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What do you do in the spring when you're out pruning and cleaning up all the detritus from winter and maybe even left over from autumn? Why compost of course! If you've never composted maybe this year you'll give it a try. Kitsap County Master Composters are trained volunteers who teach gardeners all over Kitsap County how to compost. The four main locations for classes are: Bainbridge Island Library, Raab Park in Poulsbo, Anna Smith Garden (near the Fairgrounds) and Orchard Heights Elementary School in Port Orchard. Compost classes are listed on the Kitsap County Solid Waste Composting Site. You can sign up online for classes or call 360-337-5777 or 800-825-4940 to register. Plans and directions to make a variety of compost systems are downloadable at the site. You can also stop to pick up a free copy of "Down to Earth" (produced by Kitsap Solid Waste) at the Kitsap County Extension Office or download it free online. You will find instructions on how to build a three-bin compost system and a worm box (for vermicomposting). Even if your gardening space is limited you can vermicompost (it's composting with worms). The worms are tiny and red, and boy can then turn food waste into compost (and shhh - worm poop - is the vermicompost part). Plants love vermicompost. Read on to learn all about composting and vermicomposting. You can get free composting worms from WSU Master Gardeners and Master Composters by calling the Master Gardener Hotline at 360-337-7158. The Master Composter Program is a partnership with Kitsap County Solid Waste and WSU Extension. Composting can be as simple as finding a place in your yard to pile up all the woody debris and green stuff you glean from growing living plants. And, sometimes when a plant dies prematurely under your care you can console yourself with the fact that you just composted it a little faster than usual. This method of piling up plant debris is called passive composting or cold composting. You just find a place in your garden to pile up the debris and walk away from it. Eventually it decomposes and returns to the earth as humus and decomposed woody debris. This method is quite slow though because the pieces of debris vary so much in size. You'd want to choose a spot in your yard where you could hide the pile behind some shrubbery or screen it with vegetation or a decorative fenced area. Some gardeners construct a double fenced area (with one or two feet between the fences) using posts and chicken wire (or other grid metal fencing) and then layer compost materials into the section between the two fences It becomes a "living" fence. Eventually as the vegetative matter decomposes with the gardeners even plant into the fence. So far the only example I've actually seen on this method is a Seattle Tilth but it would work well here in Kitsap County too. This method is especially attractive using layers of crunched up leaves and grass clippings, making stripes. Another very simple way to compost is to dig the clippings and trimmings into the soil directly around the plants. For instance, when you deadhead plants just bury the plant parts in the soil around and between your plantings. This is not a good idea in the case of weeds though. But annual weeds without the seeds can certainly be composted. Weeds that reseed too profusely need to be bagged up and sent to the landfills. If you have room on your property you can pick a shady area in the woods, pile up the weedy vegetative debris making a large pile, water it well and cover it up with a tarp for several months or even a year. The pile will decompose and because of the shade won't reseed. Make sure you aren't using this method too close to a tree's root zone, you don't want to smother your tree's roots. The Master Composters have been using this method at the Raab Park compost demonstration site for nearly seven years and it works well. Hot composting happens usually over three to six weeks (depending on the heat and water conditions) and entails turning the piles *usually three feet by three feet by three feet). This method works well in a three-bin system. Or just pile the compost materials up into a nice pile about three feet tall and several feet wide remembering to turn it frequently for the first week or so. "Compost Happen," is the motto of composters. The piles consist of four elements - carbon (browns) made up of woody materials, dried brown grass or straw; nitrogen (greens) including grass clippings (when they're still green), fruit and vegetable remains and livestock manure; water which helps the process get going by moistening all the material; and oxygen (that's why the hot pile needs to be turned regularly). Heat happens when all the materials are mixed together and it makes the composting happen. Most "compost recipes" call for 75 percent "brown" organic materials and 25 percent "green" organic materials by volume. Even if you make a mistake an get too much of one component compost will happen anyway. When composting you don't want to compost anything "with a face" as they explain in the Compost Classes through Kitsap County Solid Waste. If you live in an area with raccoons, bears or other animals that like to root through things, do not compost food items, use your worm bin for that. Do compost: Browns - dried leaves, shredded white paper, shredded newspaper, wood chips, straw; Greens - fresh cut grass, flowers, garden clippings, seedless annual weeds, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea leaves, fruits, herbivore manures. Don't compost: Browns - glossy paper, junk mail, magazines, colored