Agrivew, Homemade compost
Rick Hirsch County Extension Agent

Homemade compost is popular with gardeners and landscape enthusiasts. Compost is an effective, efficient and natural way to treat the soil and you can make it yourself.

Composting is the controlled biological decomposition and conversion of solid organic material into a humus like substance. Various microorganisms such as bacteria, actinomyces and fungi break down the organic compounds into simpler substances.

During composting, the microorganisms consume oxygen while feeding an organic matter. By properly managing air, moisture and nutrients, the composting process can transform large quantities of organic material into compost in a relatively short time.

Composting is more efficient when the major factors - oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, moisture and temperature - are properly managed. Finished compost is used as a mulch or soil conditioner.

Compost is made from two basic kinds of materials. One kind includes "brown materials " high in carbon, such as leaves, wood ships, sawdust, hay, straw and shredded paper. The other includes "green materials" high in nitrogen, such as grass clippings, weeds, manure and food scraps. Food scraps may include any fruit or vegetable waste along with peels and seeds, coffee grounds, egg shells and nut shells. One word of caution, do not include meat scraps, bones, dairy products, oils or fat. Also, do not use dog and cat manure.

Mix these carbon and nitrogen ingredients well in your compost bin in a ratio of three parts carbon, or brown ingredients, to one part nitrogen, the green materials. You can add a little soil to help start the process. Add water until the materials are completely damp, but not wet. Stir weekly with a pitchfork to aerate. Within four to five days the temperature will rise, indicating the composting process is underway. If you manage your compost properly, you'll see that after three or four months the pile will have settled to about half its original height, and the temperature will be lower. The pile should look like dark, crumbly soil with small pieces of organic material, with a sweet, earthy smell. You've got compost!

One of the major fears and complaints about backyard compost is the smell. "A properly managed compost pile doesn't generate odor," the compost expert says, listing five possible causes for a rotten or sulfurous stench; too many food scraps lumped together, too much moisture, grass clippings matted together, ingredients shredded too small and lack of oxygen.

The compost authority looks at the problems and their solutions. If there are too many food scraps, eliminate them or put them in a worm bin. Or, mix the food wastes more evenly throughout the pile. Add coarser brown materials to allow more air between the moist scraps.

If the compost pile is too wet, turn the pile while adding some dry, high carbon materials. The odor eventually will correct itself as the pile drives off excess moisture. Cover the bin during rainy spells. Follow the same technique for grass clippings wadded in a large clump,

WATER SMART:

Water conservation doesn't seem too important right now, but it will in June, July and August. Proper maintenance is a key principle in reducing water requirements in the landscape. Maintenance practices, such as mulching, mowing and fertilizing greatly impact the water efficiency of any landscape, as well as the landscape's ability to survive a hot, dry summer.

Research at Texas A&M University has shown that unmulched soil may lose twice as much water to evaporation as mulched soil. Mulch is a layer of material covering the soil surface around plants. Mulches can be organic materials, such as shredded bark, compost and wood chips; or inorganic materials, such as lava rock, limestone and woven plastic.

Use a mulch wherever possible. A good mulch preserves soil moisture, prevents soil compaction, keeps soil temperatures more moderate and reduces weed populations. In case weeds do get a start, they are much easier to pull if a mulch has been used.

IMPORTANT DATES:

May 8 - Forage Field Day, Pitchford Genetics, 5:30pm, $8/person, 2 CEUs.

May 10 - Lake & Pond Field Day, Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center, 5:30pm, $8/ person, 2 CEUs.

(Rick Hirsch is the Henderson County Extension Agent-Agriculture for Texas Cooperative Extension. Visit his web page at http:// henderson-co.tamu.edu)