Transcript Compost: The Soul of Soil

Compost: The Soul of Soil
6 billion microbes per handful can’t be wrong!
The Ingredients
Brown Stuff (Carbon)
Green Stuff (Nitrogen)
Water
Topsoil, Old Compost, or
Manure
Air
The result: carbon-rich,
organic matter able to hold 6
times its weight in water;
holding trillions of beneficial
microbes to help plants
achieve their full potential.
Building a Pile
Gather Materials - Enough to
make a pile 1m x 1m x 1m:
2/3 brown, 1/3green,
60 liters water, 20 liters
finished compost or soil.
Find a place in the shade:
keeps pile moist (no sun),
nicer for you (no sun).
Building a Pile
Add layers of chopped brown
and green leaves, the smaller
the better to increase rate of
decomposition.
6” brown then 2” green.
Scatter old manure, soil or
compost to inoculate the pile
with decomposing microbes.
Moisten with water. Mix.
Continue till pile is a meter tall.
Building a Pile
A 1 square meter pile of wet,
dirty leaves. Let stand for one
week. Mix and add more
water as needed to keep just
moist, not wet.
After 3 months of twice per
month mixing, the pile will reduce
to 1/3 its original size, be cool to
the touch, and ready to be
applied to garden beds.
And it DOES get Hot!
Three days at 130 to 160 degrees F will kill all weed seeds
and pathogenic bacteria making way for the beneficial
decomposers to colonize.
Hot – Active - Steady
Using the Compost
One 20 liter bucket per meter of
garden bed applied before each
crop is planted will reinvigorate
even the most depleted soils.
Spread and mix into the top 6-8”
using only local tools….like fingers!
Using Compost
Maize Bed Comparison
November 10: Planting Day. Bed
to the left is double dug with
compost added. Bed to the right is
single dug with no added compost.
Each receive 50 seeds and
equal water.
One meter wide double dug bed with
one bucket of compost added per
square meter. Note water retaining
pathways between permanent beds.
Using Compost
Maize Bed Comparison
Planting Day. Compost bed: 2 seeds per
station at 35 cm hexagonal spacing. No
compost bed: 4 seeds per station at one
meter apart – the conventional way.
4 seeds close together will result
in four weak plants and little
food.
Using Compost
Maize Bed Comparison
December 12: One month after planting. Note poor plant growth in the
no-compost bed. Soil dried too quickly after germination so that only the
strongest survived vs 98% viable plant and germination in compost bed.
Using Compost
Maize Bed Comparison
December 18. Two weeks after
second seedling has been
transplanted into middle bed.
December 23. No compost bed
struggling to retain enough water
to maintain plant vigor.
Using Compost
Maize Bed Comparison
December 28. 6 weeks after planting. Weed free and strong plants growing
in moist soil. Hexagonal spacing maximizes space for roots and stems so
as to maximize yield per unit area. Compost allows this to happen.
The Difference is Clear
Eight times the yield per unit area!
Permaculture and Bio-Intensive
Growing Household Food Security
Compost, Double Digging, Perennial Guilds and Water Holding Swales