. Usually, the dividing walls between bins are shared. +Always, each bin opens completely at the front. I think the best +design has removable slatted separators between a series of four +(not three) wooden bins in three declining sizes: two large, one +medium-large and one smaller. Alternatively, bins may be constructed +of unmortared concrete blocks with removable wooden fronts. +Permanently constructed bins of mortared concrete block or wood may +have moisture-retentive, rain-protective hinged lids. + +There are two workable composting systems that fit these structures. +Most composters obtain materials too gradually to make a large heap +all at once. In this case my suggestion is the four-bin system, +using one large bin as a storage area for dry vegetation. Begin +composting in bin two by mixing the dry contents temporarily stored +in bin one with kitchen garbage, grass clippings and etc. Once bin +two is filled and heating, remove its front slats and the side slats +separating it from bin three and turn the pile into bin three, +gradually reinserting side slats as bin three is filled. Bin three, +being about two-thirds the size of bin two, will be filled to the +brim. A new pile can be forming in bin two while bin three is +cooking. + +When bin three has settled significantly, repeat the process, +turning bin three into bin four, etc. By the time the material has +reheated in bin four and cooled you will have finished or +close-to-finished compost At any point during this turning that +resistant, unrotted material is discovered, instead of passing it +on, it may be thrown back to an earlier bin to go through yet +another decomposition stage. Perhaps the cleverest design of this +type takes advantage of any significant slope or hill available to a +lazy gardener and places a series of separate bins one above the +next, eliminating any need for removable side-slats while making +tossing compost down to the next container relatively easy. + +A simply constructed alternative avoids making removable slats +between bins or of lifting the material over the walls to toss it +from bin to bin. Here, each bin is treated as a separate and +discrete compost process. When it is time to turn the heap, the +front is removed and the heap is turned right back into its original +container. To accomplish this it may be necessary to first shovel +about half of the material out of the bin onto a work area, then +turn what is remaining in the bin and then cover it with what was +shoveled out. Gradually the material in the bin shrinks and +decomposes. When finished, the compost will fill only a small +fraction of the bin's volume. + +My clever students at the Urban Farm Class, University of Oregon +have made a very inexpensive compost bin structure of this type +using recycled industrial wood pallets. They are held erect by +nailing them to pressure-treated fence posts sunk into the earth. +The removable doors are also pallets, hooked on with bailing wire. +The flimsy pallets rot in a couple of years but obtaining more free +pallets is easy. If I were building a more finished three or four +bin series, I would use rot-resistant wood like cedar and/or +thoroughly paint the wood with a non-phytotoxic wood preservative +like Cuprinol (copper napthanate). Cuprinol is not as permanent as +other types of wood preservatives and may have to be reapplied every +two or three years. + +Bins reduce moisture loss and wood bins have the additional +advantage of being fairly good thermal insulators: one inch of wood +is as much insulation as one foot of solid concrete. Composting +containers also have a potential disadvantage-reducing air flow, +slowing decomposition, and possibly making the process go anaerobic. +Should this happen air flow can be improved by supporting the heap +on a slatted floor made of up-ended Cuprinol-treated 2 x 4's about +three inches apart tacked into the back wall. Air ducts, +inexpensively made from perforated plastic septic system leach line, +are laid between the slats to greatly enhance air flow. I wouldn't +initially build a bin array with ducted floors; these can be added +as an afterthought if necessary. + +Much simpler bins can be constructed out of 2" x 4" mesh x 36" or +48" high strong, welded wire fencing commonly called "turkey wire," +or "hog wire." The fencing is formed into cylinders four to five +feet in diameter. I think a serious gardener might need one +five-foot circle and two, four-foot diameter ones. Turkey wire is +stiff enough to support itself when formed into a circle by hooking +the fencing upon itself. This home-rolled wire bin system is the +least expensive of all. + +As compostable materials are available, the wire circle is gradually +filled. Once the bin has been loaded and has settled somewhat, the +wire may be unhooked and peeled away; the material will hold itself +in a cylindrical shape without further support. After a month or two +the heap will have settled significantly and will be ready to be +turned into a smaller wire cylinder. Again, the material is allowed +to settle and then, if desired, the wire may be removed to be used +again to form another neatly-shaped heap. + +Wire-enclosed heaps encourage air circulation, but can also +encourage drying out. Their proper location is in full shade. In +hot, dry climates, moisture retention can be improved by wrapping a +length of plastic sheeting around the outside of the circle and if +necessary, by draping another plastic sheet over the top. However, +doing this limits air flow and prevents removal of the wire support +You may have to experiment with how much moisture-retention the heap +can stand without going anaerobic. To calculate the length of wire +(circumference) necessary to enclose any desired diameter, use the +formula Circumference = Diameter x 3.14. For example, to make a +five-foot circle: 5 x 3.14 = approximately 16 feet of wire. + +With the exception of the "tumbler," commercially made compost bins +are derived from one of these two systems. Usually the factory-made +wire bins are formed into rectangles instead of circles and may be +made of PVC coated steel instead of galvanized wire. I see no +advantage in buying a wire bin over making one, other than +supporting unnecessary stages of manufacture and distribution by +spending more money. Turkey wire fencing is relatively inexpensive +and easy enough to find at farm supply and fencing stores. The last +time I purchased any it was sold by the lineal foot much as hardware +cloth is dispensed at hardware and building supply stores. + +Manufactured solid-sided bins are usually constructed of sheet steel +or recycled plastic. In cool climates there is an advantage to +tightly constructed plastic walls that retain heat and facilitate +decomposition of smaller thermal masses. Precise construction also +prevents access by larger vermin and pets. Mice, on the other hand, +are capable of squeezing through amazingly small openings. +Promotional materials make composting in pre-manufactured bins seem +easy, self-righteously ecological, and effortless. However, there +are drawbacks. + +It is not possible to readily turn the materials once they've been +placed into most composters of this type unless the entire front is +removable. Instead, new materials are continuously placed on top +while an opening at the bottom permits the gardener to scrape out +finished compost in small quantities. Because no turning is +involved, this method is called "passive" composting. But to work +well, the ingredients must not be too coarse and must be well mixed +before loading. + +Continuous bin composters generally work fast enough when +processing_ mixtures _of readily decomposable materials like kitchen +garbage, weeds, grass clippings and some leaves. But if the load +contains too much fine grass or other gooey stuff and goes +anaerobic, a special compost aerator must be used to loosen it up. + +Manufactured passive composters are not very large. Compactness may +be an advantage to people with very small yards or who may want to +compost on their terrace or porch. But if the C/N of the materials +is not favorable, decomposition can take a long, long time and +several bins may have to be used in tandem. Unless they are first +ground or chopped very finely, larger more resistant materials like +corn, Brussels sprouts, sunflower stalks, cabbage stumps, shrub +prunings, etc. will "constipate" a top-loading, bottom-discharging +composter. + +The compost tumbler is a clever method that accelerates +decomposition by improving aeration and facilitating frequent +turning. A rotating drum holding from eight to eighteen bushels (the +larger sizes look like a squat, fat, oversized oil drum) is +suspended above the ground, top-loaded with organic matter, and then +tumbled every few days for a few weeks until the materials have +decomposed. Then the door is opened and finished compost falls out +the bottom. + +Tumblers have real advantages. Frequent turning greatly increases +air supply and accelerates the process. Most tumblers retard +moisture loss too because they are made of solid material, either +heavy plastic or steel with small air vents. Being suspended above +ground makes them immune to vermin and frequent turning makes it +impossible for flies to breed. + +Tumblers have disadvantages that may not become apparent until a +person has used one for awhile. First, although greatly accelerated, +composting in them is not instantaneous. Passive bins are continuous +processors while (with the exception of one unique design) tumblers +are "batch" processors, meaning that they are first loaded and then +the entire load is decomposed to finished compost. What does a +person do with newly acquired kitchen garbage and other waste during +the two to six weeks that they are tumbling a batch? One handy +solution is to buy two tumblers and be filling one while the other +is working, but tumblers aren't cheap! The more substantial ones +cost $250 to $400 plus freight. + +There are other less obvious tumbler disadvantages that may negate +any work avoided, time saved, or sweaty turning with a manure fork +eliminated. Being top-loaded means lifting compost materials and +dropping them into a small opening that may be shoulder height or +more. These materials may include a sloppy bucket of kitchen +garbage. Then, a tumbler _must_ be tumbled for a few minutes every +two or three days. Cranking the lever or grunting with the barrel +may seem like fun at first but it can get old fast. Decomposition in +an untumbled tumbler slows down to a crawl. + +Both the passive compost bin and the highly active compost tumbler +work much better when loaded with small-sized particles. The +purchase of either one tends to impel the gardener to also buy +something to cut and/or grind compost materials. + +The U.C. Method--Grinder/Shredders + +During the 1950s, mainstream interest in municipal composting +developed in America for the first time. Various industrial +processes already existed in Europe; most of these were patented +variations on large and expensive composting tumblers. Researchers +at the University of California set out to see if simpler methods +could be developed to handle urban organic wastes without investing +in so much heavy machinery. Their best system, named the U. C. Fast +Compost Method, rapidly made compost in about two weeks. + +No claim was ever made that U. C. method produces the highest +quality compost. The idea was to process and decompose organic +matter as inoffensively and rapidly as possible. No attempt is made +to maximize the product's C/N as is done in slower methods developed +by Howard at Indore. Most municipal composting done in this country +today follows the basic process worked out by the University of +California. + +Speed of decomposition comes about from very high internal heat and +extreme aerobic conditions. To achieve the highest possible +temperature, all of the organic material to be composted is first +passed through a grinder and then stacked in a long, high windrow. +Generally the height is about five to six feet, any higher causes +too much compaction. Because the material is stacked with sides as +vertical as possible, the width takes care of itself. + +Frequent turning with machinery keeps the heap working rapidly. +During the initial experiments the turning was done with a tractor +and front end loader. These days giant "U" shaped machines may roll +down windrows at municipal composting plots, automatically turning, +reshaping the windrow and if necessary, simultaneously spraying +water. + +Some municipal waste consists of moist kitchen garbage and grass +clippings. Most of the rest is dry paper. If this mixture results in +a moisture content that is too high the pile gets soggy, sags +promptly, and easily goes anaerobic. Turning not only restores +aerobic conditions, but also tends to drop the moisture content. If +the initial moisture content is between 60 and 70 percent, the +windrow is turned every two days. Five such turns, starting two days +after the windrow is first formed, finishes the processing. If the +moisture content is between 10 and 60 percent, the windrow is first +turned after three days and thence at three day intervals, taking +about four turns to finish the process. If the moisture content is +below 40 percent or drops below 40 percent during processing, +moisture is added. + +No nuisances can develop if turning is done correctly. Simply +flipping the heap over or adding new material on top will not do it. +The material must be blended so that the outsides are shifted to the +core and the core becomes the skin. This way, any fly larvae, +pathogens, or insect eggs that might not be killed by the cooler +temperatures on the outside are rotated into the lethal high heat of +the core every few days. + +The speed of the U.C. method also appeals to the backyard gardener. +At home, frequent turning can be accomplished either in naked heaps, +or by switching from one bin to the next and back, or with a compost +tumbler. But a chipper/shredder is also essential. Grinding +everything that goes into the heap has other advantages than higher +heat and accelerated processing. Materials may be initially mixed as +they are ground and small particles are much easier to turn over +than long twigs, tough straw, and other fibrous materials that tie +the heap together and make it difficult to separate and handle with +hand tools. + +Backyard shredders have other uses, especially for gardeners with no +land to waste. Composting tough materials like grape prunings, berry +canes, and hedge trimmings can take a long time. Slow heaps +containing resistant materials occupy precious space. With a +shredder you can fast-compost small limbs, tree prunings, and other +woody materials like corn and sunflower stalks. Whole autumn leaves +tend to compact into airless layers and decompose slowly, but dry +leaves are among the easiest of all materials to grind. Once smashed +into flakes, leaves become a fluffy material that resists +compaction. + +Electric driven garden chipper/shredders are easier on the +neighbors' ears than more powerful gasoline-powered machines, +although not so quiet that I'd run one without ear protection. +Electrics are light enough for a strong person to pick up and carry +out to the composting area and keep secured in a storeroom. One more +plus, there never is any problem starting an electric motor. But no +way to conveniently repair one either. + +There are two basic shredding systems. One is the hammermill--a +grinding chamber containing a rotating spindle with steel tines or +hammers attached that repeatedly beats and tears materials into +smaller and smaller pieces until they fall out through a bottom +screen. Hammermills will flail almost anything to pieces without +becoming dulled. Soft, green materials are beaten to shreds; hard, +dry, brittle stuff is rapidly fractured into tiny chips. Changing +the size of the discharge screen adjusts the size of the final +product. By using very coarse screens, even soft, wet, stringy +materials can be slowly fed through the grinding chamber without +hopelessly tangling up in the hammers. + +Like a coarse power planer in a wood shop, the other type of machine +uses sharpened blades that slice thin chips from whatever is pushed +into its maw. The chipper is designed to grind woody materials like +small tree limbs, prunings, and berry canes. Proper functioning +depends on having sharp blades. But edges easily become dulled and +require maintenance. Care must be taken to avoid passing soil and +small stones through a chipper. Soft, dry, brittle materials like +leaves will be broken up but aren't processed as rapidly as in a +hammermill. Chippers won't handle soft wet stuff. + +When driven by low horsepower electric motors, both chippers and +hammermills are light-duty machines. They may be a little shaky, +standing on spindly legs or small platforms, so materials must be +fed in gently. Most electric models cost between $300 and $400. + +People with more than a postage-stamp yard who like dealing with +machinery may want a gasoline-powered shredder/chipper. These are +much more substantial machines that combine both a big hammermill +shredder with a side-feeding chipper for limbs and branches. +Flailing within a hammermill or chipping limbs of two or more inches +in diameter focuses a great deal of force; between the engine noise +and the deafening din as dry materials bang around the grinding +chamber, ear protection is essential. So are safety goggles and +heavy gloves. Even though the fan belt driving the spindle is +shielded, I would not operate one without wearing tight-fitting +clothes. When grinding dry materials, great clouds of dust may be +given off. Some of these particles, like the dust from alfalfa or +from dried-out spoiled (moldy) hay, can severely irritate lungs, +eyes, throat and nasal passages. A face mask, or better, an army +surplus gas mask with built-in goggles, may be in order. And you'll +probably want to take a shower when finished. + +Fitted with the right-size screen selected from the assortment +supplied at purchase, something learned after a bit of experience, +powerful hammermills are capable of pulverizing fairly large amounts +of dry material in short order. But wet stuff is much slower to pass +through and may take a much coarser screen to get out at all. +Changing materials may mean changing screens and that takes a few +minutes. Dry leaves seem to flow through as fast as they can be fed +in. The side-feed auxiliary chippers incorporated into hammermills +will make short work of smaller green tree limbs; but dry, hardened +wood takes a lot longer. Feeding large hard branches too fast can +tear up chipper blades and even break the ball-bearing housings +holding the spindle. Here I speak from experience. + +Though advertisements for these machines make them seem effortless +and fast, shredders actually take considerable time, energy, skilled +attention, constant concentration, and experience. When grinding one +must attentively match the inflow to the rate of outflow because if +the hopper is overfilled the tines become snarled and cease to work. +For example, tangling easily can occur while rapidly feeding in thin +brittle flakes of dry spoiled hay and then failing to slow down +while a soft, wet flake is gradually reduced. To clear a snarled +rotor without risking continued attachment of one's own arm, the +motor must be killed before reaching into the hopper and untangling +the tines. To clear badly clogged machines it may also be necessary +to first remove and then replace the discharge screen, something +that takes a few minutes. + +There are significant differences in the quality of materials and +workmanship that go into making these machines. They all look good +when freshly painted; it is not always possible to know what you +have bought until a season or two of heavy use has passed. One +tried-and-true aid to choosing quality is to ask equipment rental +businesses what brand their customers are not able to destroy. +Another guide is to observe the brand of gasoline engine attached. + +In my gardening career I've owned quite a few gas-powered rotary +tillers and lawnmowers and one eight-horsepower shredder. In my +experience there are two grades of small gasoline +engines--"consumer" and the genuine "industrial." Like all consumer +merchandise, consumer-grade engines are intended to be consumed. +They have a design life of a few hundred hours and then are worn +out. Most parts are made of soft, easily-machined aluminum, +reinforced with small amounts of steel in vital places. + +There are two genuinely superior American companies--Kohler and +Wisconsin-that make very durable, long-lasting gas engines commonly +found on small industrial equipment. With proper maintenance their +machines are designed to endure thousands of hours of continuous +use. I believe small gas engines made by Yamaha, Kawasaki, and +especially Honda, are of equal or greater quality to anything made +in America. I suggest you could do worse than to judge how long the +maker expects their shredder/chipper to last by the motor it +selects. + +Gasoline-powered shredder/chippers cost from $700 to $1,300. Back in +the early 1970s I wore one pretty well out in only one year of +making fast compost for a half-acre Biodynamic French intensive +market garden. When I amortized the cost of the machine into the +value of both the compost and the vegetables I grew with the +compost, and considered the amount of time I spent running the +grinder against the extra energy it takes to turn ordinary slow +compost heaps I decided I would be better off allowing my heaps to +take more time to mature. + +Sheet Composting + +Decomposition happens rapidly in a hot compost heap with the main +agents of decay being heat-loving microorganisms. Decomposition +happens slowly at the soil's surface with the main agents of decay +being soil animals. However, if the leaves and forest duff on the +floor of a forest or a thick matted sod are tilled into the topsoil, +decomposition is greatly accelerated. + +For two centuries, frontier American agriculture depended on just +such a method. Early pioneers would move into an untouched region, +clear the forest, and plow in millennia of accumulated nutrients +held as biomass on the forest floor. For a few years, perhaps a +decade, or even twenty years if the soil carried a higher level of +mineralization than the average, crops from forest soils grew +magnificently. Then, unless other methods were introduced to rebuild +fertility, yields, crop, animal, and human health all declined. When +the less-leached grassy prairies of what we now call the Midwest +were reached, even greater bounties were mined out for more years +because rich black-soil grasslands contain more mineral nutrients +and sod accumulates far more humus than do forests. + +Sheet composting mimics this system while saving a great deal of +effort. Instead of first heaping organic matter up, turning it +several times, carting humus back to the garden, spreading it, and +tilling it in, sheet composting conducts the decomposition process +with far less effort right in the soil needing enrichment. + +Sheet composting is the easiest method of all. However, the method +has certain liabilities. Unless the material being spread is pure +manure without significant amounts of bedding, or only fresh spring +grass clippings, or alfalfa hay, the carbon-nitrogen ratio will +almost certainly be well above that of stable humus. As explained +earlier, during the initial stages of decay the soil will be +thoroughly depleted of nutrients. Only after the surplus carbon has +been consumed will the soil ecology and nutrient profile normalize. +The time this will take depends on the nature of the materials being +composted and on soil conditions. + +If the soil is moist, airy, and warm and if it already contained +high levels of nutrients, and if the organic materials are not +ligninous and tough and have a reasonable C/N, then sheet composting +will proceed rapidly. If the soil is cold, dry, clayey (relatively +airless) or infertile and/or the organic matter consists of things +like grain straw, paper, or the very worst, barkless sawdust, then +decomposition will be slowed. Obviously, it is not possible to state +with any precision how fast sheet composting would proceed for you. + +Autumn leaves usually sheet compost very successfully. These are +gathered, spread over all of the garden (except for those areas +intended for early spring sowing), and tilled in as shallowly as +possible before winter. Even in the North where soil freezes solid +for months, some decomposition will occur in autumn and then in +spring, as the soil warms, composting instantly resumes and is +finished by the time frost danger is over. Sheet composting higher +C/N materials in spring is also workable where the land is not +scheduled for planting early. If the organic matter has a low C/N, +like manure, a tender green manure crop not yet forming seed, +alfalfa hay or grass clippings, quite a large volume of material can +be decomposed by warm soil in a matter of weeks. + +However, rotting large quantities of very resistant material like +sawdust can take many months, even in hot, moist soil. Most +gardeners cannot afford to give their valuable land over to being a +compost factory for months. One way to speed the sheet composting of +something with a high C/N is to amend it with a strong nitrogen +source like chicken manure or seed meal. If sawdust is the only +organic matter you can find, I recommend an exception to avoiding +chemical fertilizer. By adding about 80 pounds of urea to each cubic +yard of sawdust, its overall C/N is reduced from 500:1 to about +20:1. Urea is perhaps the most benign of all chemical nitrogen +sources. It does not acidify the soil, is not toxic to worms or +other soil animals or microorganisms, and is actually a synthetic +form of the naturally occurring chemical that contains most of the +nitrogen in animal urine. In that sense, putting urea in soil is not +that different than putting synthetic vitamin C in a human body + +Burying kitchen garbage is a traditional form of sheet composting +practiced by row-cropping gardeners usually in mild climates where +the soil does not freeze in winter. Some people use a post hole +digger to make a neat six-to eight-inch diameter hole about eighteen +inches deep between well-spaced growing rows of plants. When the +hole has been filled to within two or three inches of the surface, +it is topped off with soil. Rarely will animals molest buried +garbage, it is safe from flies and yet enough air exists in the soil +for it to rapidly decompose. The local soil ecology and nutrient +balance is temporarily disrupted, but the upset only happens in this +one little spot far enough away from growing plants to have no +harmful effect. + +Another garbage disposal variation has been called "trench +composting." Instead of a post hole, a long trench about the width +of a combination shovel and a foot deep is gradually dug between row +crops spaced about four feet (or more) apart. As bucket after bucket +of garbage, manure, and other organic matter are emptied into the +trench, it is covered with soil dug from a little further along. +Next year, the rows are shifted two feet over so that crops are sown +above the composted garbage. + +Mulch Gardening + +Ruth Stout discovered--or at least popularized this new-to-her +method. Mulching may owe some of its popularity to Ruth's possession +of writing talent similar to her brother Rex's, who was a well-known +mid-century mystery writer. Ruth's humorous book, _Gardening Without +Work_ is a fun-to-read classic that I highly recommend if for no +other reason than it shows how an intelligent person can make +remarkable discoveries simply by observing the obvious. However, +like many other garden writers, Ruth Stout made the mistake of +assuming that what worked in her own backyard would be universally +applicable. Mulch gardening does not succeed everywhere. + +This easy method mimics decomposition on the forest floor. Instead +of making compost heaps or sheet composting, the garden is kept +thickly covered with a permanent layer of decomposing vegetation. +Year-round mulch produces a number of synergistic advantages. Decay +on the soil's surface is slow but steady and maintains fertility. As +on the forest floor, soil animals and worm populations are high. +Their activities continuously loosen the earth, steadily transport +humus and nutrients deeper into the soil, and eliminate all need for +tillage. Protected from the sun, the surface layers of soil do not +dry out so shallow-feeding species like lettuce and moisture-lovers +like radishes make much better growth. During high summer, mulched +ground does not become unhealthfully heated up either. + +The advantages go on. The very top layer of soil directly under the +mulch has a high organic matter content, retaining moisture, +eliminating crusting, and consequently, enhancing the germination of +seeds. Mulchers usually sow in well-separated rows. The gardener +merely rakes back the mulch and exposes a few inches of bare soil, +scratches a furrow, and covers the seed with humusy topsoil. As the +seedlings grow taller and are thinned out, the mulch is gradually +pushed back around them. + +Weeds? No problem! Except where germinating seeds, the mulch layer +is thick enough to prevent weed seeds from sprouting. Should a weed +begin showing through the mulch, this is taken as an indication that +spot has become too thinly covered and a flake of spoiled hay or +other vegetation is tossed on the unwanted plant, smothering it. + +Oh, how easy it seems! Pick a garden site. If you have a year to +wait before starting your garden do not even bother to till first. +Cover it a foot deep with combinations of spoiled hay, leaves, grass +clippings, and straw. Woody wastes are not suitable because they +won't rot fast enough to feed the soil. Kitchen garbage and manures +can also be tossed on the earth and, for a sense of tidiness, +covered with hay. The mulch smothers the grass or weeds growing +there and the site begins to soften. Next year it will be ready to +grow vegetables. + +If the plot is very infertile to begin with there won't be enough +biological activity or nutrients in the soil to rapidly decompose +the mulch. In that case, to accelerate the process, before first +putting down mulch till in an initial manure layer or a heavy +sprinkling of seed meal. Forever after, mulching materials alone +will be sufficient. Never again till. Never again weed. Never again +fertilize. No compost piles to make, turn, and haul. Just keep your +eye open for spoiled hay and buy a few inexpensive tons of it each +year. + +Stout, who discovered mulch gardening in Connecticut where irregular +summer rains were usually sufficient to water a widely-spaced +garden, also mistakenly thought that mulched gardens lost less soil +moisture because the earth was protected from the drying sun and +thus did not need irrigation through occasional drought. I suspect +that drought resistance under mulch has more to do with a plant's +ability to feed vigorously, obtain nutrition, and continue growing +because the surface inches where most of soil nutrients and +biological activities are located, stayed moist. I also suspect that +actual, measurable moisture loss from mulched soil may be greater +than from bare earth. But that's another book I wrote, called +_Gardening Without Irrigation. + +_ + +Yes, gardening under permanent year-round mulch seems easy, but it +does have a few glitches. Ruth Stout did not discover them because +she lived in Connecticut where the soil freezes solid every winter +and stays frozen for long enough to set back population levels of +certain soil animals. In the North, earwigs and sow bugs (pill bugs) +are frequently found in mulched gardens but they do not become a +serious pest. Slugs are infrequent and snails don't exist. All +thanks to winter. + +Try permanent mulch in the deep South, or California where I was +first disappointed with mulching, or the Maritime northwest where I +now live, and a catastrophe develops. During the first year these +soil animals are present but cause no problem. But after the first +mild winter with no population setback, they become a plague. Slugs +(and in California, snails) will be found everywhere, devastating +seedlings. Earwigs and sow bugs, that previously only were seen +eating only decaying mulch, begin to attack plants. It soon becomes +impossible to get a stand of seedlings established. The situation +can be rapidly cured by raking up all the mulch, carting it away +from the garden, and composting it. I know this to be the truth +because I've had to do just that both in California where as a +novice gardener I had my first mulch catastrophes, and then when I +moved to Oregon, I gave mulching another trial with similar sad +results. + +Sources for Composters, Grinders and etc. + +_ + +Shredder/Chippers and other power equipment_ + +I've been watching this market change rapidly since the early 1970s. +Manufacturers come and go. Equipment is usually ordered direct from +the maker, freight extra. Those interested in large horsepower +shredder/chippers might check the advertisements in garden-related +magazines such as _National Gardening, Organic Gardening, Sunset, +Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Country Living (Harrowsmith), _etc. +Without intending any endorsement or criticism of their products, +two makers that have remained in business since I started gardening +are: + +Kemp Company. 160 Koser Road., Lititz, PA 17543. (also compost +drums) + +Troy-Bilt Manufacturing Company, 102D St. & 9th Ave., Troy, NY 12180 + +_Mail-order catalog sources of compost containers and garden +accessories_ + +Gardens Alive, 5100 Schenley Place, Lawrenceburg, Indiana 47025 + +Gardener's Supply Company, 128 Intervale Road, Burlington, VT 05401 + +Ringer Corporation, 9959 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 + +Smith & Hawken, 25 Corte Madera, Mill Valley, CA 94941 + + + + + + +CHAPTER SIX + +Vermicomposting + + + + + +It was 1952 and Mr. Campbell had a worm bin. This shallow box--about +two feet wide by four feet long--resided under a worktable in the +tiny storeroom/greenhouse adjacent to our grade school science +class. It was full of what looked like black, crumbly soil and +zillions of small, red wiggly worms, not at all like the huge +nightcrawlers I used to snatch from the lawn after dark to take +fishing the next morning. Mr. Campbell's worms were fed used coffee +grounds; the worms in turn were fed to salamanders, to Mr. +Campbell's favorite fish, a fourteen-inch long smallmouth bass named +Carl, to various snakes, and to turtles living in aquariums around +the classroom. From time to time the "soil" in the box was fed to +his lush potted plants. + +Mr. Campbell was vermicomposting. This being before the age of +ecology and recycling, he probably just thought of it as raising +live food to sustain his educational menagerie. Though I never had +reason to raise worms before, preparing to write this book perked my +interest in every possible method of composting. Not comfortable +writing about something I had not done, I built a small worm box, +obtained a pound or so of brandling worms, made bedding, added +worms, and began feeding the contents of my kitchen compost bucket +to the box. + +To my secret surprise, vermicomposting works just as Mary Appelhof's +book _Worms Eat My Garbage_ said it would. Worm composting is +amazingly easy, although I admit there was a short learning curve +and a few brief spells of sour odors that went away as soon as I +stopped overfeeding the worms. I also discovered that my slapdash +homemade box had to have a drip catching pan beneath it. A friend of +mine, who has run her own in-the-house worm box for years, tells me +that diluting these occasional, insignificant and almost odorless +dark-colored liquid emissions with several parts water makes them +into excellent fertilizer for house plants or garden. + +It quickly became clear to me that composting with worms +conveniently solves several recycling glitches. How does a northern +homeowner process kitchen garbage in the winter when the ground and +compost pile are frozen and there is no other vegetation to mix in? +And can an apartment dweller without any other kind of organic waste +except garbage and perhaps newspaper recycle these at home? The +solution to both situations is vermicomposting. + +Worm castings, the end product of vermicomposting, are truly the +finest compost you could make or buy. Compared to the volume of +kitchen waste that will go into a worm box, the amount of castings +you end up with will be small, though potent. Apartment dwellers +could use worm castings to raise magnificent house plants or scatter +surplus casts under the ornamentals or atop the lawn around their +buildings or in the local park. + +In this chapter, I encourage you to at least try worm composting. I +also answer the questions that people ask the most about using worms +to recycle kitchen garbage. As the ever-enthusiastic Mary Applehof +said: + +"I hope it convinces you that you, too, can vermicompost, and that +this simple process with the funny name is a lot easier to do than +you thought. After all, if worms eat my garbage, they will eat +yours, too." + +Locating the Worms + +The species of worm used for vermicomposting has a number of common +names: red worms, red wigglers, manure worms, or brandling worms. +Redworms are healthy and active as long as they are kept above +freezing and below 85 degree. Even if the air temperature gets above +85 degree, their moist bedding will be cooled by evaporation as long +as air circulation is adequate. They are most active and will +consume the most waste between 55-77 degree--room temperatures. +Redworms need to live in a moist environment but must breath air +through their skin. Keeping their bedding damp is rarely the +problem; preventing it from becoming waterlogged and airless can be +a difficulty. + +In the South or along the Pacific coast where things never freeze +solid, worms may be kept outside in a shallow shaded pit (as long as +the spot does not become flooded) or in a box in the garage or +patio. In the North, worms are kept in a container that may be +located anywhere with good ventilation and temperatures that stay +above freezing but do not get too hot. Good spots for a worm box are +under the kitchen sink, in the utility room, or in the basement. The +kitchen, being the source of the worm's food, is the most +convenient, except for the danger of temporary odors. + +If you have one, a basement may be the best location because it is +out of the way. While you are learning to manage your worms there +may be occasional short-term odor problems or fruit flies; these +won't be nearly as objectionable if the box is below the house. Then +too, a vermicomposter can only exist in a complex ecology of soil +animals. A few of these may exit the box and be harmlessly found +about the kitchen. Ultra-fastidious housekeepers may find this +objectionable. Basements also tend to maintain a cooler temperature +in summer. However, it is less convenient to take the compost bucket +down to the basement every few days. + +Containers + +Redworms need to breathe oxygen, but in deep containers bedding can +pack down and become airless, temporarily preventing the worms from +eating the bottom material. This might not be so serious because you +will stir up the box from time to time when adding new food. But +anaerobic decomposition smells bad. If aerobic conditions are +maintained, the odor from a worm box is very slight and not +particularly objectionable. I notice the box's odor only when I am +adding new garbage and get my nose up close while stirring the +material. A shallow box will be better aerated because it exposes +much more surface area. Worm bins should be from eight to twelve +inches deep. + +I constructed my own box out of some old plywood. A top is not +needed because the worms will not crawl out. In fact, when worm +composting is done outdoors in shallow pits, few redworms exit the +bottom by entering the soil because there is little there for them +to eat. Because air flow is vital, numerous holes between 1/4 and +1/2 inch in diameter should be made in the bottom and the box must +then have small legs or cleats about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick to +hold it up enough to let air flow beneath. Having a drip-catcher--a +large cookie tray works well--is essential. Worms can also be kept +in plastic containers (like dish pans) with holes punched in the +bottom. As this book is being written, one mail-order garden supply +company even sells a tidy-looking 19" by 24" by about 12" deep green +plastic vermicomposting bin with drip pan, lid, and an initial +supply of worms and bedding. If worm composting becomes more +popular, others will follow suit. + +Unless you are very strong do not construct a box larger than 2 x 4 +feet because they will need to be lifted from time to time. Wooden +boxes should last three or four years. If built of plywood, use an +exterior grade to prevent delamination. It is not advisable to make +containers from rot-resistant redwood or cedar because the natural +oils that prevent rotting also may be toxic to worms. Sealed with +polyurethane, epoxy, or other non-toxic waterproofing material, worm +boxes should last quite a bit longer. + +How big a box or how many boxes do you need? Each cubic foot of worm +box can process about one pound of kitchen garbage each week. +Naturally, some weeks more garbage will go into the box than others. +The worms will adjust to such changes. You can estimate box size by +a weekly average amount of garbage over a three month time span. My +own home-garden-supplied kitchen feeds two "vegetableatarian" +adults. Being year-round gardeners, our kitchen discards a lot of +trimmings that would never leave a supermarket and we throw out as +"old," salad greens that are still fresher than most people buy in +the store. I'd say our 2-1/2 gallon compost bucket is dumped twice a +week in winter and three times in summer. From May through September +while the garden is "on," a single, 2 foot x 4 foot by 12 inch tall +(8 cubic foot) box is not enough for us. + +Bedding + +Bedding is a high C/N material that holds moisture, provides an +aerobic medium worms can exist in, and allows you to bury the +garbage in the box. The best beddings are also light and airy, +helping to maintain aerobic conditions. Bedding must not be toxic to +worms because they'll eventually eat it. Bedding starts out dry and +must be first soaked in water and then squeezed out until it is +merely very damp. Several ordinary materials make fine bedding. You +may use a single material bedding or may come to prefer mixtures. + +If you have a power shredder, you can grind corrugated cardboard +boxes. Handling ground up cardboard indoors may be a little dusty +until you moisten it. Shredded cardboard is sold in bulk as +insulation but this material has been treated with a fire retardant +that is toxic. Gasoline-powered shredders can also grind up cereal +straw or spoiled grass hay (if it is dry and brittle). Alfalfa hay +will decompose too rapidly. + +Similarly, shredded newsprint makes fine bedding. The ink is not +toxic, being made from carbon black and oil. By tearing with the +grain, entire newspaper sections can rapidly be ripped into +inch-wide shreds by hand. Other shredded paper may be available from +banks, offices, or universities that may dispose of documents. + +Ground-up leaves make terrific bedding. Here a power shredder is not +necessary. An ordinary lawnmower is capable of chopping and bagging +large volumes of dry leaves in short order. These may be prepared +once a year and stored dry in plastic garbage bags until needed. A +few 30-gallon bags will handle your vermicomposting for an entire +year. However, dry leaves may be a little slower than other +materials to rehydrate. + +Peat moss is widely used as bedding by commercial worm growers. It +is very acid and contains other substances harmful to worms that are +first removed by soaking the moss for a few hours and then +hand-squeezing the soggy moss until it is damp. Then a little lime +is added to adjust the pH. + +Soil + +Redworms are heat-tolerant litter dwellers that find little to eat +in soil. Mixing large quantities of soil into worm bedding makes a +very heavy box. However, the digestive system of worms grinds food +using soil particles as the abrasive grit in the same way birds +"chew" in their crop. A big handful of added soil will improve a +worm box. A couple of tablespoonfuls of powdered agricultural lime +does the same thing while adding additional calcium to nourish the +worms. + +Redworms + +The scientific name of the species used in vermicomposting is +_Eisenia foetida._ They may be purchased by mail from breeders, from +bait stores, and these days, even from mail-order garden supply +companies. Redworms may also be collected from compost and manure +piles after they have heated and are cooling. + +Nightcrawlers and common garden worms play a very important part in +the creation and maintenance of soil fertility. But these species +are soil dwellers that require cool conditions. They cannot survive +in a shallow worm box at room temperatures. + +Redworms are capable of very rapid reproduction at room temperatures +in a worm box. They lay eggs encased in a lemon-shaped cocoon about +the size of a grain of rice from which baby worms will hatch. The +cocoons start out pearly white but as the baby worms develop over a +three week period, the eggs change color to yellow, then light +brown, and finally are reddish when the babies are ready to hatch. +Normally, two or three young worms emerge from a cocoon. + +Hatchlings are whitish and semi-transparent and about one-half inch +long. It would take about 150,000 hatchlings to weigh one pound. A +redworm hatchling will grow at an explosive rate and reach sexual +maturity in four to six weeks. Once it begins breeding a redworm +makes two to three cocoons a week for six months to a year; or, one +breeding worm can make about 100 babies in six months. And the +babies are breeding about three months after the first eggs are +laid. + +Though this reproductive rate is not the equal of yeast (capable of +doubling every twenty minutes), still a several-hundred-fold +increase every six months is amazingly fast. When vermicomposting, +the worm population increase is limited by available food and space +and by the worms' own waste products or casts. Worm casts are +slightly toxic to worms. When a new box starts out with fresh +bedding it contains no casts. As time goes on, the bedding is +gradually broken down by cellulose-eating microorganisms whose decay +products are consumed by the worms and the box gradually fills with +casts. + +As the proportion of casts increases, reproduction slows, and mature +worms begin to die. However, you will almost never see a dead worm +in a worm box because their high-protein bodies are rapidly +decomposed. You will quickly recognize worm casts. Once the bedding +has been consumed and the box contains only worms, worm casts, and +fresh garbage it is necessary to empty the casts, replace the +bedding, and start the cycle over. How to do this will be explained +in a moment. But first, how many worms will you need to begin +vermicomposting? + +You could start with a few dozen redworms, patiently begin by +feeding them tiny quantities of garbage and in six months to a year +have a box full. However, you'll almost certainly want to begin with +a system that can consume all or most of your kitchen garbage right +away. So for starters you'll need to obtain two pounds of worms for +each pound of garbage you'll put into the box each day. Suppose in +an average week your kitchen compost bucket takes in seven pounds of +waste or about one gallon. That averages one pound per day. You'll +need about two pounds of worms. + +You'll also need a box that holds six or seven cubic feet, or about +2 x 3 feet by 12 inches deep. Each pound of worms needs three or +four cubic feet of bedding. A better way to estimate box size is to +figure that one cubic foot of worm bin can digest about one pound of +kitchen waste a week without going anaerobic and smelling bad. + +Redworms are small and consequently worm growers sell them by the +pound. There are about 1,000 mature breeders to the pound of young +redworms. Bait dealers prefer to sell only the largest sizes or +their customers complain. "Red wigglers" from a bait store may only +count 600 to the pound. Worm raisers will sell "pit run" that costs +much less. This is a mix of worms of all sizes and ages. Often the +largest sizes will have already been separated out for sale as fish +bait. That's perfectly okay. Since hatchlings run 150,000 to the +pound and mature worms count about 600-700, the population of a +pound of pit run can vary greatly. A reasonable pit run estimate is +2,000 to the pound. + +Actually it doesn't matter what the number is, it is their weight +that determines how much they'll eat. Redworms eat slightly more +than their weight in food every day. If that is so, why did I +recommend first starting vermicomposting with two pounds of worms +for every pound of garbage? Because the worms you'll buy will not be +used to living in the kind of bedding you'll give them nor adjusted +to the mix of garbage you'll feed them. Initially there may be some +losses. After a few weeks the surviving worms will have adjusted. + +Most people have little tolerance for outright failure. But if they +have a record of successes behind them, minor glitches won't stop +them. So it is vital to start with enough worms. The _only time +vermicomposting becomes odoriferous is when the worms are fed too +much._ If they quickly eat all the food that they are given the +system runs remarkably smoothly and makes no offense. Please keep +that in mind since there may well be some short-lived problems until +you learn to gauge their intake. + +Setting Up a Worm Box + +Redworms need a damp but not soggy environment with a moisture +content more or less 75 percent by weight. But bedding material +starts out very dry. So weigh the bedding and then add three times +that weight of water. The rule to remember here is "a pint's a pound +the world 'round," or one gallon of water weighs about eight pounds. +As a gauge, it takes 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of dry bedding for each cubic +foot of box. + +Preparing bedding material can be a messy job The best container is +probably an empty garbage can, though in a pinch it can be done in a +kitchen sink or a couple of five gallon plastic buckets. Cautiously +put half the (probably dusty) bedding in the mixing container. Add +about one-half the needed water and mix thoroughly. Then add two +handfuls of soil, the rest of the bedding, and the balance of the +water. Continue mixing until all the water has been absorbed. Then +spread the material evenly through your empty worm box. If you've +measured correctly no water should leak out the bottom vent holes +and the bedding should not drip when a handful is squeezed +moderately hard. + +Then add the worms. Spread your redworms over the surface of the +bedding. They'll burrow under the surface to avoid the light and in +a few minutes will be gone. Then add garbage. When you do this the +first time, I suggest that you spread the garbage over the entire +surface and mix it in using a three-tined hand cultivator. This is +the best tool to work the box with because the rounded points won't +cut worms. + +Then cover the box. Mary Applehof suggests using a black plastic +sheet slightly smaller than the inside dimensions of the container. +Black material keeps out light and allows the worms to be active +right on the surface. You may find that a plastic covering retains +too much moisture and overly restricts air flow. When I covered my +worm box with plastic it dripped too much. But then, most of what I +feed the worms is fresh vegetable material that runs 80-90 percent +water. Other households may feed dryer material like stale bread and +leftovers. I've found that on our diet it is better to keep the box +in a dimly lit place and to use a single sheet of newspaper folded +to the inside dimensions of the box as a loose cover that encourages +aeration, somewhat reduces light on the surface, and lessens +moisture loss yet does not completely stop it. + +Feeding the Worms + +Redworms will thrive on any kind of vegetable waste you create while +preparing food. Here's a partial list to consider: potato peelings, +citrus rinds, the outer leaves of lettuce and cabbage, spinach +stems, cabbage and cauliflower cores, celery butts, plate scrapings, +spoiled food like old baked beans, moldy cheese and other leftovers, +tea bags, egg shells, juicer pulp. The worms' absolute favorite +seems to be used coffee grounds though these can ferment and make a +sour smell. + +Drip coffee lovers can put the filters in too. This extra paper +merely supplements the bedding. Large pieces of vegetable matter can +take a long time to be digested. Before tossing cabbage or +cauliflower cores or celery butts into the compost bucket, cut them +up into finer chunks or thin slices. It is not necessary to grind +the garbage. Everything will break down eventually. + +Putting meat products into a worm box may be a mistake. The odors +from decaying meat can be foul and it has been known to attract mice +and rats. Small quantities cut up finely and well dispersed will +digest neatly. Bones are slow to decompose in a worm box. If you +spread the worm casts as compost it may not look attractive +containing whitened, picked-clean bones. Chicken bones are soft and +may disappear during vermicomposting. If you could grind bones +before sending them to the worm bin, they would make valuable +additions to your compost. Avoid putting non-biodegradable items +like plastic, bottle caps, rubber bands, aluminum foil, and glass +into the worm box. + +Do not let your cat use the worm bin as a litter box.. The odor of +cat urine would soon become intolerable while the urine is so high +in nitrogen that it might kill some worms. Most seriously, cat +manure can transmit the cysts of a protozoan disease organism called +_Toxoplasma gondii,_ although most cats do not carry the disease. +These parasites may also be harbored in adult humans without them +feeling any ill effects. However, transmitted from mother to +developing fetus, _Toxoplasma gondii _can cause brain damage. You +are going to handle the contents of your worm bin and won't want to +take a chance on being infected with these parasites. + +Most people use some sort of plastic jar, recycled half-gallon +yogurt tub, empty waxed paper milk carton, or similar thing to hold +kitchen garbage. Odors develop when anaerobic decomposition begins. +If the holding tub is getting high, don't cover it, feed it to the +worms. + +It is neater to add garbage in spots rather than mixing it +throughout the bin. When feeding garbage into the worm bin, lift the +cover, pull back the bedding with a three-tine hand cultivator, and +make a hole about the size of your garbage container. Dump the waste +into that hole and cover it with an inch or so of bedding. The whole +operation only takes a few minutes. A few days later the kitchen +compost bucket will again be ready. Make and fill another hole +adjacent to the first. Methodically go around the box this way. By +the time you get back to the first spot the garbage will have become +unrecognizable, the spot will seem to contain mostly worm casts and +bedding, and will not give off strongly unpleasant odors when +disturbed. + +Seasonal Overloads + +On festive occasions, holidays, and during canning season it is easy +to overload the digestive capacity of a worm bin. The problem