gardening 2

You will need at least two composting piles. One that you actively add to, and a second one like this one that is covered, wet and in the final stages of making compost. Covered compost piles generate more heat, speeding the breakdown process.

(Pruning)

(Companion plants and insects)

My Five Minute Garden thrives on competition from robust, endemic perennials and aggressive annuals that belong here. I stay out of their way. A hundred million years of evolution tells me they know what they are doing. All are either edible or medicinal, most are both.

Let's not make too big a deal out of this. You are going to make two piles of biodegradeable plant material: stuff like grass clippings, weeds, vegetable cutting and plant waste from the kitchen, coffee grounds, egg shells and the like. Avoid meat and other foods that might attract rodents and other animals. Lignin thick, slow to degrade sticks may be used to separate layers in your pile improving aeration. Or a bail of straw is handy to help layer the compost pile, providing coarse breathing layers over finer compost. For location, I prefer a partly shady area to one in full sun. Composting is a little slower in the shade, but dehydration is less...And shady areas are underutilized providing space for my piles.

AEROBIC STAGE: The first stage of your composting is the aerobic stage, where the pile is being actively added too and is open to the rain and elements. Pile needs to breathe. Start over sticks. Place sticks in a cross hatched pile base to increase aeration, porosity.

Compost piles should be no higher than 6 feet to prevent compression, intermittent sticks help, but should be four feet high to generate heat.

TIP: Don't add peat. Peat robs nitrogen of soil. Simply throw a shovel full of dirt now and then over the pile to inoculate the pile with microorganisms.

ANAEROBIC STAGE: The finishing phase of the pile is the anaerobic stage, where the pile is covered. Prior to this stage try to mix the pile and moisten it. If mixing is too difficult, forget it. Wet everything thoroughly, cover with a dark plastic (or other material) tarp, bury edges with dirt and let it winter over. Spring will provide you with garden ready compost.

So like I said you may have two compost piles, in the beginning both are actively being added too. Then one gets to adequate dimensions and you cover it. The other pile finishes out the season as the active pile and is covered in the fall.

Grass clippings are excellent additions maybe better than manure. But please mow your lawn with a four cycle engine so you co not put oil in the grass. A four cycle engine does not require gas to be mixed with oil.

SMALL compost AMOUNTS CAN BE PUT IN GARBAGE BAG AND CLOSED AND PUT IN SUN, ROTATE bag ONCE A WEEK. FULLY COMPOSTED IN 3 WEEKS.

Straw makes cleans, dirt free paths, provides mulch to keep weeds down,
and provides layering for compost piles.

Mulching Advantages: protective, decorative, evens out soil temperature, reduces evaporation from wind, sun, protects against erosion, eliminates weeds, cleans floor for produce, saves money on water, saves work (weeding), prevents rain compaction, adds fertility, reduces frost heave, settles dust thereby controlling spider mites.

Disadvantages: can waterlog clay soils (poor drainage), on arid soils mulch provides poor air circulation, keeps water from soaking in arid areas, water soil before mulching in arid areas.

My two favorites are Cyprus mulch (although expensive) and sweet (not acidic) shrubs and trees shredded along roadsides by road crews clearing power lines (it's free for the taking)...A Five Minute Garden requires lots of mulch to keep unwanted weeds down, thereby limiting weeding time.