Composting and Soil Improvements

Composting provides a great natural resource!

Where we live, the soil is black clay (north Texas). We have found that by using a compost, we can almost eliminate the need for commercial fertilizers to grow most vegetables, herbs and spices.

Our compost is lined with rail-road ties (4 tall) but is open on one side for easy access. We put hay, table scraps, garden scraps, firewood ash, and manure from our cattle and horses in it. The materials in the compost are "turned" from time to time. The soil from the compost is great for starting new plants of all kinds as well as being tilled into the soil of the garden. This organically rich soil helps make the black clay much easier to work and provides nutrients for the vegetables. Neighbors barns and livestock auction houses are great resources for manure. Composting provides an environmentally safe way to transform biodegradable waste products into rich and fertile soil.

For those of you who suffer from a high concentration of clay in your soil, composting is the answer. Composting will supply your garden with a continual source of rich humus that will loosen up clay based (heavy) soils, allowing the roots of flowers and vegetables to penetrate the soil. For folks with sandy soils, compost will perform the opposite function: it will bring soil particles together and help retain water for plants to use, while still allowing the soil to "breath."

A few of the best composting materials include leaves, shredded newspaper, grass clippings, farm manure, garden waste, sawdust and vegetable peelings.
Household biodegradable refuse is not recommended because it