will +correct itself without doing anything but you may not be willing to +live with anaerobic odors for a week or two. One simple way to +accelerate the "healing" of an anaerobic box is to fluff it up with +your hand cultivator. + +Vegetableatarian households greatly increase the amount of organic +waste they generate during summer. So do people who can or freeze +when the garden is "on." One vermicomposting solution to this +seasonal overload is to start up a second, summertime-only outdoor +worm bin in the garage or other shaded location. Appelhof uses an +old, leaky galvanized washtub for this purpose. The tub gets a few +inches of fresh bedding and then is inoculated with a gallon of +working vermicompost from the original bin. Extra garbage goes in +all summer. Mary says: + +"I have used for a "worm bin annex" an old leaky galvanized washtub, +kept outside near the garage. During canning season the grape pulp, +corn cobs, corn husks, bean cuttings and other fall harvest residues +went into the container. It got soggy when it rained and the worms +got huge from all the food and moisture. We brought it inside at +about the time of the first frost. The worms kept working the +material until there was no food left. After six to eight months, +the only identifiable remains were a few corn cobs, squash seeds, +tomato skins and some undecomposed corn husks. The rest was an +excellent batch of worm castings and a very few hardy, +undernourished worms." + +Vacations + +Going away from home for a few weeks is not a problem. The worms +will simply continue eating the garbage left in the bin. Eventually +their food supply will decline enough that the population will drop. +This will remedy itself as soon as you begin feeding the bin again. +If a month or more is going to pass without adding food or if the +house will be unheated during a winter "sabbatical," you should give +your worms to a friend to care for. + +Fruit Flies + +Fruit flies can, on occasion, be a very annoying problem if you keep +the worm bins in your house. They will not be present all the time +nor in every house at any time but when they are present they are a +nuisance. Fruit flies aren't unsanitary, they don't bite or seek out +people to bother. They seek out over-ripe fruit and fruit pulp. +Usually, fruit flies will hover around the food source that +interests them. In high summer we have accepted having a few share +our kitchen along with the enormous spread of ripe and ripening +tomatoes atop the kitchen counter. When we're making fresh "V-7" +juice on demand throughout the day, they tend to congregate over the +juicer's discharge pail that holds a mixture of vegetable pulps. If +your worm bin contains these types of materials, fruit flies may +find it attractive. + +Appelhof suggests sucking them up with a vacuum cleaner hose if +their numbers become annoying. Fruit flies are a good reason for +those of Teutonic tidiness to vermicompost in the basement or +outside the house if possible. + +Maintenance + +After a new bin has been running for a few weeks, you'll see the +bedding becoming darker and will spot individual worm casts. Even +though food is steadily added, the bedding will gradually vanish. +Extensive decomposition of the bedding by other small soil animals +and microorganisms begins to be significant. + +As worm casts become a larger proportion of the bin, conditions +deteriorate for the worms. Eventually the worms suffer and their +number and activity begins to drop off. Differences in bedding, +temperature, moisture, and the composition of your kitchen's garbage +will control how long it takes but eventually you must separate the +worms from their castings and put them into fresh bedding. If you're +using vermicomposting year-round, it probably will be necessary to +regenerate the box about once every four months. + +There are a number of methods for separating redworms from their +castings. + +_Hand sorting_ works well after a worm box has first been allowed to +run down a bit. The worms are not fed until almost all their food +has been consumed and they are living in nearly pure castings. Then +lay out a thick sheet of plastic at least four feet square on the +ground, floor, or on a table and dump the contents of the worm box +on it. + +Make six to nine cone-shaped piles. You'll see worms all over. If +you're working inside, make sure there is bright light in the room. +The worms will move into the center of each pile. Wait five minutes +or so and then delicately scrape off the surface of each conical +heap, one after another. By the time you finish with the last pile +the worms will have retreated further and you can begin with the +first heap again. + +You repeat this procedure, gradually scraping away casts until there +is not much left of the conical heaps. In a surprisingly short time, +the worms will all be squirming in the center of a small pile of +castings. There is no need to completely separate the worms from all +the castings. You can now gather up the worms and place them in +fresh bedding to start anew without further inconvenience for +another four months. Use the vermicompost on house plants, in the +garden, or save it for later. + +Hand sorting is particularly useful if you want to give a few pounds +of redworms to a friend. + +_Dividing the box_ is another, simpler method. You simply remove +about two-thirds of the box's contents and spread it on the garden. +Then refill the box with fresh bedding and distribute the remaining +worms, castings, and food still in the box. Plenty of worms and egg +cocoons will remain to populate the box. The worms that you dumped +on the garden will probably not survive there. + +A better method of dividing a box prevents wasting so many worms. +All of the box's contents are pushed to one side, leaving one-third +to one-half of the box empty. New bedding and fresh food are put on +the "new" side. No food is given to the "old" side for a month or +so. By that time virtually all the worms will have migrated to the +"new" side. Then the "old" side may be emptied and refilled with +fresh bedding. + +People in the North may want to use a worm box primarily in winter +when other composting methods are inconvenient or impossible. In +this case, start feeding the bin heavily from fall through spring +and then let it run without much new food until mid-summer. By that +time there will be only a few worms left alive in a box of castings. +The worms may then be separated from their castings, the box +recharged with bedding and the remaining worms can be fed just +enough to increase rapidly so that by autumn there will again be +enough to eat all your winter garbage. + +Garbage Can Composting + +Here's a large-capacity vermicomposting system for vegetableatarians +and big families. It might even have sufficient digestive capacity +for serious juice makers. You'll need two or three, 20 to 30 gallon +garbage cans, metal or plastic. In two of them drill numerous +half-inch diameter holes from bottom to top and in the lid as well. +The third can is used as a tidy way to hold extra dry bedding. + +Begin the process with about 10 inches of moist bedding material and +worms on the bottom of the first can. Add garbage on top without +mixing it in and occasionally sprinkle a thin layer of fresh +bedding. + +Eventually the first can will be full though it will digest hundreds +of gallons of garbage before that happens. When finally full, the +bulk of its contents will be finished worm casts and will contain +few if any worms. Most of the remaining activity will be on the +surface where there is fresh food and more air. Filling the first +can may take six months to a year. Then, start the second can by +transferring the top few inches of the first, which contains most of +the worms, into a few inches of fresh bedding on the bottom of the +second can. I'd wait another month for the worms left in the initial +can to finish digesting all the remaining garbage. Then, you have 25 +to 30 gallons of worm casts ready to be used as compost. + +Painting the inside of metal cans with ordinary enamel when they +have been emptied will greatly extend their life. Really high-volume +kitchens might run two vermicomposting garbage cans at once. + +PART TWO + +Composting For The Food Gardener + +Introduction + +There is a great deal of confusion in the gardening world about +compost, organic matter, humus, fertilizer and their roles in soil +fertility, plant health, animal health, human health and gardening +success. Some authorities seem to recommend as much manure or +compost as possible. Most show inadequate concern about its quality. +The slick books published by a major petrochemical corporation +correctly acknowledge that soil organic matter is important but give +rather vague guidelines as to how much while focusing on chemical +fertilizers. Organic gardeners denigrate chemicals as though they +were of the devil and like J.I. Rodale in _The Organic Front,_ +advise: + +"Is it practical to run a garden exclusively with the use of +compost, without the aid of so-called chemical or artificial +fertilizers? The answer is not only _yes,_ but in such case you will +have the finest vegetables obtainable, vegetables fit to grace the +table of the most exacting gourmet." + +Since the 1950s a government-funded laboratory at Cornell University +has cranked out seriously flawed studies "proving" that food raised +with chemicals is just as or even more nutritious than organically +grown food. The government's investment in "scientific research" was +made to counter unsettling (to various economic interest groups) +nutritional and health claims that the organic farming movement had +been making. For example, in _The Living Soil,_ Lady Eve Balfour +observed: + +"I have lived a healthy country existence practically all my life, +and for the last 25 years of it I have been actively engaged in +farming. I am physically robust, and have never suffered a major +illness, but until 1938 I was seldom free in winter from some form +of rheumatism, and from November to April I invariably suffered from +a continual succession of head colds. I started making compost by +Howard's method using it first on the vegetables for home +consumption.... That winter I had no colds at all and almost for the +first time in my life was free from rheumatic pains even in +prolonged spells of wet weather." + +Fifty years later there still exists an intensely polarized dispute +about the right way to garden and farm. People who are comfortable +disagreeing with Authority and that believe there is a strong +connection between soil fertility and the consequent health of +plants, animals, and humans living on that soil tend to side with +the organic camp. People who consider themselves "practical" or +scientific tend to side with the mainstream agronomists and consider +chemical agriculture as the only method that can produce enough to +permit industrial civilization to exist. For many years I was +confused by all this. Have you been too? Or have you taken a +position on this controversy and feel that you don't need more +information? I once thought the organic camp had all the right +answers but years of explaining soil management in gardening books +made me reconsider and reconsider again questions like "why is +organic matter so important in soil?" and "how much and what kind do +we need?" I found these subjects still needed to have clearer +answers. This book attempts to provide those answers and puts aside +ideology. + +A Brief History of the Organic Movement + +How did all of this irresolvable controversy begin over something +that should be scientifically obvious? About 1900, "experts" +increasingly encouraged farmers to use chemical fertilizers and to +neglect manuring and composting as unprofitable and unnecessary. At +the time this advice seemed practical because chemicals did greatly +increase yields and profits while chemistry plus motorized farm +machinery minus livestock greatly eased the farmer's workload, +allowed the farmer to abandon the production of low-value fodder +crops, and concentrate on higher value cash crops. + +Perplexing new farming problems--diseases, insects and loss of seed +vigor--began appearing after World War 1. These difficulties did not +seem obviously connected to industrial agriculture, to abandonment +of livestock, manuring, composting, and to dependence on chemistry. +The troubled farmers saw themselves as innocent victims of +happenstance, needing to hire the chemical plant doctor much as sick +people are encouraged by medical doctors to view themselves as +victims, who are totally irresponsible for creating their condition +and incapable of curing it without costly and dangerous medical +intervention. + +Farming had been done holistically since before Roman times. Farms +inevitably included livestock, and animal manure or compost made +with manure or green manures were the main sustainers of soil +fertility. In 1900 productive farm soils still contained large +reserves of humus from millennia of manuring. As long as humus is +present in quantity, small, affordable amounts of chemicals actually +do stimulate growth, increase yields, and up profits. And plant +health doesn't suffer nor do diseases and insects become plagues. +However, humus is not a permanent material and is gradually +decomposed. Elimination of manuring steadily reduced humus levels +and consequently decreased the life in the soil. And (as will be +explained a little later) nitrogen-rich fertilizers accelerate humus +loss. + +With the decline of organic matter, new problems with plant and +animal health gradually developed while insect predation worsened +and profits dropped because soils declining in humus need ever +larger amounts of fertilizer to maintain yields. These changes +developed gradually and erratically, and there was a long lag +between the first dependence on chemicals, the resulting soil +addiction, and steady increases in farm problems. A new alliance of +scientific experts, universities, and agribusiness interests had +self-interested reasons to identify other causes than loss of soil +humus for the new problems. The increasingly troubled farmer's +attention was thus fixated on fighting against plant and animal +diseases and insects with newer and better chemicals. + +Just as with farm animals, human health also responds to soil +fertility. Industrial agriculture steadily lowered the average +nutritional quality of food and gradually increased human +degeneration, but these effects were masked by a statistical +increase in human life span due to improved public sanitation, +vaccinations, and, starting in the 1930s, the first antibiotics. As +statistics, we were living longer but as individuals, we were +feeling poorer. Actually, most of the statistical increase in +lifespan is from children that are now surviving childhood diseases. +I contend that people who made it to seven years old a century ago +had a chance more-or-less equal to ours, of surviving past seventy +with a greater probability of feeling good in middle-and old age. +People have short memories and tend to think that things always were +as they are in the present. Slow but continuous increases in +nutritionally related diseases like tooth decay, periodontal +disease, diabetes, heart disease, birth defects, mental retardation, +drug addiction or cancer are not generally seen as a "new" problem, +while subtle reductions in the feeling of well-being go unnoticed. + +During the 1930s a number of far-seeing individuals began to worry +about the social liabilities from chemically dependent farming. Drs. +Robert McCarrison and Weston Price addressed their concerns to other +health professionals. Rudolf Steiner, observing that declines in +human health were preventing his disciples from achieving spiritual +betterment started the gentle biodynamic farming movement. Steiner's +principal English speaking followers, Pfeiffer and Koepf, wrote +about biological farming and gardening extensively and well. + +Professor William Albrecht, Chairman of the Soil Department of the +University of Missouri, tried to help farmers raise healthier +livestock and made unemotional but very explicit connections between +soil fertility, animal, and human health. Any serious gardener or +person interested in health and preventive medicine will find the +books of all these unique individuals well worth reading. + +I doubt that the writings and lectures of any of the above +individuals would have sparked a bitter controversy like the +intensely ideological struggle that developed between the organic +gardening and farming movement and the agribusiness establishment. +This was the doing of two energetic and highly puritanical men: Sir +Albert Howard and his American disciple, J.I. Rodale. + +Howard's criticism was correctly based on observations of improved +animal and human health as a result of using compost to build soil +fertility. Probably concluding that the average farmer's weak +ethical condition would be unable to resist the apparently +profitable allures of chemicals unless their moral sense was +outraged, Howard undertook an almost religious crusade against the +evils of chemical fertilizers. Notice the powerful emotional loading +carried in this brief excerpt from Howard's _Soil and Health:_ + +"Artificial fertilizers lead to artificial nutrition, artificial +animals and finally to artificial men and women." + +Do you want to be "artificial?" Rodale's contentious _Organic Front +_makes readers feel morally deficient if they do not agree about the +vital importance of recycling organic matter. + +"The Chinese do not use chemical fertilizers. They return to the +land every bit of organic matter they can find. In China if you +burned over a field or a pile of vegetable rubbish you would be +severely punished. There are many fantastic stories as to the +lengths the Chinese will go to get human excremental matter. A +traveler told me that while he was on the toilet in a Shanghai hotel +two men were waiting outside to rush in and make way with the +stuff." + +Perhaps you too should be severely punished for wasting your +personal organic matter. + +Rodale began proselytizing for the organic movement about 1942. With +an intensity unique to ideologues, he attacked chemical companies, +attacked chemical fertilizers, attacked chemical pesticides, and +attacked the scientific agricultural establishment. With a limited +technical education behind him, the well-meaning Rodale occasionally +made overstatements, wrote oversimplification as science, and +uttered scientific absurdities as fact. And he attacked, attacked, +attacked all along a broad organic front. So the objects of his +attacks defended, defended, defended. + +A great deal of confusion was generated from the contradictions +between Rodale's self-righteous and sometimes scientifically vague +positions and the amused defenses of the smug scientific community. +Donald Hopkins' _Chemicals, Humus and the Soil_ is the best, most +humane, and emotionally generous defense against the extremism of +Rodale. Hopkins makes hash of many organic principles while still +upholding the vital role of humus. Anyone who thinks of themselves +as a supporter of organic farming and gardening should first dig up +this old, out-of-print book, and come to terms with Hopkins' +arguments. + +Organic versus establishment hostilities continued unabated for many +years. After his father's death, Rodale's son and heir to the +publishing empire, Robert, began to realize that there was a +sensible middle ground. However, I suppose Robert Rodale perceived +communicating a less ideological message as a problem: most of the +readers of _Organic Gardening and Farming _magazine and the buyers +of organic gardening books published by Rodale Press weren't open to +ambiguity. + +I view organic gardeners largely as examples of American Puritanism +who want to possess an clear, simple system of capital "T" truth, +that brooks no exceptions and has no complications or gray areas. +"Organic" as a movement had come to be defined by Rodale +publications as growing food by using an approved list of substances +that were considered good and virtuous while shunning another list +that seemed to be considered 'of the devil,' similar to kosher and +non-kosher food in the orthodox Jewish religion. And like other +puritans, the organic faithful could consider themselves superior +humans. + +But other agricultural reformers have understood that there _are_ +gray areas--that chemicals are not all bad or all good and that +other sane and holistic standards can be applied to decide what is +the best way to go about raising crops. These people began to +discuss new agricultural methods like Integrated Pest Management +[IPM] or Low Input Sustainable Agriculture [LISA], systems that +allowed a minimal use of chemistry without abandoning the focus on +soil organic matter's vital importance. + +My guess is that some years back, Bob Rodale came to see the truth +of this, giving him a problem--he did not want to threaten a major +source of political and financial support. So he split off the +"farming" from _Organic Gardening and Farming _magazine and started +two new publications, one called _The New Farm_ where safely away +from less educated unsophisticated eyes he could discuss minor +alterations in the organic faith without upsetting the readers of +_Organic Gardening._ + +Today's Confusions + +I have offered this brief interpretation of the organic gardening +and farming movement primarily for the those gardeners who, like me, +learned their basics from Rodale Press. Those who do not now cast +this heretical book down in disgust but finish it will come away +with a broader, more scientific understanding of the vital role of +organic matter, some certainty about how much compost you really +need to make and use, and the role that both compost and fertilizers +can have in creating and maintaining the level of soil fertility +needed to grow a great vegetable garden. + + + + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN + +Humus and Soil Productivity + + + + + +Books about hydroponics sound plausible. That is, until you actually +_see_ the results. Plants grown in chemical nutrient solutions may +be huge but look a little "off." Sickly and weak somehow. Without a +living soil, plants can not be totally healthy or grow quite as well +as they might. + +By focusing on increasing and maximizing soil life instead of adding +chemical fertility, organic farmers are able to grow excellent +cereals and fodder. On richer soils they can even do this for +generations, perhaps even for millennia without bringing in plant +nutrients from elsewhere. If little or no product is sent away from +the farm, this subsistence approach may be a permanent agricultural +system. But even with a healthy ecology few soils are fertile enough +by themselves to permit continuous export of their mineral resources +by selling crops at market. + +Take one step further. Cereals are mostly derived from hardy grasses +while other field crops have similar abilities to thrive while being +offered relatively low levels of nutrients. With good management, +fertile soils are able to present these lower nutritional levels to +growing plants without amendment or fortification with potent, +concentrated nutrient sources. But most vegetables demand far higher +levels of support. Few soils, even fertile soils that have never +been farmed, will grow vegetables without improvement. Farmers and +gardeners must increase fertility significantly if they want to grow +great vegetables. The choices they make while doing this can have a +strong effect, not only on their immediate success or failure, but +on the actual nutritional quality of the food that they produce. + +How Humus Benefits Soil + +The roots of plants, soil animals, and most soil microorganisms need +to breathe oxygen. Like other oxygen burners, they expel carbon +dioxide. For all of them to grow well and be healthy, the earth must +remain open, allowing air to enter and leave freely. Otherwise, +carbon dioxide builds up to toxic levels. Imagine yourself being +suffocated by a plastic bag tied around your neck. It would be about +the same thing to a root trying to live in compacted soil. + +A soil consisting only of rock particles tends to be airless. A +scientist would say it had a high bulk density or lacked pore space. +Only coarse sandy soil remains light and open without organic +matter. Few soils are formed only of coarse sand, most are mixtures +of sand, silt and clay. Sands are sharp-sided, relatively large rock +particles similar to table salt or refined white sugar. Irregular +edges keep sand particles separated, and allow the free movement of +air and moisture. + +Silt is formed from sand that has weathered to much smaller sizes, +similar to powdered sugar or talcum powder. Through a magnifying +lens, the edges of silt particles appear rounded because weak soil +acids have actually dissolved them away. A significant amount of the +nutrient content of these decomposed rock particles has become plant +food or clay. Silt particles can compact tightly, leaving little +space for air. + +As soil acids break down silts, the less-soluble portions recombine +into clay crystals. Clay particles are much smaller than silt +grains. It takes an electron microscope to see the flat, layered +structures of clay molecules. Shales and slates are rocks formed by +heating and compressing clay. Their layered fracture planes mimic +the molecules from which they were made. Pure clay is heavy, airless +and a very poor medium for plant growth. + +Humusless soils that are mixtures of sand, silt, and clay can become +extremely compacted and airless because the smaller silt and clay +particles sift between the larger sand bits and densely fill all the +pore spaces. These soils can also form very hard crusts that resist +the infiltration of air, rain, or irrigation water and prevent the +emergence of seedlings. Surface crusts form exactly the same way +that concrete is finished. + +Have you ever seen a finisher screed a concrete slab? First, smooth +boards and then, large trowels are run back and forth over liquid +concrete. The motion separates the tiny bits of fine sand and cement +from denser bits of gravel. The "fines" rise to the surface where +they are trowelled into a thin smooth skin. The same thing happens +when humusless soil is rained on or irrigated with sprinklers +emitting a coarse, heavy spray. The droplets beat on the soil, +mechanically separating the lighter "fines" (in this case silt and +clay) from larger, denser particles. The sand particles sink, the +fines rise and dry into a hard, impenetrable crust. + +Organic matter decomposing in soil opens and loosens soil and makes +the earth far more welcoming to plant growth. Its benefits are both +direct and indirect. Decomposing organic matter mechanically acts +like springy sponges that reduce compaction. However, rotting is +rapid and soon this material and its effect is virtually gone. You +can easily create this type of temporary result by tilling a thick +dusting of peat moss into some poor soil. + +A more significant and longer-lasting soil improvement is created by +microorganisms and earthworms, whose activities makes particles of +sand, silt, and clay cling strongly together and form large, +irregularly-shaped grains called "aggregates" or "crumbs" that +resist breaking apart. A well-developed crumb structure gives soil a +set of qualities farmers and gardeners delightfully refer to as +"good tilth." The difference between good and poor tilth is like +night and day to someone working the land. For example, if you +rotary till unaggregated soil into a fluffy seedbed, the first time +it is irrigated, rained on, or stepped on it slumps back down into +an airless mass and probably develops a hard crust as well. However, +a soil with good tilth will permit multiple irrigations and a fair +amount of foot traffic without compacting or crusting. + +Crumbs