Composting Basics
Composting might seem daunting, but it is a natural process that always happens in nature.
Sustainability means our practices “break even,” but a true eco-friendly lifestyle should be about replenishing the Earth. Composting is the best way to do that. Growing food removes nutrients and biomass from the soil, no matter how sustainable. Technically, you can add nutrients with fertilizer, but it’s like feeding the soil cookies. It might temporarily gain but won’t be healthy in the long run. Fertilizer lacks all the necessary components for healthy soil. Composting helps replenish what was taken out. Without healthy soil, we will never have a healthy planet. As I’ve learned more and more about soil, I’ve concluded that composting is one of the best things we can do for the environment.
The good news is that composting is super easy. The best news is that no matter how big or small your yard is, composting is still possible, and you can do it.
Compost Definition
First, let’s define compost and what we accomplish when we help nature initiate this process.
Compost is a decayed organic material used as a plant fertilizer.
The decomposition of plant remains and other once-living materials makes an earthy, dark, crumbly substance that enriches garden soil. This is a way to recycle yard and kitchen waste and is a critical step in reducing the volume of garbage needlessly sent to landfills for disposal.
Composting is not a modern invention. In the natural world, composting occurs as leaves pile up on the forest floor and begin to decay. Eventually, the rotting leaves are returned to the soil, where living roots can finish recycling by reclaiming the nutrients from the decomposed leaves.
The beauty of composting is that anyone can do it. Unlike other recycling opportunities, no infrastructure is required, so any city, organization, or individual has the ability and space to compost.
Benefits of Composting
1. Compost Reduces Waste
Yard and kitchen waste make up about 30 percent of the waste stream. Most of it was probably bought and wasted from the kitchen because it was never eaten. And that’s why composting is so beneficial. It takes that waste and creates something that is useful again. It’s the food version of recycling, and it’s organic!
2. Compost Improves Soil Quality
Compost benefits the soil in several ways that synthetic fertilizers don’t. First, it adds organic matter, improving how water interacts with the soil. In sandy soils, compost acts as a sponge to help retain water in the soil that would otherwise drain down below the reach of plant roots (in this way, it protects plants against drought). In clay soils, compost helps add porosity (tiny holes and passageways) to the soil, draining it more quickly so it doesn’t stay waterlogged or dry into a hard substance. Compost also inoculates the soil with many beneficial microbes (bacteria, fungi, etc.) and the habitat the microbes need. These microbes can extract nutrients from the mineral part of the soil and eventually pass the nutrients on to plants.
3. Compost reduces the need for pesticides and fertilizers
Compost enriches the soil and promotes healthy plant growth, which allows them to be more resilient to diseases, pests, and fungi.
Additionally, compost is a slow-release nutrient source for plants. As different materials break down at different rates, compost releases nutrients over a long time instead of all at once, as fertilizers do. Plants have to use or lose fertilizers.
4. Compost recycles essential nutrients back into the soil
The foods we eat contain vitamins and minerals from the soil they’re grown in. When we compost, the vitamins and minerals get returned to the soil. The produce grown in conventional farms is significantly less nutritious than it was decades ago because intensive agriculture continues to deplete the soil of nutrients.
5. Compost promotes a prolific soil ecosystem
Compost works similarly to probiotics in the human body. We use good bacteria to fight off diseases. Similarly, healthy soil fosters a community of organisms that break down matter, improve soil structure, and create a fertile plant environment. Compost comes with a myriad of organisms that do just that.
There are so many more reasons to start composting. Please share your reasons for starting composting with us.
Written by Kayla Kamp, Owner of Replenishing Farms and Advocate of Local Food and Farmers.