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The Ultimate Compost: First step of taking control of sandy soil
One of the greatest challenges of gardening in Wilmington NC is the poor quality of our soil.
Many conquer this problem by loading up on compost and manure at the local home store. While effective, this can often be pricey. This may not bother you if you are gardening in Wilmington purely for enjoyment. But many garden to save money. Our goal is to spend as little as possible on our gardening endeavors. Further, we are not in full control of the ingredients if we purchase them from the store. It is silly to spend money when much of what you need is already in your yard. You can be sure that your coastal North Carolina home’s garden is being nourished with truly organic mulch that you created from ingredients that already exist.
There are numerous advantages to composting. Your garden, lawn, flowers, home and local landfill all benefit from composting. The first three beneficiaries of good organic compost are simple. Compost, when added to sandy soil, has the ability to deliver nutriance to your plants as well as improve the soils ability to retain water. This is important during the dead of the summer when our hottest days are also the driest. You will also have a great place to put raked leaves, weeds, and garden scraps allowing your yard to stay tidy.
Your home and the local landfill will also benefit from composting. Food scraps will no longer be put in your trash can. Let’s face it; we usually put the trash out when it starts to stink. With no degradable proteins in the mix, your refuse will never smell bad and you can use every inch of your garbage bag. With less going out to the curb, you are doing your part to reduce waste in the community as well.
Creating quality compost can be simple and sanitary. I like to think of a compost pile as a salad composed of greens, browns, and even dressing. As in any food, you can adjust your recipe to account for desired characteristics like pH and nutritional composition. As a general rule you want a ratio of 3 browns to one green. Browns are high in carbon while greens are high in nitrogen.
Greens include:
Tea bags
Coffee grounds
Seaweed
Manure
Hair
Egg shells
Feathers
Flowers
Garden scraps
Grass
Green leaves and stems
Browns include:
Wood chips
Straw
Dead flowers and stalks
Dry leaves
Hay
Pine needles
Saw dust
Shredded paper
Dressing recipe:
Can of cola + can of beer + cup of ammonia + ½ cup tea mixture* + ¼ cup baby shampoo
*Soak a used teabag in a gallon of warm water + 1 teaspoon dish detergent
Spray compost with dressing once a month
Increase Ph:
The most effective way to increase soil pH is to add an alkaline mineral like lime directly to the soil. However, most of us do not have limestone cliffs in our yard. Other organic materials that can be found in your property can however be added to your compost or directly into the soil.
Clam shells
Oyster shells
Egg shells
Ashes
Bone meal
Decrease Ph:
The most effective way to decrease soil pH is to add acidic minerals like sulfer. However, many effective sources can be found in your yard and around your house.
Saw dust
Coffee grounds
Cottonseed oil
Manure
Oak leaves
Pine needles
The chemistry of your soil is also very important. You can adjust your soil composition by engineering your compost to give it specifically what it needs.
Add Carbon:
Ashes
Add Nitrogen:
Alfalfa meal
Blood meal
Coffee grounds
Manure
Legume crops
Fish Emulsion
Corn Gluten
Add Phosphorous:
Fish emulsion
Seaweed
Poultry Manure
Bone meal
Colloidal phosphate
Fish meal
Guano
Rock phosphate
Add Potassium:
Granite dust
Green sand
Langbeinite
Seaweed
Bananas
Cow manure
Wood ashes
Add Calcium:
Limestone
Bone meal
Clam shells
Egg shells
Gypsum
Add Magnesium:
Dolomitic limestone
Epsom salts
Add Manganese:
Manganese sulfate
Add Sulfur:
Epsom salts
Ground Sulfur
Gypsum
Manure
Add important micronutrients to your soil:
Worm castings
Alfalfa hay
Wood ashes
Leaves
Hair
Grass clippings
Egg shells
Once you get your compost cooking, it is important that it can breathe. Moisture and aeration are important. Too much or too little of either may cause composting to be minimized or worse yet, the pile could begin to putrefy. Just like in brewing beer, it is critical that both anaerobic and aerobic processes are able to take place. You want your compost pile to be moist but not drenched. It is also good practice to turn the pile with a pitch fork once every month or so. The goal is to rotate your stock of mulch. This can be achieved by pulling the well composted material at the bottom of the pile out, and putting it on the top of the pile.
A few weeks before you start planting you should start to mix your compost into your sandy garden soil. You will see a world of difference in this year’s crop, and gain the satisfaction of knowing that you created the food that will nourish the plants that will feed your family.
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Source by Jeffrey Taddei