develop as a result of two similar, interrelated processes. +Earthworms and other soil animals make stable humus crumbs as soil, +clay and decomposing organic matter pass through their digestive +systems. The casts or scats that emerge _are crumbs._ Free-living +soil microorganisms also form crumbs. As they eat organic matter +they secrete slimes and gums that firmly cement fine soil particles +together into long lasting aggregates. + +I sadly observe what happens when farmers allow soil organic matter +to run down every time I drive in the country. Soil color that +should be dark changes to light because mineral particles themselves +are usually light colored or reddish; the rich black or chestnut +tone soil can get is organic matter. Puddles form when it rains hard +on perfectly flat humusless fields and may stand for hours or days, +driving out all soil air, drowning earthworms, and suffocating crop +roots. On sloping fields the water runs off rather than percolating +in. Evidence of this can be seen in muddy streams and in more severe +cases, by little rills or mini-gullies across the field caused by +fast moving water sweeping up soil particles from the crusted +surface as it leaves the field. + +Later, the farmers will complain of drought or infertility and seek +to support their crops with irrigation and chemicals. Actually, if +all the water that had fallen on the field had percolated into the +earth, the crops probably would not have suffered at all even from +extended spells without rain. These same humusless fields lose a lot +more soil in the form of blowing dust clouds when tilled in a dryish +state. + +The greatest part of farm soil erosion is caused by failing to +maintain necessary levels of humus. As a nation, America is losing +its best cropland at a nonsustainable rate. No civilization in +history has yet survived the loss of its prime farmland. Before +industrial technology placed thousands of times more force into the +hands of the farmer, humans still managed to make an impoverished +semi-desert out of every civilized region within 1,000-1,500 years. +This sad story is told in Carter and Dale's fascinating, but +disturbing, book called _Topsoil and Civilization _that I believe +should be read by every thoughtful person. Unless we significantly +alter our "improved" farming methods we will probably do the same to +America in another century or two. + +The Earthworm's Role in Soil Fertility + +Soil fertility has been gauged by different measures. Howard +repeatedly insisted that the only good yardstick was humus content. +Others are so impressed by the earthworm's essential functions that +they count worms per acre and say that this number measures soil +fertility. The two standards of evaluation are closely related. + +When active, some species of earthworms daily eat a quantity of soil +equal to their own body weight. After passing through the worm's +gut, this soil has been chemically altered. Minerals, especially +phosphorus which tends to be locked up as insoluble calcium +phosphate and consequently unavailable to plants, become soluble in +the worm's gut, and thus available to nourish growing plants. And +nitrogen, unavailably held in organic matter, is altered to soluble +nitrate nitrogen. In fact, compared to the surrounding soil, worm +casts are five times as rich in nitrate nitrogen; twice as rich in +soluble calcium; contain two and one-half times as much available +magnesium; are seven times as rich in available phosphorus, and +offer plants eleven times as much potassium. Earthworms are equally +capable of making trace minerals available. + +Highly fertile earthworm casts can amount to a large proportion of +the entire soil mass. When soil is damp and cool enough to encourage +earthworm activity, an average of 700 pounds of worm casts per acre +are produced each day. Over a year's time in the humid eastern +United States, 100,000 pounds of highly fertile casts per acre may +be generated. Imagine! That's like 50 tons of low-grade fertilizer +per acre per year containing more readily available NPK, Ca, Mg and +so forth, than farmers apply to grow cereal crops like wheat, corn, +or soybeans. A level of fertility that will grow wheat is not enough +nutrition to grow vegetables, but earthworms can make a major +contribution to the garden. + +At age 28, Charles Darwin presented "On the Formation of Mould" to +the Geological Society of London. This lecture illustrated the +amazing churning effect of the earthworm on soil. Darwin observed +some chunks of lime that had been left on the surface of a meadow. A +few years later they were found several inches below the surface. +Darwin said this was the work of earthworms, depositing castings +that "sooner or later spread out and cover any object left on the +surface." In a later book, Darwin said, + +"The plow is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's +inventions; but long before he existed the land was in fact +regularly plowed and still continues to be thus plowed by +earthworms. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals +which have played so important a part in the history of the world, +as have these lowly organized creatures." + +Earthworms also prevent runoff. They increase percolation of water +into fine-textured soils by making a complex system of +interconnected channels or tunnels throughout the topsoil. In one +study, soil lacking worms had an absorption rate of 0.2 inches of +rainfall per minute. Earthworms were added and allowed to work over +that soil sample for one month. Then, infiltration rates increased +to 0.9 inches of rainfall per minute. Much of what we know about +earthworms is due to Dr. Henry Hopp who worked for the United States +Department of Agriculture during the 1940s. Dr. Hopp's interesting +booklet, _What Every Gardener Should Know About Earthworms._ is +still in print. In one Hopp research project, some very run-down +clay soil was placed in six large flowerpots. Nothing was done to a +pair of control pots, fertilizer was blended in and grass sod grown +on two others, while mulch was spread over two more. Then worms were +added to one of each pair of pots. In short order all of the worms +added to the unimproved pot were dead. There was nothing in that +soil to feed them. The sod alone increased percolation but where the +sod or mulch fed a worm population, infiltration of water was far +better. + +Amendment to clay soil Percolation rate in inches per minute + Without worms With worms +None 0.0 0.0 +Grass and fertilizer 0.2 0.8 +Mulch 0.0 1.5 + +Most people who honestly consider these facts conclude that the +earthworm's activities are a major factor in soil productivity. +Study after scientific study has shown that the quality and yield of +pastures is directly related to their earthworm count. So it seems +only reasonable to evaluate soil management practices by their +effect on earthworm counts. + +Earthworm populations will vary enormously according to climate and +native soil fertility. Earthworms need moisture; few if any will be +found in deserts. Highly mineralized soils that produce a lot of +biomass will naturally have more worms than infertile soils lacking +humus. Dr. Hopp surveyed worm populations in various farm soils. The +table below shows what a gardener might expect to find in their own +garden by contrasting samples from rich and poor soils. The data +also suggest a guideline for how high worm populations might be +usefully increased by adding organic matter. The worms were counted +at their seasonal population peak by carefully examining a section +of soil exactly one foot square by seven inches deep. If you plan to +take a census in your own garden, keep in mind that earthworm counts +will be highest in spring. + +Earthworms are inhibited by acid soils and/or soils deficient in +calcium. Far larger populations of worms live in soils that +weathered out of underlying limestone rocks. In one experiment, +earthworm counts in a pasture went up from 51,000 per acre in acid +soil to 441,000 per acre two years after lime and a non-acidifying +chemical fertilizer was spread. Rodale and Howard loudly and +repeatedly contended that chemical fertilizers decimate earthworm +populations. Swept up in what I view as a self-righteous crusade +against chemical agriculture, they included all fertilizers in this +category for tactical reasons. + +Location Worms per sq. ft. Worms per acre +Marcellus, NY 38 1,600,000 +Ithica, NY 4 190,000 +Frederick, MD 50 2,200,000 +Beltsville, MD 8 350,000 +Zanesville, OH 37 1,600,000 +Coshocton, OH 5 220,000 +Mayaquez, P.R.* 6 260,000 + +*Because of the high rate of bacterial decomposition, few earthworms +are found in tropical soils unless they are continuously ammended +with substantial quantities of organic matter. + +Howard especially denigrated sulfate of ammonia and single +superphosphate as earthworm poisons. Both of these chemical +fertilizers are made with sulfuric acid and have a powerful +acidifying reaction when they dissolve in soil. Rodale correctly +pointed out that golf course groundskeepers use repeated +applications of ammonium sulfate to eliminate earthworms from +putting greens. (Small mounds of worm casts made by nightcrawlers +ruin the greens' perfectly smooth surface so these worms are the +bane of greenskeepers.) However, ammonium sulfate does not eliminate +or reduce worms when the soil contains large amounts of chalk or +other forms of calcium that counteract acidity. + +The truth of the matter is that worms eat decaying organic matter +and any soil amendment that increases plant growth without +acidifying soil will increase earthworm food supply and thus worm +population. Using lime as an antidote to acid-based fertilizers +prevents making the soil inhospitable to earthworms. And many +chemical fertilizers do not provoke acid reactions. The organic +movement loses this round-but not the battle. And certainly not the +war. + +Food supply primarily determines earthworm population. To increase +their numbers it is merely necessary to bring in additional organic +matter or add plant nutrients that cause more vegetation to be grown +there. In one study, simply returning the manure resulting from hay +taken off a pasture increased earthworms by one-third. Adding lime +and superphosphate to that manure made an additional improvement of +another 33 percent. Every time compost is added to a garden, the +soil's ability to support earthworms increases. + +Some overly enthusiastic worm fanciers believe it is useful to +import large numbers of earthworms. I do not agree. These same +self-interested individuals tend to breed and sell worms. If the +variety being offered is _Eisenia foetida,_ the brandling, red +wiggler, or manure worm used in vermicomposting, adding them to soil +is a complete waste of money. This species does not survive well in +ordinary soil and can breed in large numbers only in decomposing +manure or other proteinaceous organic waste with a low C/N. All worm +species breed prolifically. If there are _any_ desirable worms +present in soil, their population will soon match the available food +supply and soil conditions. The way to increase worm populations is +to increase organic matter, up mineral fertility, and eliminate +acidity. + +Earthworms and their beneficial activities are easily overlooked and +left out of our contemplations on proper gardening technique. But +understanding their breeding cycle allows gardeners to easily assist +the worms efforts to multiply. In temperate climates, young +earthworms hatch out in the fall when soil is cooling and moisture +levels are high. As long as the soil is not too cold they feed +actively and grow. By early spring these young worms are busily +laying eggs. With summer's heat the soil warms and dries out. Even +if the gardener irrigates, earthworms naturally become less active. +They still lay a few eggs but many mature worms die. During high +summer the few earthworms found will be small and young. Unhatched +eggs are plentiful but not readily noticed by casual inspection so +gardeners may mistakenly think they have few worms and may worry +about how to increase their populations. With autumn the population +cycle begins anew. + +Soil management can greatly alter worm populations. But, how the +field is handled during summer has only a slight effect. Spring and +summer tillage does kill a few worms but does not damage eggs. By +mulching, the soil can be kept cooler and more favorable to worm +activities during summer while surface layers are kept moister. +Irrigation helps similarly. Doing these things will allow a gardener +the dubious satisfaction of seeing a few more worms during the main +gardening season. However, soil is supposed to become inhospitably +hot and dry during summer (worm's eye view) and there's not much +point in struggling to maintain large earthworm populations during +that part of the year. Unfortunately, summer is when gardeners pay +the closest attention to the soil. + +Worms maintain their year-round population by overwintering and then +laying eggs that hatch late in the growing season. The most harm to +worm multiplication happens by exposing bare soil during winter. +Worm activity should be at a peak during cool weather. Though worms +inadvertently pass a lot of soil through their bodies as they +tunnel, soil is not their food. Garden worms and nightcrawlers +intentionally rise to the surface to feed. They consume decaying +vegetation lying on the surface. Without this food supply they die +off. And in northern winters worms must be protected from suddenly +experiencing freezing temperatures while they "harden off" and adapt +themselves to surviving in almost frozen soil. Under sod or where +protected by insulating mulch or a layer of organic debris, soil +temperature drops gradually as winter comes on. But the first day or +two of cold winter weather may freeze bare soil solid and kill off +an entire field full of worms before they've had a chance to adapt. + +Almost any kind of ground cover will enhance winter survival. A +layer of compost, manure, straw, or a well-grown cover crop of +ryegrass, even a thin mulch of grass clippings or weeds can serve as +the food source worms need. Dr. Hopp says that soil tilth can be +improved a great deal merely by assisting worms over a single +winter. + +Gardeners can effectively support the common earthworm without +making great alterations in the way we handle our soil. From a +worm's viewpoint, perhaps the best way to recycle autumn leaves is +to till them in very _shallowly_ over the garden so they serve as +insulation yet are mixed with enough soil so that decomposition is +accelerated. Perhaps a thorough garden clean-up is best postponed +until spring, leaving a significant amount of decaying vegetation on +top of the soil. (Of course, you'll want to remove and compost any +diseased plant material or species that may harbor overwintering +pests.) The best time to apply compost to tilled soil may also be +during the autumn and the very best way is as a dressing atop a leaf +mulch because the compost will also accelerate leaf decomposition. +This is called "sheet composting" and will be discussed in detail +shortly. + +Certain pesticides approved for general use can severely damage +earthworms. Carbaryl (Sevin), one of the most commonly used home +garden chemical pesticides, is deadly to earthworms even at low +levels. Malathion is moderately toxic to worms. Diazinon has not +been shown to be at all harmful to earthworms when used at normal +rates. + +Just because a pesticide is derived from a natural source and is +approved for use on crops labeled "organically grown" is no +guarantee that it is not poisonous to mammals or highly toxic to +earthworms. For example, rotenone, an insecticide derived from a +tropical root called derris, is as poisonous to humans as +organophosphate chemical pesticides. Even in very dilute amounts, +rotenone is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic life. Great care +must be taken to prevent it from getting into waterways. In the +tropics, people traditionally harvest great quantities of fish by +tossing a handful of powdered derris (a root containing rotenone) +into the water, waiting a few minutes, and then scooping up stunned, +dead, and dying fish by the ton. Rotenone is also deadly to +earthworms. However, rotenone rarely kills worms because it is so +rapidly biodegradable. Sprayed on plants to control beetles and +other plant predators, its powerful effect lasts only a day or so +before sun and moisture break it down to harmless substances. But +once I dusted an entire raised bed of beetle-threatened bush bean +seedlings with powdered rotenone late in the afternoon. The spotted +beetles making hash of their leaves were immediately killed. +Unexpectedly, it rained rather hard that evening and still-active +rotenone was washed off the leaves and deeply into the soil. The +next morning the surface of the bed was thickly littered with dead +earthworms. I've learned to treat rotenone with great caution. + +Microbes and Soil Fertility + +There are still other holistic standards to measure soil +productivity. With more than adequate justification the great +Russian soil microbiologist N.S. Krasilnikov judged fertility by +counting the numbers of microbes present. He said, + +". . soil fertility is determined by biological factors, mainly by +microorganisms. The development of life in soil endows it with the +property of fertility. The notion of soil is inseparable from the +notion of the development of living organisms in it. Soil is created +by microorganisms. Were this life dead or stopped, the former soil +would become an object of geology [not biology]." + +Louise Howard, Sir Albert's second wife, made a very similar +judgment in her book, _Sir Albert Howard in India._ + +"A fertile soil, that is, a soil teeming with healthy life in the +shape of abundant microflora and microfauna, will bear healthy +plants, and these, when consumed by animals and man, will confer +health on animals and man. But an infertile soil, that is, one +lacking in sufficient microbial, fungous, and other life, will pass +on some form of deficiency to the plants, and such plant, in turn, +who pass on some form of deficiency to animal and man." + +Although the two quotes substantively agree, Krasilnikov had a +broader understanding. The early writers of the organic movement +focused intently on mycorrhizal associations between soil fungi and +plant roots as _the_ hidden secret of plant health. Krasilnikov, +whose later writings benefited from massive Soviet research did not +deny the significance of mycorrhizal associations but stressed +plant-bacterial associations. Both views contain much truth. + +Krasilnikov may well have been the greatest soil microbiologist of +his era, and Russians in general seem far ahead of us in this field. +It is worth taking a moment to ask why that is so. American +agricultural science is motivated by agribusiness, either by direct +subsidy or indirectly through government because our government is +often strongly influenced by major economic interests. American +agricultural research also exists in a relatively free market where +at this moment in history, large quantities of manufactured +materials are reliably and cheaply available. Western agricultural +science thus tends to seek solutions involving manufactured inputs. +After all, what good is a problem if you can't solve it by +profitably selling something. + +But any Soviet agricultural researcher who solved problems by using +factory products would be dooming their farmers to failure because +the U.S.S.R.'s economic system was incapable of regularly supplying +such items. So logically, Soviet agronomy focused on more holistic, +low-tech approaches such as manipulating the soil microecology. For +example, Americans scientifically increase soil nitrogen by +spreading industrial chemicals; the Russians found low-tech ways to +brew bacterial soups that inoculated a field with slightly more +efficient nitrogen-fixing microorgamsms. + +Soil microbiology is also a relatively inexpensive line of research +that rewards mental cleverness over massive investment. Multimillion +dollar laboratories with high-tech equipment did not yield big +answers when the study was new. Perhaps in this biotech era, +recombinant genetics will find high-tech ways to tailor make +improved microorganisms and we'll surpass the Russians. + +Soil microorganism populations are incredibly high. In productive +soils there may be billions to the gram. (One gram of fluffy soil +might fill 1/2 teaspoon.) Krasilnikov found great variations in +bacterial counts. Light-colored nonproductive earths of the North +growing skimpy conifer trees or poor crops don't contain very many +microorganisms. The rich, black, grain-producing soils of the +Ukraine (like our midwestern corn belt) carry very large microbial +populations. + +One must be clever to study soil microbes and fungi. Their life +processes and ecological interactions can't be easily observed +directly in the soil with a microscope. Usually, scientists study +microorganisms by finding an artificial medium on which they grow +well and observe the activities of a large colony or pure culture--a +very restricted view. There probably are more species of +microorganisms than all other living things combined, yet we often +can't identify one species from another similar one by their +appearance. We can generally classify bacteria by shape: round ones, +rod-shaped ones, spiral ones, etc. We differentiate them by which +antibiotic kills them and by which variety of artificial material +they prefer to grow on. Pathogens are recognized by their prey. +Still, most microbial activities remain a great mystery. + +Krasilnikov's great contribution to science was discovering how soil +microorganisms assist the growth of higher plants. Bacteria are very +fussy about the substrate they'll grow on. In the laboratory, one +species grows on protein gel, another on seaweed. One thrives on +beet pulp while another only grows on a certain cereal extract. +Plants "understand" this and manipulate their soil environment to +enhance the reproduction of certain bacteria they find desirable +while suppressing others. This is accomplished by root exudates. + +For every 100 grams of above-ground biomass, a plant will excrete +about 25 grams of root exudates, creating a chemically different +zone (rhizosphere) close to the root that functions much like the +culture medium in a laboratory. Certain bacteria find this region +highly favorable and multiply prolifically, others are suppressed. +Bacterial counts adjacent to roots will be in hundreds of millions +to billions per gram of soil. A fraction of an inch away beyond the +influence of the exudates, the count drops greatly. + +Why do plants expend energy culturing bacteria? Because there is an +exchange, a _quid pro quo._ These same bacteria assist the plant in +numerous ways. Certain types of microbes are predators. Instead of +consuming dead organic matter they attack living plants. However, +other species, especially actinomycetes, give off antibiotics that +suppress pathogens. The multiplication of actinomycetes can be +enhanced by root exudates. + +Perhaps the most important benefit plants receive from soil bacteria +are what Krasilnikov dubbed "phytamins," a word play on vitamins +plus _phyta_ or "plant" in Greek. Helpful bacteria exude complex +water-soluble organic molecules that plants uptake through their +roots and use much like humans need certain vitamins. When plants +are deprived of phytamins they are less than optimally healthy, have +lowered disease resistance, and may not grow as large because some +phytamins act as growth hormones. + +Keep in mind that beneficial microorganisms clustering around plant +roots do not primarily eat root exudates; exudates merely optimize +environmental conditions to encourage certain species. The main food +of these soil organisms is decaying organic matter and humus. +Deficiencies in organic matter or soil pH outside a comfortable +range of 5.75-7.5 greatly inhibit beneficial microorganisms. + +For a long time it has been standard "chemical" ag science to deride +the notion that plant roots can absorb anything larger than simple, +inorganic molecules in water solution. This insupportable view is no +longer politically correct even among adherents of chemical usage. +However, if you should ever encounter an "expert" still trying to +intimidate others with these old arguments merely ask them, since +plant roots cannot assimilate large organic molecules, why do people +succeed using systemic chemical pesticides? Systemics are large, +complex poisonous organic molecules that plants uptake through their +roots and that then make the above-ground plant material toxic to +predators. Ornamentals, like roses, are frequently protected by +systemic chemical pesticides mixed into chemical fertilizer and fed +through the soil. + +Root exudates have numerous functions beyond affecting +microorganisms. One is to suppress or encourage the growth of +surrounding plants Gardeners experience this as plant companions and +antagonists. Walnut tree root exudates are very antagonistic to many +other species. And members of the onion family prevent beans from +growing well if their root systems are intermixed. + +Many crop rotational schemes exist because the effects of root +exudates seem to persist for one or even two years after the +original plant grew That's why onions grow very well when they are +planted where potatoes grew the year before. And why farmers grow a +three year rotation of hay, potatoes and onions. That is also why +onions don't grow nearly as well following cabbage or squash. +Farmers have a much easier time managing successions. They can grow +40 acres of one crop followed by 40 acres of another. But squash +from 100 square feet may overwhelm the kitchen while carrots from +the same 100 square feet the next year may not be enough. Unless you +keep detailed records, it is hard to remember exactly where +everything grew as long as two years ago in a vegetable garden and +to correlate that data with this year's results. But when I see half +a planting on a raised bed grow well and the adjacent half grow +poorly, I assume the difficulty was caused by exudate remains from +whatever grew there one, or even, two years ago. + +In 1990, half of crop "F" grew well, half poorly. this was due to +the presence of crop "D" in 1989. The gardener might remember that +"D" was there last year. But in 1991, half of crop "G" grew well, +half poorly. This was also due to the presence of crop "D" two years +ago. Few can make this association. + +These effects were one reason that Sir Albert Howard thought it was +very foolish to grow a vegetable garden in one spot for too many +years. He recommended growing "healing grass" for about five years +following several years of vegetable gardening to erase all the +exudate effects and restore the soil ecology to normal. + +Mycorrhizal association is another beneficial relationship that +should exist between soil organisms and many higher plants. This +symbiotic relationship involves fungi and plant roots. Fungi can be +pathogenic, consuming living plants. But most of them are harmless +and eat only dead, decaying organic matter. Most fungi are soil +dwellers though some eat downed or even standing trees. + +Most people do not realize that plant roots adsorb water and +water-soluble nutrients only through the tiny hairs and actively +growing tips near the very end of the root. The ability for any new +root to absorb nutrition only lasts a short time, then the hairs +slough off and the root develops a sort of hard bark. If root system +growth slows or stops, the plant's ability to obtain nourishment is +greatly reduced. Roots cannot make oxygen out of carbon dioxide as +do the leaves. That's why it is so important to maintain a good +supply of soil air and for the soil to remain loose enough