paper and greens - diseased plants, weeds with seeds, invasive weeds and roots, cooked foods, dairy products, fatty foods, meat, poultry, fish, pet wastes. When in doubt call the Master Gardener/Master Composter Hotline at 360-337-7158 or Kitsap Solid Waste at 360-337-5777 or 800-825-4940. Compost adds tilth to the soil. It acts as a blanket for your plants' roots. It also adds readily absorbable amounts of nitrogen and nutrients to the soil for plants to use. The myccorhizae produced in the composting process help increase the number of pores in the soil for better water circulation and aid in plants' absorption of nutrients giving plants a healthier growing environment. As you build health soil you'll help reduce runoff, erosion and pollution in the environment. Even when weeds crop up in composted areas of your garden they're easier to pull out. Worm composting (vermicomposting) can be accomplished using a wide variety of containers. Master Composter Becky Croston has created a three tiered system using rubber tubs. Becky can be found throughout the county giving lessons to kids on how to compost with worms. Kids make a small worm bin out of recycled cottage cheese or yogurt containers and the kids return home with enough worms to start their own worm bin. Some commercial producers make small wormbins to store under your sink. Many gardeners keep their worm bins in the garage and others even use a small garbage can dug into their gardens for a home for their worms. Compost worms (sometimes called red wrigglers) like vegetables and fruits that have been cut into smaller pieces or that are a bit soggy. To start a worm bin you need composting worms (available through Master Composters), shredded newspapers, a bit of water and a container for the worms to live in. The container needs holes to allows some air to circulate. But, what do you do with all the woody debris our gardens generate? One year my dear husband bought me a chipper-shredder for my birthday. Our own garden does not have a lawn so we have lots of "browns" and very few "greens" in our yard. W have lots of trees and shrubs and we have to prune and clean up all the limbs and branches on a somewhat regular basis. We chip and shred up all the items we can and return these homemade arborist chips to our garden as mulch. This woody debris eventually decomposes and becomes good rich soil. Other gardeners with enough green matter mix their woodchips into their compost bins. Anytime you spread mulch or compost make sure you don't apply the materials too deep (use only one or two inches deep). You also don't want the mulch/compost to be piled up against the woody bark or stems of plants. Leave an area clear around the base of the plants. If you get the materials too deep or too close to the stems and bark areas you can smother the plants and/or create an environment for disease. Compost tea is also a form of using compost. You'll find as much material about the "magical" and disease suppressing" things compost tea can do as you'll find materials about how it's all a bunch of compost so to speak. The Kitsap County Solid Waste website has several links to articles on compost tea - its pros and cons. You can also "Google it" using the phrase "compost tea." After doing your homework you can decide for yourself. If you do purchase compost tea make sure its been brewed properly and has a certificate saying what's in the mixture. Some compost teas are fungal or bacteria based. Some plants like a fungal-based compost tea and others prefer bacteria based. Compost tea has a short shelf life so you'll want to apply it as soon as you purchase it. It can be used diluted or concentrated depending on your desires for your plants. Your favorite nursery person can help you choose which brew of compost tea is best for your garden. Or, you can ask a WSU Master Gardener or Master Composter for more information. Commercial compost machines and containers abound on the Internet. Visit www.composters.com/main.shtml. The only caveat I'd add is that many gardeners have called the Extension Office and/or reported to the Master Composters that the turning bins are too heavy and often are too hard to work with. Our Master Composters at one site had a turning bin, but instead of keeping it on the frame it came with, they filled it up and rolled it around to accomplish the composting process. This method worked better than turning it using the handle, which took more than one person. One cylindrical shaped compost bin with removal lid and bottom works especially well in neighborhoods with covenants. The dark green cylinder and the black bottom and lid are pleasant to look at. Many of these systems are on display at the Raab Park compost demonstration site in Poulsbo. The site is open during park hours (dawn to dusk). You can also visit the compost demonstration sites at the Bainbridge Library, Anna Smith Garden in Silverdale or Orchard Heights in Port Orchard. We hope this article plants the seeds of composting in your thoughts. Maybe you'll sign up for one of the free classes offered through Kitsap County Solid Waste Division and conducted by the Master Composters. While you're waiting for the classes to begin, or if you want more information, please contact the Master Composters through the Master Gardener Hotline at 360-337-7158; visit one of the Master Gardener Clinics located throughout the county; or peruse and explore the Solid Waste Division composting website. Composting is good for your garden and for the environment. W hope you'll try some composting in your garden. |
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