[October/Novtember 2008]

Dear Garden Hotline® listeners:

Composting "Gardener's Black Gold"

The more I get involved in gardening, the more importance I place on the soils and their component parts. Well, I think the same when talking about the compost pile. The end product of decaying organic matter is humic acid, the black, gooey, sticky substance found at the bottom of a well decayed compost pile. Humic acid is a vital component in our soils whether it is clay, silt or sandy in nature. Humic acid acts as cement, increasing the soil particles ability hold together as well as being held apart. This increases soil's ability to hold moisture and improve drainage. Humic acid gives soil its rich, dark color and is highly negatively charged (negative ions), which lowers the soil pH while increasing soils ability to hold nutrients.

With the continue increase in cost for Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, a staple for improving garden soils, largely due to the increase in transportation, making a compost pile to make your own humic acid just makes sense. Doesn't it?

When talking compost, I'm often asked "Do you need a Compost Activator - Is it really necessary"?

Imagine billions of beneficial microorganisms (bacteria and fungi). Imagine them chomping on a pile of compost made up of grass clippings, oak leaves, and vegetable kitchen waste. (I liken these beneficial bacteria and fungi to the "Scrubbing Bubbles" depicted in a nationally advertised cleaning product for bathrooms.) Sold as "compost bio-activators," "compost starters," or "compost makers," these beneficial bacteria are of ultimate importance in the break down of organic matter in the form of weeds, leaves, grass clippings, spent flowers and plants even shredded newspaper and kitchen scraps exclusive of meat or meat drippings into the end product we call humic acid. These good guys are found in most garden soils as well. In effect, they're in our soils already but in many cases, not in sufficient quantities to do the job. Most garden manuals recommend garden soil to be used as the activator but sometimes such soil can lack the necessary beneficial organisms. I sprinkle a thin layer of garden soil over each new layer of "organic matter" in the pile.

If in the past you've had a "bad" experience in trying to activate a compost pile (a pile which doesn't break down), the lack of decomposition just might be due to inadequate beneficial microorganisms. When this happens, you can speed decomposition of a compost pile at any time with a compost activator and, of course, water and air.

For a complimentary copy of the Garden Hotline® Fact Sheet "Compost - Gardener's Black Gold", send SASE to Garden Hotline, PO Box 427, Pomona, NY 10970. Just mark "Compost on the return envelope.



Ralph Snodsmith
Host, The Garden Hotline® Online