to allow +rapid root expansion. + +When roots are cramped, top growth slows or ceases, health and +disease resistance drops, and plants may become stressed despite +applications of nutrients or watering. Other plants that do not seem +to be competing for light above ground may have ramified (filled +with roots) far wider expanses soil than a person might think. Once +soil is saturated with the roots and the exudates from one plant, +the same space may be closed off to the roots of another. Gardeners +who use close plantings and intensive raised beds often unknowingly +bump up against this limiting factor and are disappointed at the +small size of their vegetables despite heavy fertilization, despite +loosening the earth two feet deep with double digging, and despite +regular watering. Thought about in this way, it should be obvious +why double digging improves growth on crowded beds by increasing the +depth to which plants can root. + +The roots of plants have no way to aggressively breakdown rock +particles or organic matter, nor to sort out one nutrient from +another. They uptake everything that is in solution, no more, no +less while replacing water evaporated from their leaves. However, +soil fungi are able to aggressively attack organic matter and even +mineral rock particles and extract the nutrition they want. Fungi +live in soil as long, complexly interconnected hair-like threads +usually only one cell thick. The threads are called "hyphae." Food +circulates throughout the hyphae much like blood in a human body. +Sometimes, individual fungi can grow to enormous sizes; there are +mushroom circles hundreds of feet in diameter that essentially are +one single very old organism. The mushrooms we think of when we +think "fungus" are actually not the organism, but the transitory +fruit of a large, below ground network. + +Certain types of fungi are able to form a symbiosis with specific +plant species. They insert a hyphae into the gap between individual +plant cells in a root hair or just behind the growing root tip. Then +the hyphae "drinks" from the vascular system of the plant, robbing +it of a bit of its life's blood. However, this is not harmful +predation because as the root grows, a bark develops around the +hyphae. The bark pinches off the hyphae and it rapidly decays inside +the plant, making a contribution of nutrients that the plant +couldn't otherwise obtain. Hyphae breakdown products may be in the +form of complex organic molecules that function as phytamins for the +plant. + +Not all plants are capable of forming mycorrhizal associations. +Members of the cabbage family, for example, do not. However, if the +species can benefit from such an association and does not have one, +then despite fertilization the plant will not be as healthy as it +could be, nor grow as well. This phenomenon is commonly seen in +conifer tree nurseries where seedling beds are first completely +sterilized with harsh chemicals and then tree seeds sown. Although +thoroughly fertilized, the tiny trees grow slowly for a year or so. +Then, as spores of mycorrhizal fungi begin falling on the bed and +their hyphae become established, scattered trees begin to develop +the necessary symbiosis and their growth takes off. On a bed of +two-year-old seedlings, many individual trees are head and shoulders +above the others. This is not due to superior genetics or erratic +soil fertility. These are the individuals with a mycorrhizal +association. + +Like other beneficial microorganisms, micorrhizal fungi do not +primarily eat plant vascular fluid, their food is decaying organic +matter. Here's yet another reason to contend that soil productivity +can be measured by humus content. + + + + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT + +Maintaining Soil Humus + + + + + +Organic matter benefits soil productivity not because it is present, +but because all forms of organic matter in the soil, including its +most stable form--humus--are disappearing. Mycorrhizal fungi and +beneficial bacterial colonies around plant roots can exist only by +consuming soil organic matter. The slimes and gums that cement soil +particles into relatively stable aggregates are formed by +microorganisms as they consume soil organic matter. Scats and casts +that _are_ soil crumbs form only because organic matter is being +consumed. If humus declines, the entire soil ecology runs down and +with it, soil tilth and the health and productivity of plants. + +If you want to manage your garden soil wisely, keep foremost in mind +that the rate of humus loss is far more important than the amount of +humus present. However, natural processes remove humus without our +aid or attention while the gardener's task is to add organic matter. +So there is a very understandable tendency to focus on addition, not +subtraction. But, can we add too much? And if so, what happens when +we do? + +How Much Humus is Soil Supposed to Have? + +If you measured the organic matter contents of various soils around +the United States there would be wide differences. Some variations +on crop land are due to great losses that have been caused by +mismanagement. But even if you could measure virgin soils never used +by humans there still would be great differences. Hans Jenny, a soil +scientist at the University of Missouri during the 1940s, noticed +patterns in soil humus levels and explained how and why this occurs +in a wonderfully readable book, _Factors in Soil Formation._ These +days, academic agricultural scientists conceal the basic simplicity +of their knowledge by unnecessarily expressing their data with +exotic verbiage and higher mathematics. In Jenny's time it was not +considered demeaning if an intelligent layman could read and +understand the writings of a scientist or scholar. Any serious +gardener who wants to understand the wide differences in soil should +become familiar with _Factors in Soil Formation._ About organic +matter in virgin soils, Jenny said: + +"Within regions of similar moisture conditions, the organic matter +content of soil . . . decreases from north to south. For each fall +of 10 degree C (18 degree F) in annual temperature the average +organic matter content of soil increases two or three times, +provided that [soil moisture] is kept constant." + +Moist soil during the growing season encourages plant growth and +thus organic matter production. Where the soil becomes dry during +the growing season, plant growth slows or stops. So, all things +being equal, wet soils contain more organic matter than dry ones. +All organic matter eventually rots, even in soil too dry to grow +plants. The higher the soil temperature the faster the +decomposition. But chilly (not frozen) soils can still grow a lot of +biomass. So, all things being equal, hot soils have less humus in +them than cold ones. Cool, wet soils will have the highest levels; +hot, dry soils will be lowest in humus. + +This model checks out in practice. If we were to measure organic +matter in soils along the Mississippi River where soil moisture +conditions remain pretty similar from south to north, we might find +2 percent in sultry Arkansas, 3 percent in Missouri and over 4 +percent in Wisconsin, where soil temperatures are much lower. In +Arizona, unirrigated desert soils have virtually no organic matter. +In central and southern California where skimpy and undependable +winter rains peter out by March, it is hard to find an unirrigated +soil containing as much as 1 percent organic matter while in the +cool Maritime northwest, reliable winter rains keep the soil damp +into June and the more fertile farm pastures or natural prairies may +develop as much as 5 percent organic matter. + +Other factors, like the basic mineral content of the soil or its +texture, also influence the amount of organic matter a spot will +create and will somewhat increase or decrease the humus content +compared to neighboring locations experiencing the same climate. But +the most powerfully controlling influences are moisture and +temperature. + +On all virgin soils the organic matter content naturally sustains +itself at the highest possible level. And, average annual additions +exactly match the average annual amount of decomposition. Think +about that for a moment. Imagine that we start out with a plot of +finely-ground rock particles containing no life and no organic +matter. As the rock dust is colonized by life forms that gradually +build in numbers it becomes soil. The organic matter created there +increases nutrient availability and accelerates the breakdown of +rock particles, further increasing the creation of organic matter. +Soil humus steadily increases. Eventually a climax is sustained +where there is as much humus in the soil as there can be. + +The peak plant and soil ecology that naturally lives on any site is +usually very healthy and is inevitably just as abundant as there is +moisture and soil minerals to support it. To me this suggests how +much organic matter it takes to grow a great vegetable garden. My +theory is that in terms of soil organic matter, vegetables grow +quite well at the humus level that would peak naturally on a virgin +site. In semi-arid areas I'd modify the theory to include an +increase as a result of necessary irrigation. Expressed as a rough +rule of thumb, a mere 2 percent organic matter in hot climates +increasing to 5 percent in cool ones will supply sufficient +biological soil activities to grow healthy vegetables if _the +mineral nutrient levels are high enough too._ + +Recall my assertion that what is most important about organic matter +is not how much is present, but how much is lost each year through +decomposition. For only by decomposing does organic matter release +the nutrients it contains so plants can uptake them; only by being +consumed does humus support the microecology that so markedly +contributes phytamins to plant nutrition, aggressively breaks down +rock particles and releases the plant nutrients they contain; only +by being eaten does soil organic matter support bacteria and +earthworms that improve productivity and create better tilth. + +Here's something I find very interesting. Temperate climates having +seasons and winter, vary greatly in average temperature. Comparing +annual decomposition loss from a hot soil carrying 2 percent humus +with annual decomposition loss from a cooler soil carrying 5 +percent, roughly the same amount of organic matter will decay out of +each soil during the growing season. _This means that in temperate +regions we have to replace about the same amount of organic matter +no matter what the location._ + +Like other substantial colleges of agriculture, the University of +Missouri ran some very valuable long-term studies in soil +management. In 1888, a never-farmed field of native prairie grasses +was converted into test plots. For fifty succeeding years each plot +was managed in a different but consistent manner. The series of +experiments that I find the most helpful recorded what happens to +soil organic matter as a consequence of farming practices. The +virgin prairie had sustained an organic matter content of about 3.5 +percent. The lines on the graph show what happened to that organic +matter over time. + +Timothy grass is probably a slightly more efficient converter of +solar energy into organic matter than was the original prairie. +After fifty years of feeding the hay cut from the field and +returning all of the livestock's manure, the organic matter in the +soil increased about 1/2 percent. Obviously, green manuring has very +limited ability to increase soil humus above climax levels. Growing +oats and returning enough manure to represent the straw and grain +fed to livestock, the field held its organic matter relatively +constant. + +Growing small grain and removing everything but the stubble for +fifty years greatly reduced the organic matter. Keep in mind that +half the biomass production in a field happens below ground as +roots. And keep in mind that the charts don't reveal the sad +appearance the crops probably had once the organic matter declined +significantly. Nor do they show that the seed produced on those +degenerated fields probably would no longer sprout well enough to be +used as seedgrain, so new seed would have been imported into the +system each season, bringing with it new supplies of plant +nutrients. Without importing that bushel or so of wheat seed on each +acre each year, the curves would have been steeper and gone even +lower. + +Corn is the hardest of the cereals on soil humus. The reason is, +wheat is closely broadcast in fall and makes a thick grassy +overwintering stand that forms biomass out of most of the solar +energy striking the field from spring until early summer when the +seed forms. Leafy oats create a little more biomass than wheat. +Corn, on the other hand, is frost tender and can't be planted early. +It is also not closely planted but is sown in widely-spaced rows. +Corn takes quite a while before it forms a leaf canopy that uses all +available solar energy. In farming lingo, corn is a "row crop." + +Vegetables are also row crops. Many types don't form dense canopies +that soak up all solar energy for the entire growing season like a +virgin prairie. As with corn, the ground is tilled bare, so for much +of the best part of the growing season little or no organic matter +is produced. Of all the crops that a person can grow, vegetables are +the hardest on soil organic matter. There is no way that vegetables +can maintain soil humus, even if all their residues are religiously +composted and returned. Soil organic matter would decline markedly +even in an experiment in which we raised some small animals +exclusively on the vegetables and returned all of their manure and +urine too. + +When growing vegetables we have to restore organic matter beyond the +amount the garden itself produces. The curves showing humus decline +at the University of Missouri give us a good hint as to how much +organic matter we are going to lose from vegetable gardening. Let's +make the most pessimistic possible estimate and suppose that +vegetable gardening is twice as hard on soil as was growing corn and +removing everything but the stubble and root systems. + +With corn, about 40 percent of the entire organic matter reserve is +depleted in the first ten years. Let's suppose that vegetables might +remove almost _all_ soil humus in ten years, or 10 percent each year +for the first few years. This number is a crude. and for most places +in America, a wildly pessimistic guess. + +However, 10 percent loss per year may understate losses in some +places. I have seen old row crop soils in California's central +valley that look like white-colored blowing dust. Nor does a 10 +percent per year estimate quite allow for the surprising durability +I observe in the still black and rich-looking old vegetable seed +fields of western Washington State's Skaget Valley. These +cool-climate fields have suffered chemical farming for decades +without having been completely destroyed--yet. + +How much loss is 10 percent per year? Let's take my own garden for +example. It started out as an old hay pasture that hadn't seen a +plow for twenty-five or more years and where, for the five years +I've owned the property, the annual grass production is not cut, +baled, and sold but is cut and allowed to lie in place. Each year's +accumulation of minerals and humus contributes to the better growth +of the next year's grass. Initially, my grass had grown a little +higher and a little thicker each year. But the steady increase in +biomass production seems to have tapered off in the last couple of +years. I suppose by now the soil's organic matter content probably +has been restored and is about 5 percent. + +I allocate about one acre of that old pasture to garden land. In any +given year my shifting gardens occupy one-third of that acre. The +other two-thirds are being regenerated in healing grass. I measure +my garden in fractions of acres. Most city folks have little concept +of an acre; its about 40,000 square feet, or a plot 200' x 200'. + +Give or take some, the plow pan of an acre weighs about two million +pounds. The plow pan is that seven inches of topsoil that is flipped +over by a moldboard plow, the seven inches where most biological +activity occurs, where virtually all of the soil's organic matter +resides. Two million pounds equals one thousand tons of topsoil in +the first seven inches of an acre. Five percent of that one thousand +tons can be organic matter, up to fifty priceless tons of life that +changes 950 tons of dead dust into a fertile, productive acre. If 10 +percent of that fifty tons is lost as a consequence of one year's +vegetable gardening, that amounts to five tons per acre per year +lost or about 25 pounds lost per 100 square feet. + +Patience, reader. There is a very blunt and soon to be a very +obvious point to all of this arithmetic. Visualize this! Lime is +spread at rates up to four tons per acre. Have you ever spread 1 T/A +or 50 pounds of lime over a garden 33 x 33 feet? Mighty hard to +accomplish! Even 200 pounds of lime would barely whiten the ground +of a 1,000 square-foot garden. It is even harder to spread a mere 5 +tons of compost over an acre or only 25 pounds on a 100-square-foot +bed. It seems as though nothing has been accomplished, most of the +soil still shows, there is no _layer _of compost, only a thin +scattering. + +But for the purpose of maintaining humus content of vegetable ground +at a healthy level, a thin scattering once a year is a gracious +plenty. Even if I were starting with a totally depleted, dusty, +absolutely humusless, ruined old farm field that had no organic +matter whatsoever and I wanted to convert it to a healthy vegetable +garden, I would only have to make a one-time amendment of 50 tons of +ripe compost per acre or 2,500 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Now +2,500 pounds of humus is a groaning, spring-sagging, long-bed pickup +load of compost heaped up above the cab and dripping off the sides. +Spread on a small garden, that's enough to feel a sense of +accomplishment about. Before I knew better I used to incorporate +that much composted horse manure once or twice a year and when I did +add a half-inch thick layer that's about what I was applying. + +Fertilizing Vegetables with Compost + +Will a five ton per acre addition of compost provide enough +nutrition to grow great vegetables? Unfortunately, the answer +usually is no. In most gardens, in most climates, with most of what +passes for "compost," it probably won't. That much compost might +well grow decent wheat. + +The factors involved in making this statement are numerous and too +complex to fully analyze in a little book like this one. They +include the intrinsic mineralization of the soil itself, the +temperature of the soil during the growing season, and the high +nutritional needs of the vegetables themselves. In my experience, a +few alluvial soils that get regular, small additions of organic +matter can grow good vegetable crops without additional help. +However, these sites are regularly flooded and replenished with +highly mineralized rock particles. Additionally, they must become +very warm during the growing season. But not all rock particles +contain high levels of plant nutrients and not all soils get hot +enough to rapidly break down soil particles. + +Soil temperature has a great deal to do with how effectively compost +can act as fertilizer. Sandy soils warm up much faster in spring and +sand allows for a much freer movement of air, so humus decomposes +much more rapidly in sand. Perhaps a sunny, sandy garden on a +south-facing slope might grow pretty well with small amounts of +strong compost. As a practical matter, if most people spread even +the most potent compost over their gardens at only twenty-five +pounds per 100 square feet, they would almost certainly be +disappointed. + +Well then, if five tons of quality compost to the acre isn't +adequate for most vegetables, what about using ten or twenty tons of +the best. Will that grow a good garden? Again, the answer must allow +for a lot of factors but is generally more positive. If the compost +has a low C/N and that compost, or the soil itself, isn't grossly +deficient in some essential nutrient, and if the soil has a coarse, +airy texture that promotes decomposition, then somewhat heavier +applications will grow a good-looking garden that yields a lot of +food. + +However, one question that is rarely asked and even more rarely +answered satisfactorily in the holistic farming and gardening lore +is: Precisely how much organic matter or humus is needed to maximize +plant health and the nutritional qualities of the food we're +growing? An almost equally important corollary of this is: Can there +be too much organic matter? + +This second question is not of practical consequence for biological +grain/livestock farmers because it is almost financially impossible +to raise organic matter levels on farm soils to extraordinary +amounts. Large-scale holistic farmers must grow their own humus on +their own farm. Their focus cannot be on buying and bringing in +large quantities of organic matter; it must be on conserving and +maximizing the value of the organic matter they produce themselves. + +Where you do hear of an organic farmer (not vegetable grower but +cereal/livestock farmer) building extraordinary fertility by +spreading large quantities of compost, remember that this farmer +must be located near an inexpensive source of quality material. If +all the farmers wanted to do the same there would not be enough to +go around at an economic price unless, perhaps, the entire country +became a "closed system" like China. We would have to compost every +bit of human excrement and organic matter and there still wouldn't +be enough to meet the demand. Even if we became as efficient as +China, keep in mind the degraded state of China's upland soils and +the rapid desertification going on in their semi-arid west. China is +robbing Peter to pay Paul and may not have a truly sustainable +agriculture either. + +I've frequently encountered a view among devotees of the organic +gardening movement that if a little organic matter is a good thing, +then more must be better and even more better still. In Organic +Gardening magazine and Rodale garden books we read eulogies to soils +that are so high in humus and so laced with earthworms that one can +easily shove their arm into the soft earth elbow deep but must yank +it out fast before all the hairs have been chewed off by worms, +where one must jump away after planting corn seeds lest the stalk +poke you in the eye, where the pumpkins average over 100 pounds +each, where a single trellised tomato vine covers the entire south +side of a house and yields bushels. All due to compost. + +I call believers of the organic faith capital "O" organic gardeners. +These folks almost inevitably have a pickup truck used to gather in +their neighborhood's leaves and grass clippings on trash day and to +haul home loads from local stables and chicken ranches. Their large +yards are ringed with compost bins and their annual spreadings of +compost are measured in multiples of inches. I was one once, myself. + +There are two vital and slightly disrespectful questions that should +be asked about this extreme of gardening practice. Is this much +humus the only way to grow big, high-yielding organic vegetable +gardens and two, are vegetables raised on soils super-high in humus +maximally nutritious. If the answer to the first question is no, +then a person might avoid a lot of work by raising the nutrient +level of their soil in some other manner acceptable to the organic +gardener. If the answer to the second question is less nutritious, +then serious gardeners and homesteaders who are making home-grown +produce into a significant portion of their annual caloric intake +had better reconsider their health assumptions. A lot of organic +gardeners cherish ideas similar to the character Woody Allen played +in his movie, Sleeper. + +Do you recall that movie? It is about a contemporary American who, +coming unexpectedly close to death, is frozen and then reanimated +and healed 200 years in the future. However, our hero did not expect +to die or be frozen when he became ill and upon awakening believes +the explanation given to him is a put on and that his friends are +conspiring to make him into a fool. The irritated doctor in charge +tells Woody to snap out of it and be prepared to start a new life. +This is no joke, says the doctor, all of Woody's friends are long +since dead. Woody's response is a classic line that earns me a few +chuckles from the audience every time I lecture: 'all my friends +can't be dead! I owned a health food store and we all ate brown +rice.' + +Humus and the Nutritional Quality of Food + +I believe that the purpose of food is not merely to fill the belly +or to provide energy, but to create and maintain health. Ultimately, +soil fertility should be evaluated not by humus content, nor +microbial populations, nor earthworm numbers, but by the long-term +health consequences of eating the food. If physical health +degenerates, is maintained, or is improved we have measured the +soil's true worth. The technical name for this idea is a "biological +assay." Evaluating soil fertility by biological assay is a very +radical step, for connecting long-term changes in health with the +nutritional content of food and then with soil management practices +invalidates a central tenet of industrial farming: that bulk yield +is the ultimate measure of success or failure. As Newman Turner, an +English dairy farmer and disciple of Sir Albert Howard, put it: + +"The orthodox scientist normally measures the fertility of a soil by +its bulk yield, with no relation to effect on the ultimate consumer. + +I have seen cattle slowly lose condition and fall in milk yield when +fed entirely on the abundant produce of an apparently fertile soil. +Though the soil was capable of yielding heavy crops, those crops +were not adequate in themselves to maintain body weight and milk +production in the cow, without supplements. That soil, though +capable of above-average yields, and by the orthodox quantitative +measure regarded as fertile, could not, by the more complete measure +of ultimate effect on the consumer, be regarded but anything but +deficient in fertility. + +Fertility therefore, is the ability to produce at the highest +recognized level of yield, crops of quality which, when consumed +over long periods by animals or man, enable them to sustain health, +bodily condition and high level of production without evidence of +disease or deficiency of any kind. + +Fertility cannot be measured quantitatively. Any measure of soil +fertility must be related to the quality of its produce. . . . the +most simple measure of soil fertility is its ability to transmit, +through its produce, fertility to the ultimate consumer." + +Howard also tells of creating a super-healthy herd of work oxen on +his research farm at Indore, India. After a few years of meticulous +composting and restoration of soil life, Howard's oxen glowed with +well-being. As a demonstration he intentionally allowed his animals +to rub noses across the fence with neighboring oxen known to be +infected with hoof and mouth and other cattle plagues. His animals +remained healthy. I have read so many similar accounts in the +literature of the organic farming movement that in my mind there is +no denying the relationship between the nutritional quality of +plants and the presence of organic matter in soil. Many other +organic gardeners reach the same conclusion. But most gardeners do +not understand one critical difference between farming and +gardening: most agricultural radicals start farming on run-down land +grossly deficient in organic matter. The plant and animal health +improvements they describe come from restoration of soil balance, +from approaching a climax humus level much like I've