| ar in the spring people venture outdoors to begin | | | | break down faster you are going to need to keep it |
| planting their gardens and flower beds. The allure of | | | | aerated, moist and broken into smaller pieces. You |
| warm, gentle days seems to call out the winter | | | | can also help break down the material by adding |
| hermits in an act of reseeding the world with beauty | | | | worms and other small insects into the pile that will |
| and divine scents. | | | | help eat the organic material. |
| One thing that does not make sense is the amount | | | | Their waste products are filled with great nutrients |
| of money spent on commercial fertilizers and | | | | for the soil and before long you will have a compost |
| compost. Composting yourself is free and makes | | | | heap that is ready to hit the garden to begin the |
| some of the best fertilizer in the world. Sure, it does | | | | cycle all over again. It is a circle of life that is a great |
| take some time but if you start work on it early you | | | | example of Mother Nature at her finest and shows |
| can have rich, dark soil by the time planting season | | | | what recycling can do for the environment. |
| comes around. | | | | How does compost improve the soil? |
| Composting is environmentally friendly and once you | | | | Composting adds valuable nutrients back into the soil |
| know what can be composted and what cannot, you | | | | such as Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen. There are |
| will be on your way to being eco-friendly. In this | | | | other essential elements that are added that will all |
| article the basics of composting will be covered such | | | | work together to add the depleted minerals from the |
| as what it actually is technically and how you can | | | | growth cycle back into the soil after a plant has used |
| begin your own compost heap in your own backyard. | | | | them. Consider it a natural cycle that is essential for |
| What is composting? | | | | plants, grasses, trees and flowers to grow and thrive. |
| Composting is the process of taking organic material | | | | How do I prepare the materials for composting? |
| and breaking it down through a variety of chemical | | | | Start preparing your compost pile by breaking up the |
| and animal processes to achieve fertilizer and plant | | | | materials into manageable pieces. The object is to |
| building material that is both cheap and highly | | | | help the materials break down or decompose faster. |
| effective. It is very environmentally friendly and is a | | | | Larger pieces will hinder the process. A shredder |
| great way to avoid paying those high costs of bags | | | | works wonders for yard trimmings. |
| of fertilizer. | | | | If you are using manure you will want to take a pitch |
| You can utilize those leftover food wastes, animal | | | | fork and break up the clumps before adding them |
| wastes, grass clippings, branches and other organic | | | | into the pile. Try to keep the pieces to sizes around |
| materials to create a loamy material that will help | | | | the shape of a leaf if it is at all possible. |
| your plants grow to their maximum potential like no | | | | If you can keep them even smaller to help speed up |
| other commercial grade fertilizer possibly can. The | | | | the process that much faster and before long you |
| best part is that it is free! | | | | will have a mound of fertilizer to use however you |
| What can I use to help the material break down? | | | | see fit. |
| If you want your compost heap and material to | | | | |