Composting

Composting

The best planting medium is definitely rich with organic matter like compost, dried leaves and manure from animals that does not eat meat and contains beneficial bacteria, worms and other microbes. Perfect compost has the right ratio of nitrogen- and carbon-rich organic waste, mixed with soil, water and air.  It might sound like complicated chemistry, but don’t worry too much if you don’t have time to make perfect compost you can purchase it easily in the market.

Alternatively, you can make your own compost by following these simple steps:

Step 1:

Invest in a big bin about three feet by three feet

Step 2:

Add alternating layers of carbon (or brown) material — leaves and garden trimmings — and nitrogen (or green) material – such as kitchen scraps and manure, with a thin layer of soil in between. This turns our daily leftover food waste in the home kitchen into “black gold” instead of landfilling where it produces greenhouse gas like methane.

Step 3:

Top off the pile with four to six inches of soil. Turn the pile as new layers are added and water to keep loose and (barely) moist, in order to foster microbe action. You should get good compost in as little as two months

Step 4:

A properly maintained compost pile shouldn’t smell. But if it does add more dry carbon material (leaves, straw, or sawdust) and turn it more frequently.

Step 5:

Even if you live in a city, you can do some composting with a smaller bin.