done in my +pasture by no longer removing the grass. + +But home gardeners and market gardeners near cities are able to get +their hands on virtually unlimited quantities of organic matter. +Encouraged by a mistaken belief that the more organic matter the +healthier, they enrich their soil far beyond any natural capacity. +Often this is called "building up the soil." But increasing organic +matter in gardens well above a climax ecology level does not further +increase the nutritional value of vegetables and in many +circumstances will decrease their value markedly. + +For many years I have lectured on organic gardening to the Extension +Service's master gardener classes. Part of the master gardener +training includes interpreting soil test results. In the early 1980s +when Oregon State government had more money, all master gardener +trainees were given a free soil test of their own garden. +Inevitably, an older gentlemen would come up after my lecture and +ask my interpretation of his puzzling soil test. + +Ladies, please excuse me. Lecturing in this era of women's lib I've +broken my politically incorrect habit of saying "the gardener, he ..." +but in this case it _was _always a man, an organic gardener who +had been building up his soil for years. + +The average soils in our region test moderately-to strongly acid; +are low in nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium; quite +adequate in potassium; and have 3-4 percent organic matter. Mr. +Organic's soil test showed an organic matter content of 15 to 20 +percent with more than adequate nitrogen and a pH of 7.2. However +there was virtually no phosphorus, calcium or magnesium and four +times the amount of potassium that any farm agent would ever +recommend. On the bottom of the test, always written in red ink, +underlined, with three exclamation points, "No more wood ashes for +five years!!!" Because so many people in the Maritime northwest heat +with firewood, the soil tester had mistakenly assumed that the soil +became alkaline and developed such a potassium imbalance from heavy +applications of wood ashes. + +This puzzled gardener couldn't grasp two things about his soil test +report. One, he did not use wood ashes and had no wood stove and +two, although he had been "building up his soil for six or seven +years," the garden did not grow as well as he had imagined it would. +Perhaps you see why this questioner was always a man. Mr. Organic +owned a pickup and loved to haul organic matter and to make and +spread compost. His soil was full of worms and had a remarkably high +humus level but still did not grow great crops. + +It was actually worse than he understood. Plants uptake as much +potassium as there is available in the soil, and concentrate that +potassium in their top growth. So when vegetation is hauled in and +composted or when animal manure is imported, large quantities of +potassium come along with them. As will be explained shortly, +vegetation from forested regions like western Oregon is even more +potassium-rich and contains less of other vital nutrients than +vegetation from other areas. By covering his soil several inches +thick with manure and compost every year he had totally saturated +the earth with potassium. Its cation exchange capacity or in +non-technical language, the soil's ability to hold other nutrients +had been overwhelmed with potassium and all phosphorus, calcium, +magnesium, and other nutrients had largely been washed away by rain. +It was even worse than that! The nutritional quality of the +vegetables grown on that superhumusy soil was very, very low and +would have been far higher had he used tiny amounts of compost and, +horror of all horrors, chemical fertilizer. + +Climate and the Nutritional Quality of Food + +Over geologic time spans, water passing through soil leaches or +removes plant nutrients. In climates where there is barely enough +rain to grow cereal crops, soils retain their minerals and the food +produced there tends to be highly nutritious. In verdant, rainy +climates the soil is leached of plant nutrients and the food grown +there is much less nutritious. That's why the great healthy herds of +animals were found on scrubby, semi-arid grasslands like the +American prairies; in comparison, lush forests carry far lower +quantities of animal biomass. + +Some plant nutrients are much more easily leached out than others. +The first valuable mineral to go is calcium. Semi-arid soils usually +still retain large quantities of calcium. The nutrient most +resistant to leaching is potassium. Leached out forest soils usually +still retain relatively large amounts of potassium. William Albrecht +observed this data and connected with it a number of fairly obvious +and vital changes in plant nutritional qualities that are caused by +these differences in soil fertility. However obvious they may be, +Albrecht's work was not considered politically correct by his peers +or the interest groups that supported agricultural research during +the mid-twentieth century and his contributions have been largely +ignored. Worse, his ideas did not quite fit with the ideological +preconceptions of J.l. Rodale, so organic gardeners and farmers are +also ignorant of Albrecht's wisdom. + +Albrecht would probably have approved of the following chart that +expresses the essential qualities of dryland and humid soils. + +Soil Mineral Content by Climate Area + +Plant Nutrient Dryland Prairie Soil Humid Forest Soil +nitrogen high low +phosphorus high low +potassium high moderately high +calcium very high low +pH neutral acid + +Dryland soils contain far higher levels of all minerals than leached +soils. But Albrecht speculated that the key difference between these +soils is the _ratio _of calcium to potassium. In dryland soils there +is much more calcium in the soil than there is potassium while in +wetter soils there is as much or more potassium than calcium. To +test his theory he grew some soybeans in pots. One pot had soil with +a high amount of calcium relative to the amount of potassium, +imitating dryland prairie soil. The other pot had just as much +calcium but had more potassium, giving it a ratio similar to a high +quality farm soil in the eastern United States. Both soils grew +good-looking samples of soybean plants, but when they were analyzed +for nutritional content they proved to be quite different. + +Soil Yield Calories Protein Calcium Phosphorus Potassium +Humid 17.8 gm High 13% 0.27% 0.14% 2.15% +Dryland 14.7 gm Medium 17% 0.74% 0.25% 1.01% + +The potassium-fortified soil gave a 25 percent higher bulk yield but +the soybeans contained 25 percent less protein. The consumer of +those plants would have to burn off approximately 30 percent more +carbohydrates to obtain the same amount of vital amino acids +essential to all bodily functions. Wet-soil plants also contain only +one-third as much calcium, an essential nutrient, whose lack over +several generations causes gradual reduction of skeletal size and +dental deterioration. They also contain only half as much +phosphorus, another essential nutrient. Their oversupply of +potassium is not needed; humans eating balanced diets usually +excrete large quantities of unnecessary potassium in their urine. + +Albrecht then analyzed dozens of samples of vegetation that came +from both dryland soils and humid soils and noticed differences in +them similar to the soybeans grown under controlled conditions. The +next chart, showing the average composition of plant vegetation from +the two different regions, is taken directly from Albrecht's +research. The figures are averages of large numbers of plant +samples, including many different food crops from each climate. + +Average Nutritional Content by Climate + +Nutrient Dryland Soil Humid Soil +Potassium 2.44% 1.27% +Calcium 1.92% 0.28% +Phosphorus 0.78% 0.42% +Total mineral nutrition 5.14% 1.97% +Ratio of Potassium to Calciuim 1.20/1 4.50/1 + +Analyzed as a whole, these data tell us a great deal about how we +should manage our soil to produce the most nutritious food and about +the judicious use of compost in the garden as well. I ask you to +refer back to these three small charts as I point out a number of +conclusions that can be drawn from them. + +The basic nutritional problem that all animals have is not about +finding energy food, but how to intake enough vitamins, minerals and +usable proteins. What limits our ability to intake nutrients is the +amount of bulk we can process--or the number of calories in the +food. With cows, for example, bulk is the limiter. The cow will +completely fill her digestive tract at all times and will process +all the vegetation she can digest every day of her life. Her health +depends on the amount of nutrition in that bulk. With humans, our +modern lifestyle limits most of us to consuming 1,500 to 1,800 +calories a day. Our health depends on the amount of nutrients coming +along with those calories. + +So I write the fundamental equation for human health as follows: + +HEALTH = NUTRITION IN FOOD DIVIDED BY CALORIES IN THAT FOOD + +If the food that we eat contains all of the nutrients that food +could possibly contain, and in the right ratios, then we will get +sufficient nutrition while consuming the calories we need to supply +energy. However, to the degree that our diet contains denatured food +supplying too much energy, we will be lacking nutrition and our +bodies will suffer gradual degeneration. This is why foods such as +sugar and fat are less healthful because they are concentrated +sources of energy that contain little or no nutrition. Nutritionless +food also contributes to "hidden hungers" since the organism craves +something that is missing. The body overeats, and becomes fat and +unhealthy. + +Albrecht's charts show us that food from dry climates tends to be +high in proteins and essential minerals while simultaneously lower +in calories. Food from wet climates tends to be higher in calories +while much lower in protein and essential mineral nutrients. +Albrecht's writings, as well as those of Weston Price, and Sir +Robert McCarrison listed in the bibliography, are full of examples +showing how human health and longevity are directly associated with +these same variations in climate, soil, and food nutrition. + +Albrecht pointed out a clear example of soil fertility causing +health or sickness. In 1940, when America was preparing for World +War II, all eligible men were called in for a physical examination +to determine fitness for military service. At that time, Americans +did not eat the same way we do now. Food was produced and +distributed locally. Bread was milled from local flour. Meat and +milk came from local farmers. Vegetables and potatoes did not all +come from California. Regional differences in soil fertility could +be seen reflected in the health of people. + +Albrecht's state, Missouri, is divided into a number of distinct +rainfall regions. The northwestern part is grassy prairie and +receives much less moisture than the humid, forested southeastern +section. If soil tests were compared across a diagonal line drawn +from the northwest to the southeast, they would exactly mimic the +climate-caused mineral profile differences Albrecht had identified. +Not unexpectedly, 200 young men per 1,000 draftees were medically +unfit for military service from the northwest part of Missouri while +400 per 1,000 were unfit from the southeastern part. And 300 per +1,000 were unfit from the center of the state. + +Another interesting, and rather frightening, conclusion can be drawn +from the second chart. Please notice that by increasing the amount +of potassium in the potting soil, Albrecht increased the overall +yield by 25 percent while simultaneously lowering all of the other +significant nutritional aspects. Most of this increase of yield was +in the form of carbohydrates, that in a food crops equates to +calories. Agronomists also know that adding potassium fertilizer +greatly and inexpensively increases yield. So American farm soils +are routinely dosed with potassium fertilizer, increasing bulk yield +and profits without consideration for nutrition, or for the ultimate +costs in public health. Organic farmers often do not understand this +aspect of plant nutrition either and may use "organic" forms of +potassium to increase their yields and profits. Buying organically +grown food is no guarantee that it contains the ultimate in +nutrition. + +So, if health comes from paying attention to the ratio of nutrition +to calories in our food, then as gardeners who are in charge of +creating a significant amount of our own fodder, we can take that +equation a step further: + +HEALTH = Nutrition/Calories = Calcium/Potassium + +When we decide how to manage our gardens we can take steps to +imitate dryland soils by keeping potassium levels lower while +maintaining higher levels of calcium. + +Now take another close look at the third chart. Average vegetation +from dryland soils contains slightly more potassium than calcium +(1.2:1) while average vegetation from wetland soils contains many +more times more potassium than calcium (4.5:1). When we import +manure or vegetation into our garden or farm soils we are adding +large quantities of potassium. Those of us living in rainy climates +that were naturally forested have it much worse in this respect than +those of us gardening on the prairies or growing irrigated gardens +in desert climates because the very vegetation and manure we use to +"build up" our gardens contains much more potassium while most of +our soils already contain all we need and then some. + +It should be clear to you now why some organic gardeners receive the +soil tests like the man at my lecture. Even the soil tester, +although scientifically trained and university educated, did not +appreciate the actual source of the potassium overdose. The tester +concluded it must have been wood ashes when actually the potassium +came from organic matter itself. + +I conclude that organic matter is somewhat dangerous stuff whose use +should be limited to the amount needed to maintain basic soil tilth +and a healthy, complex soil ecology. + +Fertilizing Gardens Organically + +Scientists analyzing the connections between soil fertility and the +nutritional value of crops have repeatedly remarked that the best +crops are grown with compost and fertilizer. Not fertilizer alone +and not compost alone. The best place for gardeners to see these +data is Werner Schupan's book (listed in the bibliography). + +But say the word "fertilizer" to an organic gardener and you'll +usually raise their hackles. Actually there is no direct linkage of +the words "fertilizer" and "chemical." A fertilizer is any +concentrated plant nutrient source that rapidly becomes available in +the soil. In my opinion, chemicals are the poorest fertilizers; +organic fertilizers are far superior. + +The very first fertilizer sold widely in the industrial world was +guano. It is the naturally sun-dried droppings of nesting sea birds +that accumulates in thick layers on rocky islands off the coast of +South America. Guano is a potent nutrient source similar to dried +chicken manure, containing large quantities of nitrogen, fair +amounts of phosphorus, and smaller quantities of potassium. Guano is +more potent than any other manure because sea birds eat ocean fish, +a very high protein and highly mineralized food. Other potent +organic fertilizers include seed meals; pure, dried chicken manure; +slaughterhouse wastes; dried kelp and other seaweeds; and fish meal. + +Composition of Organic Fertilizers + +Material % Nitrogen % Phos. % Potassium +Alfalfa meal 2.5 0.5 2.1 +Bone meal (raw) 3.5 21.0 0.2 +Bone meal (steamed) 2.0 21.0 0.2 +Chicken manure (pure, fresh) 2.6 1.25 0.75 +Cottonseed meal 7.0 3.0 2.0 +Blood meal 12.0 3.0 -- +Fish meal 8.0 7.0 -- +Greensand -- 1.5 7.0 +Hoof and Horn 12.5 2.0 -- +Kelp meal 1.5 0.75 4.9 +Peanut meal 3.6 0.7 0.5 +Tankage 11.0 5.0 -- + +Growing most types of vegetables requires building a level of soil +fertility that is much higher than required by field crops like +cereals, soybeans, cotton and sunflowers. Field crops can be +acceptably productive on ordinary soils without fertilization. +However, because we have managed our farm soils as depreciating +industrial assets rather than as relatively immortal living bodies, +their ability to deliver plant nutrients has declined and the +average farmer usually must add additional nutrients in the form of +concentrated, rapidly-releasing fertilizers if they are going to +grow a profitable crop. + +Vegetables are much more demanding than field crops. They have long +been adapted to growing on potent composts or strong manures like +fresh horse manure or chicken manure. Planted and nourished like +wheat, most would refuse to grow or if they did survive in a wheat +field, vegetables would not produce the succulent, tender parts we +consider valuable. + +Building higher than normal levels of plant nutrients can be done +with large additions of potent compost and manure. In semi-arid +parts of the country where vegetation holds a beneficial ratio of +calcium to potassium food grown that way will be quite nutritious. +In areas of heavier rainfall, increasing soil fertility to vegetable +levels is accomplished better with fertilizers. The data in the +previous section gives strong reasons for many gardeners to limit +the addition of organic matter in soil to a level that maintains a +healthy soil ecology and acceptable tilth. Instead of supplementing +compost with low quality chemical fertilizers, I recommend making +and using a complete organic fertilizer mix to increase mineral +fertility. + +Making and Using Complete Organic Fertilizer + +The basic ingredients used for making balanced organic fertilizers +can vary and what you decide on will largely depend on where you +live. Seed meal usually forms the body of the blend. Seed meals are +high in nitrogen and moderately rich in phosphorus because plants +concentrate most of the phosphorus they collect during their entire +growth cycle into their seeds to serve to give the next generation a +strong start. Seed meals contain low but more than adequate amounts +of potassium. + +The first mineral to be removed by leaching is calcium. Adding lime +can make all the difference in wet soils. Dolomite lime also adds +magnesium and is the preferable form of lime to use in a fertilizer +blend on most soils. Gypsum could be substituted for lime in arid +areas where the soils are naturally alkaline but still may benefit +from additional calcium. Kelp meal contains valuable trace minerals. +If I were short of money, first I'd eliminate the kelp meal, then +the phosphate source. + +All ingredients going into this formula are measured by volume and +the measurements can be very rough: by sack, by scoop, or by coffee +can. You can keep the ingredients separated and mix fertilizer by +the bucketful as needed or you can dump the contents of half a dozen +assorted sacks out on a concrete sidewalk or driveway and blend them +with a shovel and then store the mixture in garbage cans or even in +the original sacks the ingredients came in. + +This is my formula. + +4 parts by volume: Any seed meal such as cottonseed meal, soybean +meal, sunflower meal, canola meal, linseed meal, safflower, peanut +meal or coconut meal. Gardeners with deep pocketbooks and +insensitive noses can also fish meal. Gardeners without vegetarian +scruples may use meat meal, tankage, leather dust, feather meal or +other slaughterhouse waste. + +1 part by volume: Bone meal or rock phosphate + +1 part by volume: Lime, preferably dolomite on most soils. + +(Soils derived from serpentine rock contain almost toxic levels of +magnesium and should not receive dolomite. Alkaline soils may still +benefit from additional calcium and should get gypsum instead of +ordinary lime.) + +1/2 part by volume: kelp meal or other dried seaweed. + +To use this fertilizer, broadcast and work in about one gallon per +each 100 square feet of growing bed or 50 feet of row. This is +enough for all low-demand vegetables like carrots, beans and peas. + +For more needy species, blend an additional handful or two into +about a gallon of soil below the transplants or in the hill. If +planting in rows, cut a deep furrow, sprinkle in about one pint of +fertilizer per 10-15 row feet, cover the fertilizer with soil and +then cut another furrow to sow the seeds in about two inches away. +Locating concentrations of nutrition close to seeds or seedlings is +called "banding." + +I have a thick file of letters thanking me for suggesting the use of +this fertilizer blend. If you've been "building up your soil" for +years, or if your vegetables never seem to grow as large or lustily +as you imagine they should, I strongly suggest you experiment with a +small batch of this mixture. Wouldn't you like heads of broccoli +that were 8-12 inches in diameter? Or zucchini plants that didn't +quit yielding? + + + + + + +CHAPTER NINE + +Making Superior Compost + + + + + +The potency of composts can vary greatly. Most municipal solid waste +compost has a high carbon to nitrogen ratio and when tilled into +soil temporarily provokes the opposite of a good growth response +until soil animals and microorganisms consume most of the undigested +paper. But if low-grade compost is used as a surface mulch on +ornamentals, the results are usually quite satisfactory even if +unspectacular. + +If the aim of your own composting is to conveniently dispose of yard +waste and kitchen garbage, the information in the first half of the +book is all you need to know. If you need compost to make something +that dependably GROWS plants like it was fertilizer, then this +chapter is for you. + +A Little History + +Before the twentieth century, the fertilizers market gardeners used +were potent manures and composts. The vegetable gardens of country +folk also received the best manures and composts available while the +field crops got the rest. So I've learned a great deal from old +farming and market gardening literature about using animal manures. +In previous centuries, farmers classified manures by type and +purity. There was "long" and "short" manure, and then, there was the +supreme plant growth stimulant, chicken manure. + +Chicken manure was always highly prized but usually in short supply +because preindustrial fowl weren't caged in factories or permanently +locked in hen houses and fed scientifically formulated mixes. The +chicken breed of that era was usually some type of bantam, +half-wild, broody, protective of chicks, and capable of foraging. A +typical pre-1900 small-scale chicken management system was to allow +the flock free access to hunt their own meals in the barnyard and +orchard, luring them into the coop at dusk with a bit of grain where +they were protected from predators while sleeping helplessly. Some +manure was collected from the hen house but most of it was dropped +where it could not be gathered. The daily egg hunt was worth it +because, before the era of pesticides, having chickens range through +the orchard greatly reduced problems with insects in fruit. + +The high potency of chicken manure derives from the chickens' low +C/N diet: worms, insects, tender shoots of new grass, and other +proteinaceous young greens and seeds. Twentieth-century chickens +"living" in egg and meat factories must still be fed low C/N foods, +primarily grains, and their manure is still potent. But anyone who +has savored real free-range eggs with deep orange yokes from +chickens on a proper diet cannot be happy with what passes for +"eggs" these days. + +Fertilizing with pure chicken manure is not very different than +using ground cereal grains or seed meals. It is so concentrated that +it might burn plant leaves like chemical fertilizer does and must be +applied sparingly to soil. It provokes a marked and vigorous growth +response. Two or three gallons of dry, pure fresh chicken manure are +sufficient nutrition to GROW about 100 square feet of vegetables in +raised beds to the maximum. + +Exclusively incorporating pure chicken manure into a vegetable +garden also results in rapid humus loss, just as though chemical +fertilizers were used. Any fertilizing substance with a C/N below +that of stabilized humus, be it a chemical or a natural substance, +accelerates the decline in soil organic matter. That is because +nitrate nitrogen, the key to constructing all protein, is usually +the main factor limiting the population of soil microorganisms. When +the nitrate level of soil is significantly increased, microbe +populations increase proportionately and proceeds to eat organic +matter at an accelerated rate. + +That is why small amounts of chemical fertilizer applied to soil +that still contains a reasonable amount of humus has such a powerful +effect. Not only does the fertilizer itself stimulate the growth of +plants, but fertilizer increases the microbial population. More +microbes accelerate the breakdown of humus and even more plant +nutrients are released as organic matter decays. And that is why +holistic farmers and gardeners mistakenly criticize chemical +fertilizers as being directly destructive of soil microbes. +Actually, all fertilizers, chemical or organic, _indirectly_ harm +soil life, first increasing their populations to unsustainable +levels that drop off markedly once enough organic matter has been +eaten. Unless, of course, the organic matter is replaced. + +Chicken manure compost is another matter. Mix the pure manure with +straw, sawdust, or other bedding, compost it and, depending on the +amount and quantity of bedding used and the time allowed for +decomposition to occur, the resultant C/N will be around 12:1 or +above. Any ripened compost around 12:1 still will GROW plants +beautifully. Performance drops off as the C/N increases. + +Since chicken manure was scarce, most pre-twentieth century market +gardeners depended on seemingly unlimited supplies of "short +manure," generally from horses. The difference between the "long" +and the "short" manure was bedding. Long manure contained straw from +the stall while short manure was pure street sweepings without +adulterants. Hopefully, the straw portion of long manure had +absorbed a quantity of urine. + +People of that era knew the fine points of hay quality as well as +people today know their gasoline. Horses expected to do a day's work +were fed on grass or grass/clover mixes that had been cut and dried +while they still had a high protein content. Leafy hay was highly +prized while hay that upon close inspection revealed lots of stems +and seed heads would be rejected by a smart buyer. The working +horse's diet was supplemented with a daily ration of grain. +Consequently, uncomposted fresh short manure probably started out +with a C/N around 15:1. However, don't count on anything that good +from horses these days. Most horses aren't worked daily so their +fodder is often poor. Judging from the stemmy, cut-too-late grass +hay our local horses have to try to survive on, if I could find +bedding-free horse manure it would probably have a C/N more like +20:1. Manure from physically fit thoroughbred race horses is +probably excellent. + +Using fresh horse manure in soil gave many vegetables a harsh flavor +so it was first composted by mixing in some soil (a good idea +because otherwise a great deal of ammonia would escape the heap). +Market gardeners raising highly demanding crops like cauliflower and +celery amended composted short manure by the inches-thick layer. +Lesser nutrient-demanding crops like snap beans, lettuce, and roots +followed these intensively fertilized vegetables without further +compost. + +Long manures containing lots of straw were considered useful only +for field crops or root vegetables. Wise farmers conserved the +nitrogen and promptly composted long manures. After heating and +turning the resulting C/N would probably be in a little below 20:1. +After tilling it in, a short period of time was allowed while the +soil digested this compost