Composting
A compost pile is one of the most beneficial ways you can help your garden. By putting back into the garden as much as possible of what you take out, you help mimic (and speed up) the natural process which enhances the soil.
There are two basic ways to build a compost pile: Cool or Hot. There are basics that apply to both and some distinctions that we’ll point out as we go.
First the basics: Chose a location that receives some sun throughout the day. A great place is a few feet away from a deciduous tree. That way it gets more sun in the winter and more shade in the summer! A good size pile will be about 3’x3’x3’ when it is at its fullest. You can build your pile freehand, put it in a make shift “pen”, or use one of the commercially available compost bins or barrels.
Cool or Hot? Here’s the difference: A Hot(active or fast) compost pile is built all at once, allowed to sit for a couple weeks, turned, allowed to sit a couple more, turned, and so on. The advantages of the hot method are a large amount of compost in a relatively short time, the ability to repeat this several times throughout the year, and the ease of leaving the pile alone for a couple weeks at a time. Plus it will get hot enough to kill weed seeds. The disadvantages are the need to have a lot of material available at one time, and the amount of labor required to turn the pile every couple weeks. The Cool (passive or slow) method is much slower paced and requires less effort. The cool pile is built slowly, as material becomes available. Either method requires you to maintain the compost pile at a slightly moist state (kind of like a wrung out sponge).
What’s good for your compost pile: leaves, shredded cardboard, coffee grounds, manure (chicken, horse, cow, rabbit, and sheep), grass clippings, wood fire ashes, pine needles (not too many), egg shells, shredded black print newspaper, cotton lint, etc. Avoid dog or cat manure, pernicious weeds, diseased leaves and plants, charcoal ash, or meat scraps.