LET'S TALK ROT... To sum it all up, composting addresses a real-world issue and helps to instill a sense of environmental stewardship. It can be carried out at a wide range of scales, indoors or out, in any geographic location. Your compost set up definitely depends on the amount of space you have available to dedicate to composting.
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Set Up a Compost Bin: Make sure it's in a warm, partly sunny site on top of some soil. A mix of vegetable peelings, garden waste and fibrous woody brown material like paper or cardboard provide the right conditions for encouraging compost-making bugs.
TEMPERATURE The rich, nutritious compost will be ready to use after six to nine months. Under optimal conditions, a compost pile will heat up to temperatures in the range of 50-65°C (120-150°F), caused by the metabolic heat of the microbes. You can see evidence of this when a steamy mist rises from your compost pile as you turn it or dig into it. If you want your compost to heat up, then some knowledge of the process is important. The heat is produced by the metabolism of microorganisms as they decompose organic matter. CHEMISTRY Chemistry plays a role in composting because for rapid microbial growth you need to provide the right mix of nutrients, primarily carbon and nitrogen. Not all of the carbon or nitrogen present may be in a form that is readily available to microbes, and it is not well understood how the various chemical forms are used or how availability is affected by other variables such as particle size, pH, or moisture content. This is an area in which many questions remain, and research by students could provide a real contribution to the field. PHYSICS Physics is also important in composting. Physical characteristics of the compost ingredients, including moisture content and particle size, affect the rate at which composting occurs. Other physical considerations include the size and shape of the system, which affect the rate of aeration and the tendency of the compost to retain or dissipate the heat that is generated. MICRO-ORGANISMS The vast bulk of the decomposition work in compost is carried out by microorganisms including fungi, bacteria, and actinomycetes (organisms that resemble fungi but actually are filamentous bacteria). In outdoor compost systems, there is a complex food web at work. Some of the more familiar soil invertebrates, such as millipedes, sow bugs, snails, and slugs help to shred the organic matter into smaller sized pieces, creating greater surface area for action by microorganisms, which are in turn eaten by invertebrates such as mites and springtails. |
Why Compost, you ask?
Composting is a topic of growing interest for gardeners around the world. Why composting? For centuries, farmers have made and used compost to improve soil. Composting is part of the earth’s biological cycle of growth and decay. Energy from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and nutrients from water and soil make plants grow. When they die and decompose through a complex process involving microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, insects, mites and worms, nutrients go back into the soil, and carbon dioxide back into the air. The humus remaining from this decay process provides soil with organic matter that can hold water and nutrients in the soil, making it easier to till. Top 7 Reasons To Compost (article) Build a Compost Bin
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