before sowing seeds. Lazy farmers spread +raw manure load by load as it came from the barn and tilled it in +once the entire field was covered. This easy method allows much +nitrogen to escape as ammonia while the manure dries in the sun. +Commercial vegetable growers had little use for long manure. + +One point of this brief history lesson is GIGO: garbage in, garbage +out. The finished compost tends to have a C/N that is related to the +ingredients that built the heap. Growers of vegetables will wisely +take note. + +Anyone interested in learning more about preindustrial market +gardening might ask their librarian to seek out a book called +_French Gardening_ by Thomas Smith, published in London about 1905. +This fascinating little book was written to encourage British market +gardeners to imitate the Parisian marcier, who skillfully +earned top returns growing out-of-season produce on intensive, +double-dug raised beds, often under glass hot or cold frames. Our +trendy American Biodynamic French Intensive gurus obtained their +inspiration from England through this tradition. + +Curing the Heap + +The easiest and most sure-fire improver of compost quality is time. +Making a heap with predominantly low C/N materials inevitably +results in potent compost if nitrate loss is kept to a minimum. But +the C/N of almost any compost heap, even one starting with a high +C/N will eventually lower itself. The key word here is _eventually._ +The most dramatic decomposition occurs during the first few turns +when the heap is hot. Many people, including writers of garden +books, mistakenly think that the composting ends when the pile cools +and the material no longer resembles what made up the heap. This is +not true. As long as a compost heap is kept moist and is turned +occasionally, it will continue to decompose. "Curing" or "ripening" +are terms used to describe what occurs once heating is over. + +A different ecology of microorganisms predominates while a heap is +ripening. If the heap contains 5 to 10 percent soil, is kept moist, +is turned occasionally so it stays aerobic, and has a complete +mineral balance, considerable bacterial nitrogen fixation may occur. + +Most gardeners are familiar with the microbes that nodulate the +roots of legumes. Called rhizobia, these bacteria are capable of +fixing large quantities of nitrate nitrogen in a short amount of +time. Rhizobia tend to be inactive during hot weather because the +soil itself is supplying nitrates from the breakdown of organic +matter. Summer legume crops, like cowpeas and snap beans, tend to be +net consumers of nitrates, not makers of more nitrates than they can +use. Consider this when you read in carelessly researched garden +books and articles about the advantages of interplanting legumes +with other crops because they supposedly generate nitrates that +"help" their companions. + +But during spring or fall when lowered soil temperatures retard +decomposition, rhizobia can manufacture from 80 to 200 pounds of +nitrates per acre. Peas, clovers, alfalfa, vetches, and fava beans +can all make significant contributions of nitrate nitrogen and smart +farmers prefer to grow their nitrogen by green manuring legumes. +Wise farmers also know that this nitrate, though produced in root +nodules, is used by legumes to grow leaf and stem. So the entire +legume must be tilled in if any net nitrogen gain is to be realized. +This wise practice simultaneously increases organic matter. + +Rhizobia are not capable of being active in compost piles, but +another class of microbes is. Called azobacteria, these free-living +soil dwellers also make nitrate nitrogen. Their contribution is not +potentially as great as rhizobia, but no special provision must be +made to encourage azobacteria other than maintaining a decent level +of humus for them to eat, a balanced mineral supply that includes +adequate calcium, and a soil pH between 5.75 and 7.25. A +high-yielding crop of wheat needs 60-80 pounds of nitrates per acre. +Corn and most vegetables can use twice that amount. Azobacteria can +make enough for wheat, though an average nitrate contribution under +good soil conditions might be more like 30-50 pounds per year. + +Once a compost heap has cooled, azobacteria will proliferate and +begin to manufacture significant amounts of nitrates, steadily +lowering the C/N. And carbon never stops being digested, further +dropping the C/N. The rapid phase of composting may be over in a few +months, but ripening can be allowed to go on for many more months if +necessary. + +Feeding unripened compost to worms is perhaps the quickest way to +lower C/N and make a potent soil amendment. Once the high heat of +decomposition has passed and the heap is cooling, it is commonly +invaded by redworms, the same species used for vermicomposting +kitchen garbage. These worms would not be able to eat the high C/N +material that went into a heap, but after heating, the average C/N +has probably dropped enough to be suitable for them. + +The municipal composting operation at Fallbrook, California makes +clever use of this method to produce a smaller amount of high-grade +product out of a larger quantity of low-grade ingredients. Mixtures +of sewage sludge and municipal solid waste are first composted and +after cooling, the half-done high C/N compost is shallowly spread +out over crude worm beds and kept moist. More crude compost is added +as the worms consume the waste, much like a household worm box. The +worm beds gradually rise. The lower portion of these mounds is pure +castings while the worm activity stays closer to the surface where +food is available. When the beds have grown to about three feet +tall, the surface few inches containing worms and undigested food +are scraped off and used to form new vermicomposting beds. The +castings below are considered finished compost. By laboratory +analysis, the castings contain three or four times as much nitrogen +as the crude compost being fed to the worms. + +The marketplace gives an excellent indicator of the difference +between their crude compost and the worm casts. Even though +Fallbrook is surrounded by large acreages devoted to citrus orchards +and row crop vegetables, the municipality has a difficult time +disposing of the crude product. But their vermicompost is in strong +demand. + +Sir Albert Howard's Indore Method + +Nineteenth-century farmers and market gardeners had much practical +knowledge about using manures and making composts that worked like +fertilizers, but little was known about the actual microbial process +of composting until our century. As information became available +about compost ecology, one brilliant individual, Sir Albert Howard, +incorporated the new science of soil microbiology into his +composting and by patient experiment learned how to make superior +compost + +During the 1920s, Albert Howard was in charge of a government +research farm at Indore, India. At heart a Peace Corps volunteer, he +made Indore operate like a very representative Indian farm, growing +all the main staples of the local agriculture: cotton, sugar cane, +and cereals. The farm was powered by the same work oxen used by the +surrounding farmers. It would have been easy for Howard to +demonstrate better yields through high technology by buying chemical +fertilizers or using seed meal wastes from oil extraction, using +tractors, and growing new, high-yielding varieties that could make +use of more intense soil nutrition. But these inputs were not +affordable to the average Indian farmer and Howard's purpose was to +offer genuine help to his neighbors by demonstrating methods they +_could_ easily afford and use. + +In the beginning of his work at Indore, Howard observed that the +district's soils were basically fertile but low in organic matter +and nitrogen. This deficiency seemed to be due to traditionally +wasteful practices concerning manures and agricultural residues. So +Howard began developing methods to compost the waste products of +agriculture, making enough high-quality fertilizer to supply the +entire farm. Soon, Indore research farm was enjoying record yields +without having insect or disease problems, and without buying +fertilizer or commercial seed. More significantly, the work animals, +fed exclusively on fodder from Indore's humus-rich soil, become +invulnerable to cattle diseases. Their shining health and fine +condition became the envy of the district. + +Most significant, Howard contended that his method not only +conserved the nitrogen in cattle manure and crop waste, not only +conserved the organic matter the land produced, but also raised the +processes of the entire operation to an ecological climax of +maximized health and production. Conserving the manure and +composting the crop waste allowed him to increase the soil's organic +matter which increased the soil's release of nutrients from rock +particles that further increased the production of biomass which +allowed him to make even more compost and so on. What I have just +described is not surprising, it is merely a variation on good +farming that some humans have known about for millennia. + +What was truly revolutionary was Howard's contention about +increasing net nitrates. With gentle understatement, Howard asserted +that his compost was genuinely superior to anything ever known +before. Indore compost had these advantages: no nitrogen or organic +matter was lost from the farm through mishandling of agricultural +wastes; the humus level of the farm's soils increased to a maximum +sustainable level; and, _the amount of nitrate nitrogen in the +finished compost was higher than the total amount of nitrogen +contained in the materials that formed the heap._ Indore compost +resulted in a net gain of nitrate nitrogen. The compost factory was +also a biological nitrate factory. + +Howard published details of the Indore method in 1931 in a slim book +called _The Waste Products of Agriculture. _The widely read book +brought him invitations to visit plantations throughout the British +Empire. It prompted farmers world-wide to make compost by the Indore +method. Travel, contacts, and new awareness of the problems of +European agriculture were responsible for Howard's decision to +create an organic farming and gardening movement. + +Howard repeatedly warned in _The Waste Products of Agriculture_ that +if the underlying fundamentals of his process were altered, superior +results would not occur. That was his viewpoint in 1931. However, +humans being what we are, it does not seem possible for good +technology to be broadcast without each user trying to improve and +adapt it to their own situation and understanding. By 1940, the term +"lndore compost" had become a generic term for any kind of compost +made in a heap without the use of chemicals, much as "Rototiller" +has come to mean any motor-driven rotarytiller. + +Howard's 1931 concerns were correct--almost all alterations of the +original Indore system lessened its value--but Howard of 1941 did +not resist this dilutive trend because in an era of chemical farming +any compost was better than no compost, any return of humus better +than none. + +Still, I think it is useful to go back to the Indore research farm +of the 1920s and to study closely how Albert Howard once made the +world's finest compost, and to encounter this great man's thoughts +before he became a crusading ideologue, dead set against any use of +agricultural chemicals. A great many valuable lessons are still +contained in _The Waste Products of Agriculture. _Unfortunately, +even though many organic gardeners are familiar with the later works +of Sir Albert Howard the reformer, Albert Howard the scientist and +researcher, who wrote this book, is virtually unknown today. + +At Indore, all available vegetable material was composted, including +manure and bedding straw from the cattle shed, unconsumed crop +residues, fallen leaves and other forest wastes, weeds, and green +manures grown specifically for compost making. All of the urine from +the cattle shed-in the form of urine earth--and all wood ashes from +any source on the farm were also included. Being in the tropics, +compost making went on year-round. Of the result, Howard stated that + +"The product is a finely divided leafmould, of high nitrifying +power, ready for immediate use [without temporarily inhibiting plant +growth]. The fine state of division enables the compost to be +rapidly incorporated and to exert its maximum influence on a very +large area of the internal surface of the soil." + +Howard stressed that for the Indore method to work reliably the +carbon to nitrogen ratio of the material going into the heap must +always be in the same range. Every time a heap was built the same +assortment of crop wastes were mixed with the same quantities of +fresh manure and urine earth. As with my bread-baking analogy, +Howard insured repeatability of ingredients. + +Any hard, woody materials--Howard called them "refractory"--must be +thoroughly broken up before composting, otherwise the fermentation +would not be vigorous, rapid, and uniform throughout the process. +This mechanical softening up was cleverly accomplished without power +equipment by spreading tough crop wastes like cereal straw or pigeon +pea and cotton stalks out over the farm roads, allowing cartwheels, +the oxens' hooves, and foot traffic to break them up. + +Decomposition must be rapid and aerobic, but not too aerobic. And +not too hot. Quite intentionally, Indore compost piles were not +allowed to reach the highest temperatures that are possible. During +the first heating cycle, peak temperatures were about 140 degree. +After two weeks, when the first turn was made, temperatures had +dropped to about 125 degree, and gradually declined from there. +Howard cleverly restricted the air supply and thermal mass so as to +"bank the fires" of decomposition. This moderation was his key to +preventing loss of nitrogen. Provisions were made to water the heaps +as necessary, to turn them several times, and to use a novel system +of mass inoculation with the proper fungi and bacteria. I'll shortly +discuss each of these subjects in detail. Howard was pleased that +there was no need to accept nitrogen loss at any stage and that the +reverse should happen. Once the C/N had dropped sufficiently, the +material was promptly incorporated into the soil where nitrate +nitrogen will be best preserved. But the soil is not capable of +doing two jobs at once. It can't digest crude organic matter and +simultaneously nitrify humus. So compost must be finished and +completely ripe when it was tilled in so that: + +". . . there must be no serious competition between the last stages +of decay of the compost and the work of the soil in growing the +crop. This is accomplished by carrying the manufacture of humus up +to the point when nitrification is about to begin. In this way the +Chinese principle of dividing the growing of a crop into two +separate processes--(1) the preparation of the food materials +outside the field, and (2) the actual growing of the crop-can be +introduced into general agricultural practice." + +And because he actually lived on a farm, Howard especially +emphasized that composting must be sanitary and odorless and that +flies must not be allowed to breed in the compost or around the work +cattle. Country life can be quite idyllic--without flies. + +The Indore Compost Factory + +At Indore, Howard built a covered, open-sided, compost-making +factory that sheltered shallow pits, each 30 feet long by 14 feet +wide by 2 feet deep with sloping sides. The pits were sufficiently +spaced to allow loaded carts to have access to all sides of any of +them and a system of pipes brought water near every one. The +materials to be composted were all stored adjacent to the factory. +Howard's work oxen were conveniently housed in the next building. + +Soil and Urine Earth + +Howard had been raised on an English farm and from childhood he had +learned the ways of work animals and how to make them comfortable. +So, for the ease of their feet, the cattle shed and its attached, +roofed loafing pen had earth floors. All soil removed from the +silage pits, dusty sweepings from the threshing floors, and silt +from the irrigation ditches were stored near the cattle shed and +used to absorb urine from the work cattle. This soil was spread +about six inches deep in the cattle stalls and loafing pen. About +three times a year it was scraped up and replaced with fresh soil, +the urine-saturated earth then was dried and stored in a special +covered enclosure to be used for making compost. + +The presence of this soil in the heap was essential. First, the +black soil of Indore was well-supplied with calcium, magnesium, and +other plant nutrients. These basic elements prevented the heaps from +becoming overly acid. Additionally, the clay in the soil was +uniquely incorporated into the heap so that it coated everything. +Clay has a strong ability to absorb ammonia, preventing nitrogen +loss. A clay coating also holds moisture. Without soil, "an even and +vigorous mycelial growth is never quickly obtained." Howard said +"the fungi are the storm troops of the composting process, and must +be furnished with all the armament they need." + +Crop Wastes + +Crop wastes were protected from moisture, stored dry under cover +near the compost factory. Green materials were first withered in the +sun for a few days before storage. Refractory materials were spread +on the farm's roads and crushed by foot traffic and cart wheels +before stacking. All these forms of vegetation were thinly layered +as they were received so that the dry storage stacks became +thoroughly mixed. Care was taken to preserve the mixing by cutting +vertical slices out of the stacks when vegetation was taken to the +compost pits. Howard said the average C/N of this mixed vegetation +was about 33:1. Every compost heap made year-round was built with +this complex assortment of vegetation having the same properties and +the same C/N. + +Special preliminary treatment was given to hard, woody materials +like sugarcane, millet stumps, wood shavings and waste paper. These +were first dumped into an empty compost pit, mixed with a little +soil, and kept moist until they softened. Or they might be soaked in +water for a few days and then added to the bedding under the work +cattle. Great care was taken when handling the cattle's bedding to +insure that no flies would breed in it. + +Manure + +Though crop wastes and urine-earth could be stored dry for later +use, manure, the key ingredient of Indore compost, had to be used +fresh. Fresh cow dung contains bacteria from the cow's rumen that is +essential to the rapid decomposition of cellulose and other dry +vegetation. Without their abundant presence composting would not +begin as rapidly nor proceed as surely. + +Charging the Compost Pits + +Every effort was made to fill a pit to the brim within one week. If +there wasn't enough material to fill an entire pit within one week, +then a portion of one pit would be filled to the top. To preserve +good aeration, every effort was made to avoid stepping on the +material while filling the pit. As mixtures of manure and bedding +were brought out from the cattle shed they were thinly layered atop +thin layers of mixed vegetation brought in from the dried reserves +heaped up adjacent to the compost factory. Each layer was thoroughly +wet down with a clay slurry made of three ingredients: water, +urine-earth, and actively decomposing material from an adjacent +compost pit that had been filled about two weeks earlier. This +insured that every particle within the heap was moist and was coated +with nitrogen-rich soil and the microorganisms of decomposition. +Today, we would call this practice "mass inoculation." + +Pits Versus Heaps + +India has two primary seasons. Most of the year is hot and dry while +the monsoon rains come from dune through September. During the +monsoon, so much water falls so continuously that the earth becomes +completely saturated. Even though the pits were under a roof, they +would fill with water during this period. So in the monsoon, compost +was made in low heaps atop the ground. Compared to the huge pits, +their dimensions were smaller than you would expect: 7 x 7 feet at +the top, 8 x 8 feet at the base and no more than 2 feet high. When +the rains started, any compost being completed in pits was +transferred to above-ground heaps when it was turned. + +Howard was accomplishing several things by using shallow pits or low +but very broad heaps. One, thermal masses were reduced so +temperatures could not reach the ultimate extremes possible while +composting. The pits were better than heaps because air flow was +further reduced, slowing down the fermentation, while their +shallowness still permitted sufficient aeration. There were enough +covered pits to start a new heap every week. + +Temperature Range in Normal Pit + +Age in days Temperature in degree C + +3 63 +4 60 +6 58 +11 55 +12 53 +13 49 +14 49 + +_First Turn_ + +18 49 +20 51 +22 48 +24 47 +29 46 + +_Second Turn_ + +37 49 +38 45 +40 40 +43 39 +57 39 + +_Third Turn_ + +61 41 +66 39 +76 38 +82 36 +90 33 + +Period in days for each fall of 5i C + +Temperature Range No. of Days + +65 degree-60 degree 4 +60 degree-55 degree 7 +55 degree-50 degree 1 +50 degree-45 degree 25 +45 degree-40 degree 2 +40 degree-35 degree 44 +35 degree-30 degree 14 + +Total 97 days + +Turning + +_Turning the compost_ was done three times: To insure uniform +decomposition, to restore moisture and air, and to supply massive +quantities of those types of microbes needed to take the composting +process to its next stage. + +The first turn was at about sixteen days. A second mass inoculation +equivalent to a few wheelbarrows full of 30 day old composting +material was taken from an adjacent pit and spread thinly over the +surface of the pit being turned. Then, one half of the pit was dug +out with a manure fork and placed atop the first half. A small +quantity of water was added, if needed to maintain moisture. Now the +compost occupied half the pit, a space about 15 x 14 and was about +three feet high, rising out of the earth about one foot. During the +monsoons when heaps were used, the above-ground piles were also mass +inoculated and then turned so as to completely mix the material, and +as we do today, placing the outside material in the core and +vice-versa. + +One month after starting, or about two weeks after the first turn, +the pit or heap would be turned again. More water would be added. +This time the entire mass would be forked from one half the pit to +the other and every effort would be made to fluff up the material +while thoroughly mixing it. And a few loads of material were removed +to inoculate a 15-day-old pit. + +Another month would pass, or about two months after starting, and +for the third time the compost would be turned and then allowed to +ripen. This time the material is brought out of the pit and piled +atop the earth so as to increase aeration. At this late stage there +would be no danger of encouraging high temperatures but the +increased oxygen facilitated nitrogen fixation. The contents of +several pits might be combined to form a heap no larger than 10 x 10 +at the base, 9 x 9 on top, and no more than 3-1/2 feet high. Again, +more water might be added. Ripening would take about one month. +Howard's measurements showed that after a month's maturation the +finished compost should be used without delay or precious nitrogen +would be lost. However, keep in mind when considering this brief +ripening period that the heap was already as potent as it could +become. Howard's problem was not further improving the C/N, it was +conservation of nitrogen. + +The Superior Value of Indore Compost. + +Howard said that finished Indore compost was twice as rich in +nitrogen as ordinary farmyard manure and that his target was compost +with a C/N of 10:1. Since it was long manure he was referring to, +let's assume that the C/N of a new heap started at 25:1. + +The C/N of vegetation collected during the year is highly variable. +Young grasses and legumes are very high in nitrogen, while dried +straw from mature plants has a very high C/N. If compost is made +catch-as-catch-can by using materials as they come available, then +results will be highly erratic. Howard had attempted to make +composts of single vegetable materials like cotton residues, cane +trash, weeds, fresh green sweet clover, or the waste of field peas. +These experiments were always unsatisfactory. So Howard wisely mixed +his vegetation, first withering and drying green materials by +spreading them thinly in the sun to prevent their premature +decomposition, and then taking great care to preserve a uniform +mixture of vegetation types when charging his compost pits. This +strategy can be duplicated by the home gardener. Howard was +surprised to discover that he could compost all the crop waste he +had available with only half the urine earth and about one-quarter +of the oxen manure he had available. But fresh manure and urine +earth were essential. + +During the 1920s a patented process for making compost with a +chemical fertilizer called Adco was in vogue and Howard tried it. Of +using chemicals he said: + +"The weak point of Adco is that it does nothing to overcome one of +the great difficulties in composting, namely the absorption of +moisture in the early stages. In hot weather in India, the Adco pits +lose moisture so rapidly that the fermentation stops, the +temperature becomes uneven and then falls. When, however, urine +earth and cow-dung are used, the residues become covered with a thin +colloidal film, which not only retains moisture but contains +combined nitrogen and minerals required by the fungi. This film +enables the moisture to penetrate the mass and helps the fungi to +establish themselves. Another disadvantage of Adco is that when this +material is used according to the directions, the carbon-nitrogen +ratio of the final product is narrower than the ideal 10:1. Nitrogen +is almost certain to be lost before the crop can make use of it" + +Fresh cow manure contains digestive enzymes and living bacteria that +specialize in cellulose decomposition. Having a regular supply of +this material helped initiate decomposition without delay. +Contributing large quantities of actively growing microorganisms +through mass inoculation with material from a two-week-old pile also +helped. The second mass inoculation at two weeks, with material from +a month-old heap provided a large supply of the type of organisms +required when the heap began cooling. City gardeners without access +to fresh manure may compensate for this lack by imitating Howard's +mass inoculation technique, starting smaller amounts of compost in a +series of bins and mixing into each bin a bit of material from the +one further along at each turning. The passive backyard composting +container automatically duplicates this advantage. It simultaneously +contains all decomposition stages and inoculates the material above +by contact with more decomposed material below. Using prepared +inoculants in a continuous composting bin is unnecessary. + +City gardeners cannot readily obtain urine earth. Nor are American +country gardeners with livestock likely to be willing to do so much +work. Remember that Howard used urine earth for three reasons. One, +it contained a great deal of nitrogen and improved the starting C/N +of the heap. Second, it is thrifty. Over half the nutrient content +of the food passing through cattle is discharged in the urine. But, +equally important, soil itself was beneficial to the process. Of +this Howard said, "[where] there may be insufficient dung and urine +earth for converting large quantities of vegetable wastes which are +available, the shortage may be made up by the use of nitrate of soda +. . . If such artificials are employed, it will be a great advantage +to make use of soil." I am sure he would have made very similar +comments about adding soil when using chicken manure, or organic +concentrates like seed meals, as cattle manure substitutes. + +Control of the air supply is the most difficult part of composting. +First, the process must stay aerobic. That is one reason that +single-material heaps fail because they tend to pack too tightly. To +facilitate air exchange, the pits or heaps were never more than two +feet deep. Where air was insufficient (though still aerobic) decay +is retarded but worse, a process called denitrification occurs in +which nitrates and ammonia are biologically broken down into gasses +and permanently lost. Too much manure and urine-earth can also +interfere with aeration by making the heap too heavy, establishing +anaerobic conditions. The chart illustrates denitrification caused +by insufficient aeration compared to turning the composting process +into a biological nitrate factory with optimum aeration. + +Making Indore Compost in Deep and Shallow Pits + + Pit 4 feet deep Pit 2 feet deep +Amount of material (lb. wet) +in pit at start 4,500 4,514 +Total nitrogen (lb) at start 31.25 29.12 +Total nitrogen at end 29.49 32.36 +Loss or gain of nitrogen (lb) -1.76 +3.24 +Percentage loss or gain of nitrogen -6.1% +11.1% + +Finally, modern gardeners might reconsider limiting temperature +during composting. India is a very warm climate with balmy nights +most of the year. Heaps two or three feet high will achieve an +initial temperature of about 145 degree. The purchase of a +thermometer with a long probe and a little experimentation will show +you the dimensions that will more-or-less duplicate Howard's +temperature regimes in your climate with your materials. + +Inoculants + +Howard's technique of mass inoculation with large amounts of +biologically active material from older compost heaps speeds and +directs decomposition. It supplies large numbers of the most useful +types of microorganisms so they dominate the heap's ecology before +other less desirable types can establish significant populations. I +can't imagine how selling mass inoculants could be turned into a +business. + +But just imagine that seeding a new heap with tiny amounts of +superior microorganisms could speed initial decomposition and result +in a much better product. That _could _be a business. Such an +approach is not without precedent. Brewers, vintners, and bread +makers all do that. And ever since composting became interesting to +twentieth-century farmers and gardeners, entrepreneurs have been +concocting compost starters that are intended to be added by the +ounce(s) to the cubic yard. + +Unlike the mass inoculation used at Indore, these inoculants are a +tiny population compared to the microorganisms already present in +any heap. In that respect, inoculating compost is very different +than beer, wine, or bread. With these food products there are few or +no microorganisms at the start. The inoculant, small as it might be, +still introduces millions of times more desirable organisms than +those wild types that might already be present. + +But the materials being assembled into a new compost heap are +already loaded with microorganism. As when making sauerkraut, what +is needed is present at the start. A small packet of inoculant is +not likely to introduce what is not present anyway. And the complex +ecology of decomposition will go through its inevitable changes as +the microorganisms respond to variations in temperature, aeration, +pH, etc. + +This is one area of controversy where I am comfortable seeking the +advice of an expert. In this case, the authority is Clarence +Golueke, who personally researched and developed U.C. fast +composting in the early 1950s, and who has been developing municipal +composting systems ever since. The bibliography of this book lists +two useful works by Golueke. + +Golueke has run comparison tests of compost starters of all sorts +because, in his business, entrepreneurs are constantly attempting to +sell inoculants to municipal composting operations. Of these +vendors, Golueke says with thinly disguised contempt: + +"Most starter entrepreneurs include enzymes when listing the +ingredients of their products. The background for this inclusion +parallels the introduction of purportedly advanced versions of +starters-i.e., "advanced" in terms of increased capacity, utility +and versatility. Thus in the early 1950's (when [I made my] +appearance on the compost scene), starters were primarily microbial +and references to identities of constituent microbes were very +vague. References to enzymes were extremely few and far between. As +early ("pioneer") researchers began to issue formal and informal +reports on microbial groups (e.g., actinomycetes) observed by them, +they also began to conjecture on the roles of those microbial groups +in the compost process. The conjectures frequently were accompanied +by surmises about the part played by enzymes. + +Coincidentally, vendors of starters in vogue at the time began to +claim that their products included the newly reported microbial +groups as well as an array of enzymes. For some reason, hormones +were attracting attention at the time, and so most starters were +supposedly laced with hormones. In time, hormones began to disappear +from the picture, whereas enzymes were given a billing parallel to +that accorded to the microbial component." + +Golueke has worked out methods of testing starters that eliminates +any random effects and conclusively demonstrates their result. +Inevitably, and repeatedly, he found that there was no difference +between using a starter and not using one. And he says, "Although +anecdotal accounts of success due to the use of particular inoculum +are not unusual in the popular media, we have yet to come across +unqualified accounts of successes in the refereed scientific and +technical literature." I use a variation of mass inoculation when +making compost. While building a new heap, I periodically scrape up +and toss in a few shovels of compost and soil from where the +previous pile was made. Frankly, if I did not do this I don't think +the result would be any worse. + + + + + + +Bibliography + + + + + +On composting and soil organic matter + +_Workshop on the Role of Earthworms in the Stabilization of Organic +Residues, Vol. I and II._ Edited by Mary Appelhof. Kalamazoo, +Michigan: Beech Leaf Press of the Kalamazoo Nature Center, 1981. If +ever there was a serious investigation into the full range of the +earthworm's potential to help Homo Sapiens, this conference explored +it. Volume II is the most complete bibliography ever assembled on +the earthworm. + +Appelhof, Mary. _Worms Eat My Garbage._ Kalamazoo, Michigan: Flower +Press, 1982. A delightful, slim, easy reading, totally positive book +that offers enthusiastic encouragement to take advantage of +vermicomposting. + +Barrett, Dr. Thomas J. _Harnessing the Earthworm._ Boston: Wedgewood +Press, 1959. + +_The Biocycle Guide to the Art & Science of Composting._ Edited by +the Staff of _Biocycle: Journal of Waste Recycling._ Emmaus, +Pennsylvania: J.G. Press, 1991. The focus of this book is on +municipal composting and other industrial systems. Though imprinted +"Emmaus" this is not the Rodale organization, but a group that +separated from Rodale Press over ten years ago. included on the +staff are some old _Organic Gardening and Farming_ staffers from the +1970s, including Gene Logdson and Jerome Goldstein. A major section +discussing the biology and ecology of composting is written by +Clarence Golueke. There are articles about vermicomposting, +anaerobic digestion and biogasification, and numerous descriptions +of existing facilities. + +Campbell, Stu. _Let It Rot! _Pownal, Vermont: Storey Communications, +Inc., 1975. Next to my book, the best in-print at-home compost +making guide. + +Darwin, Charles R. _The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the +Action of Worms with Observations on their Habits._ London: John +Murray & Co., 1881. + +Dindal, Daniel L. _Ecology of Compost._ Syracuse, New York: N.Y. +State Council of Environmental Advisors and SUNY College of +Environmental Science and Forestry, 1972. Actually, a little booklet +but very useful. + +Golueke, Clarence G., Ph.D. _Composting: A Study of the Process and +its Principles._ Emmaus: Rodale Press, 1972. Golueke, writing in +"scientific" says much of what my book does in one-third as many +words that are three times as long. He is America's undisputed +authority on composting. + +Hopkins, Donald P. _Chemicals, Humus and the Soil._ Brooklyn: +Chemical Publishing Company, 1948. Any serious organic gardener +should confront Donald Hopkins' thoughtful critique of Albert +Howard's belief system. This book demolishes the notion that +chemical fertilizers are intrinsically harmful to soil life while +correctly stressing the vital importance of humus. + +Hopp, Henry. _What Every Gardener Should Know About Earthworms. +_Charlotte, Vermont: Garden Way Publishing Company, 1973. Hopp was a +world-recognized expert on the earthworm. + +Howard, Albert and Yeshwant D. Wad. _The Waste Products of +Agriculture: Their Utilization as Humus. _London: Oxford University +Press, 1931. Many organic gardeners have read Howard's _An +Agricultural Testament, _but almost none have heard of this book. It +is the source of my information about the original Indore composting +system. + +_An Agricultural Testament._ London & New York: Oxford +University Press, 1940. Describes Howard's early crusade to restore +humus to industrial farming. + +_The Soil and Health._ New York: Devin Adair, 1947. Also +published in London by Faber & Faber, titled _Farming and Gardening +for Health or Disease._ A full development of Howard's theme that +humus is health for plants, animals and people. + +Howard, Louise E. _The Earth's Green Carpet._ Emmaus: Rodale Press, +1947. An oft-overlooked book by Howard's second wife. This one, slim +volume expresses with elegant and passionate simplicity all of the +basic beliefs of the organic gardening and farming movement. See +also her _Albert Howard in India._ + +Kevan, D. Keith. _Soil Animals. _London: H. F. & G. Witherby Ltd., +1962. Soil zoology for otherwise well-schooled layreaders. + +King, F.H. _Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent Agriculture in +China, Korea and Japan._ Emmaus: Rodale Press, first published 1911. +Treasured by the organic gardening movement for its description of a +long-standing and successful agricultural system based completely on +composting. It is a great travel/adventure book. + +Koepf, H.H., B.D. Petterson, and W. Shaumann. _Bio-Dynamic +Agriculture: An Introduction. _Spring Valley, New York: +Anthroposophic Press, 1976. A good introduction to this +philosophical/mystical system of farming and gardening that uses +magical compost inoculants. + +Krasilnikov, N A. _Soil Microorganisms and Higher Plants. +_Translated by Y.A. Halperin. Jerusalem: Israel Program for +Scientific Translations, 1961. Organic gardeners have many vague +beliefs about how humus makes plants healthy. This book +scientifically explains why organic matter in soil makes plants +healthy. Unlike most translations of Russian, this one is an easy +read. + +Kuhnelt, Wilhelm. _Soil Biology: with special reference to the +animal kingdom. _East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, +1976. Soil zoology at a level assuming readers have university-level +biology, zoology and microbiology. Still, very interesting to +well-read lay persons who are not intimidated by Latin taxonomy. + +Minnich, Jerry. _The Earthworm Book: How to Raise and Use Earthworms +for Your Farm and Garden. _Emmaus: Rodale Press, 1977. This book is +a thorough and encyclopedic survey of the subject + +Minnich, Jerry and Marjorie Hunt. _The Rodale Guide to Composting. +_Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1979. A very complete survey of +composting at home, on the farm, and in municipalities. The book has +been through numerous rewritings since the first edition; this +version is the best. It is more cohesive and less seeming like it +was written by a committee than the version in print now. _Organic +Gardening and Farming _magazine may have been at its best when +Minnich was a senior editor. + +Oliver, George Sheffield. _Our Friend the Earthworm. _Library no. +26. Emmaus: Rodale Press, 1945. During the 1940s Rodale Press issued +an inexpensive pamphlet library; this is one of the series. + +Pfeiffer, E.E. _Biodynamic Farming and Gardening. _Spring Valley, +New York: Anthroposophic Press, 1938. + +Poincelot, R.P. _The Biochemistry and Methodology of Composting. +_Vol. Bull. 727. Conn. Agric. Expt. Sta., 1972. A rigorous but +readable review of scientific literature and known data on +composting through 1972 including a complete bibliography. + +Russell, Sir E. John. _Soil Conditions and Plant Growth._ Eighth +Ed., New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1950. The best soil science +text I know of. Avoid the recent in-print edition that has been +revised by a committee of current British agronomists. They enlarged +Russell's book and made more credible to academics by making it less +comprehensible to ordinary people with good education and +intelligence through the introduction of unnecessary mathematical +models and stilted prose. it lacks the human touch and simpler +explanations of Russell's original statements. + +Schaller, Friedrich. _Soil Animals. _Ann Arbor: University of +Michigan, 1968. Soil zoology for American readers without extensive +scientific background. Shaler was Kuhnelt's student. + +Stout, Ruth. _Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy and +the Indolent._ Old Greenwich, Connecticut: Devin Adair, 1961. The +original statement of mulch gardening. Fun to read. Her disciple, +Richard Clemence, wrote several books in the late 1970s that develop +the method further. + +Of interest to the serious food gardener + +I have learned far more from my own self-directed studies than my +formal education. From time to time I get enthusiastic about some +topic and voraciously read about it. When I started gardening in the +early 1970s l quickly devoured everything labeled "organic" in the +local public library and began what became a ten-year subscription +to _Organic Gardening and Farming_ magazine. During the early 1980s +the garden books that I wrote all had the word "organic" in the +title. + +In the late 1980s my interest turned to what academics might call +'the intellectual history of radical agriculture.' I reread the +founders of the organic gardening and farming movement, only to +discover that they, like Mark Twain's father, had become far more +intelligent since l last read them fifteen years back. l began to +understand that one reason so many organic gardeners misunderstood +Albert Howard was that he wrote in English, not American. l also +noticed that there were other related traditions of agricultural +reform and followed these back to their sources. This research took +over eighteen months of heavy study. l really gave the interlibrary +loan librarian a workout. + +Herewith are a few of the best titles l absorbed during that +research. l never miss an opportunity to help my readers discover +that older books were written in an era before all intellectuals +were afflicted with lifelong insecurity caused by cringing from an +imaginary critical and nattery college professor standing over their +shoulder. Older books are often far better than new ones, especially +if you'll forgive them an occasional error in point of fact. We are +not always discovering newer, better, and improved. Often we are +forgetting and obscuring and confusing what was once known, clear +and simple. Many of these extraordinary old books are not in print +and not available at your local library. However, a simple inquiry +at the Interlibrary Loan desk of most libraries will show you how +easy it is to obtain these and most any other book you become +interested in. + +Albrecht, William A. _The Albrecht Papers, Vols 1 &2._ Kansas City: +Acres, USA 1975. + +Albert Howard, Weston Price, Sir Robert McCarrison, and William +Albrecht share equal responsibility for creating this era's movement +toward biologically sound agriculture. Howard is still well known to +organic gardeners, thanks to promotion by the Rodale organization +while Price, McCarrison, and Albrecht have faded into obscurity. +Albrecht was chairman of the Soil Department at the University of +Missouri during the 1930s. His unwavering investigation of soil +fertility as the primary cause of health and disease was considered +politically incorrect by the academic establishment and vested +interests that funded agricultural research at that time. Driven +from academia, he wrote prolifically for nonscientific magazines and +lectured to farmers and medical practitioners during the 1940s and +1950s. Albrecht was willing to consider chemical fertilizers as +potentially useful though he did not think chemicals were as +sensible as more natural methods. This view was unacceptable to J.l. +Rodale, who ignored Albrecht's profound contributions. + +Balfour, Lady Eve B. _The Living Soil._ London: Faber and Faber, +1943. + +Lady Balfour was one of the key figures in creating the organic +gardening and farming movement. She exhibited a most remarkable +intelligence and understanding of the science of health and of the +limitations of her own knowledge. Balfour is someone any serious +gardener will want to meet through her books. Lady Balfour proved +Woody Allen right about eating organic brown rice; she died only +recently in her late 90s, compus mentis to the end. + +Borsodi, Ralph. _Flight from the City: An Experiment in Creative +Living on the Land._ New York: Harper and Brothers, 1933. + +A warmly human back-to-the-lander whose pithy critique of industrial +civilization still hits home. Borsodi explains how production of +life's essentials at home with small-scale technology leads to +enhanced personal liberty and security. Homemade is inevitably more +efficient, less costly, and better quality than anything +mass-produced. Readers who become fond of this unique +individualist's sociology and political economy will also enjoy +Borsodi's _This Ugly Civilization _and _The Distribution Age._ + +Brady, Nyle C. _The Nature and Properties of Soils, _Eighth Edition. +New York: Macmillan, 1974. + +Through numerous editions and still the standard soils text for +American agricultural colleges. Every serious gardener should +attempt a reading of this encyclopedia of soil knowledge every few +years. See also Foth, Henry D. _Fundamentals of Soil Science._ + +Bromfield, Louis. _Malibar Farm._ New York: Harper & Brothers, 1947. + +Here is another agricultural reformer who did not exactly toe the +Organic Party line as promulgated by J.l. Rodale. Consequently his +books are relatively unknown to today's gardening public. If you +like Wendell Berry you'll find Bromfield's emotive and Iyrical prose +even finer and less academically contrived. His experiments with +ecological farming are inspiring. See also Bromfield's other farming +books: _Pleasant Valley, In My Experience,_ and _Out of the Earth._ + +Carter, Vernon Gill and Dale, Tom. _Topsoil and Civilization. +_Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974. (first edition, 1954) + +This book surveys seven thousand years of world history to show how +each place where civilization developed was turned into an +impoverished, scantily-inhabited semi-desert by neglecting soil +conservation. Will ours' survive any better? Readers who wish to +pursue this area further might start with Wes Jackson's _New Roots +for Agriculture._ + +Ernle, (Prothero) Lord. _English Farming Past and Present,_ 6th +edition. First published London: Longmans, Green & Co., Ltd., 1912, +and many subsequent editions. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1962. + +Some history is dry as dust. Ernle's writing lives like that of +Francis Parkman or Gibbon. Anyone serious about vegetable gardening +will want to know all they can about the development of modern +agricultural methods. + +Foth, Henry D. _Fundamentals of Soil Science, _Eighth Edition. New +York: John Wylie & Sons, 1990. + +Like Brady's text, this one has also been through numerous editions +for the past several decades. Unlike Brady's work however, this book +is a little less technical, an easier read as though designed for +non-science majors. Probably the best starter text for someone who +wants to really understand soil. + +Hall, Bolton. _Three Acres and Liberty. _New York: Macmillan, 1918. + +Bolton Hall marks the start of our modern back-to-the-land movement. +He was Ralph Borsodi's mentor and inspiration. Where Ralph was +smooth and intellectual, Hall was crusty and Twainesque. + +Hamaker, John. D. _The Survival of Civilization. _Annotated by +Donald A. Weaver. Michigan/ California: Hamaker-Weaver Publishers, +1982. + +Forget global warming, Hamaker believably predicts the next ice age +is coming. Glaciers will be upon us sooner than we know unless we +reverse intensification of atmospheric carbon dioxide by +remineralization of the soil. Very useful for its exploration of the +agricultural use of rock flours. Helps one stand back from the +current global warming panic and ask if we really know what is +coming. Or are we merely feeling guilty for abusing Earth? + +Hopkins, Cyril G. _Soil Fertility and Permanent Agriculture. +_Boston: Ginn and Company, 1910. + +Though of venerable lineage, this book is still one of the finest of +soil manuals in existence. Hopkins' interesting objections to +chemical fertilizers are more economic than moral. + +_The Story of the Soil: From the Basis of Absolute Science and Real +Life. _Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1911. + +A romance of soil science similar to Ecotopia or Looking Backward. +No better introduction exists to understanding farming as a process +of management of overall soil mineralization. People who attempt +this book should be ready to forgive that Hopkins occasionally +expresses opinions on race and other social issues that were +acceptable in his era but today are considered objectionable by most +Americans. + +Jenny, Hans. _Factors of Soil Formation: a System of Quantitative +Pedology._ New York: McGraw Hill, 1941. + +Don't let the title scare you. Jenny's masterpiece is not hard to +read and still stands in the present as the best analysis of how +soil forms from rock. Anyone who is serious about growing plants +will want to know this data. + +McCarrison, Sir Robert. _The Work of Sir Robert McCarrison. _ed. H. +M. Sinclair. London Faber and Faber, 1953. + +One of the forgotten discoverers of the relationship between soil +fertility and human health. McCarrison, a physician and medical +researcher, worked in India contemporaneously with Albert Howard. He +spent years "trekking around the Hunza and conducted the first +bioassays of food nutrition by feeding rat populations on the +various national diets of India. And like the various nations of +India, some of the rats became healthy, large, long-lived, and good +natured while others were small, sickly, irritable, and short-lived. + +Nearing, Helen & Scott. _Living the Good Life: How to Live Sanely +and Simply in a Troubled World._ First published in 1950. New York: +Schocken Books, 1970. + +Continuing in Borsodi's footsteps, the Nearings homesteaded in the +thirties and began proselytizing for the self-sufficient life-style +shortly thereafter. Scott was a very dignified old political radical +when he addressed my high school in Massachusetts in 1961 and +inspired me to dream of country living. He remained active until +nearly his hundredth birthday. See also: _Continuing the Good Life_ +and _The Maple Sugar Book._ + +Parnes, Robert. _Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers. _Mt. Vernon, +Maine: Woods End Agricultural Institute, 1986. + +Price, Weston A. _Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. _La Mesa, +California: Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, reprinted 1970. +(1939) + +Sits on the "family bible" shelf in my home along with Albrecht, +McCarrison, and Howard. Price, a dentist with strong interests in +prevention, wondered why his clientele, 1920s midwest bourgeoisie, +had terrible teeth when prehistoric skulls of aged unlettered +savages retained all their teeth in perfect condition. So he +traveled to isolated parts of the Earth in the early 1930s seeking +healthy humans. And he found them--belonging to every race and on +every continent. And found out why they lived long, had virtually no +degeneration of any kind including dental degeneration. Full of +interesting photographs, anthropological data, and travel details. A +trail-blazing work that shows the way to greatly improved human +health. + +Rodale, J.I. _The Organic Front._ Emmaus: Rodale Press, 1948. + +An intensely ideological statement of the basic tenets of the +Organic faith. Rodale established the organic gardening and farming +movement in the United States by starting up _Organic Gardening and +Farming_ magazine in 1942. His views, limitations and preferences +have defined "organic" ever since. See also: _Pay Dirt._ + +Schuphan, Werner. _Nutritional Values in Crops and Plants. _London: +Faber and Faber, 1965. + +A top-rate scientist asks the question: "Is organically grown food +really more nutritious?" The answer is: "yes, and no." + +Smith, J. Russell. _Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture._ New York: +Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929. + +No bibliography of agricultural alternatives should overlook this +classic critique of farming with the plow. Delightfully original! + +Solomon, Steve. _Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades._ Seattle, +Washington: Sasquatch Books, 1989. + +My strictly regional focus combined with the reality that the +climate west of the Cascades is radically different than the rest of +the United States has made this vegetable gardening text virtually +unknown to American gardeners east of the Cascades. It has been +praised as the best regional garden book ever written. Its analysis +of soil management, and critique of Rodale's version of the organic +gardening and farming philosophy are also unique. I founded and ran +Territorial Seed Company, a major, mail-order vegetable garden seed +business; no other garden book has ever encompassed my experience +with seeds and the seed world. + +_Waterwise Gardening. _Seattle, Sasquatch Books, 1992. + +How to grow vegetables without dependence on irrigation. Make your +vegetables able to survive long periods of drought and still be very +productive. My approach is extensive, old fashioned and contrarian, +the opposite of today's intensive, modern, trendy postage-stamp +living. + +Turner, Frank Newman. _Fertility, Pastures and Cover Crops Based on +Nature's Own Balanced Organic Pasture Feeds._ reprinted from: Faber +and Faber, 1955. ed., San Diego: Rateaver, 1975. + +An encouragement to farm using long rotations and green manuring +systems from a follower of Albert Howard. Turner offered a +remarkably sensible definition for soil fertility, in essence, "if +my livestock stay healthy, live long, breed well, and continue doing +so for at least four generations, then my soil was fertile." + +Voisin, Andre. _Better Grassland Sward. _London: Crosby Lockwood and +Sons, Ltd., 1960. + +The first half is an amazing survey of the role of the earthworm in +soil fertility. The rest is just Voisin continuing on at his amazing +best. No one interested in soil and health should remain unfamiliar +with Voisin's intelligence. See also: _Grass Tetany, Grass +Productivity,_ and _Soil, Grass and Cancer._ + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Organic Gardener's Composting, by Steve Solomon + diff --git a/4342.zip b/4342.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1afb447 --- /dev/null +++ b/4342.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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