Today has been such an exciting and wonderful day. 🌞 We had lovely warm weather and it was just the perfect day to be outside. So perfect that I had to walk on the grass barefoot 💖. I was in a state of peace while walking on the cool grass. I spent my whole morning cooking in the garden. Cooking, you might wonder? Well yes, I was cooking up absolutely scrumptious compost, a.k.a Black Gold! Compost isn't rich in N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium) which one may encounter on a fertilizer label. It acts as more of an enricher/soil conditioner, making nutrients more accessible to the soil. My plan was to layer the ingredients in a terracotta pot just like lasagna layers and await for the compost to be ready in 3-4 months. Smell is an excellent indicator of when the compost is ready. If it has a rich earthy smell, the compost is ready; if it gives off an unpleasant odor that means it needs more time to mature. This is my second year pitching in to our family composting project. I gathered up all the ingredients that I needed to make my compost from various organic materials scattered around our backyard. I used one tall tub of food scraps, two tubs of homemade compost (leftover from the previous year), two tubs of green leaves, two tubs of dead plant material, one small tub of earthworms, one big box of regular garden soil, and finally some water.
 |
| Ingredients Needed |
 |
Step 1 - Getting our terracotta pots ready
|
 |
Step 2 - Adding soil as the first layer |
 |
Step 3 - Adding food scraps for nitrogen |
 |
| Step 4: Adding green leaves for nitrogen |
 |
Step 5 - Adding dead plant material for carbon
(dead leaves, twigs, branches, coco peat)
|
Step 6 - Last but not least, don't forget to add soil and earthworms. When adding earthworms, make sure to give them enough water, as hot temperatures can kill them. By adding earthworms to the compost, the composting process speeds up tremendously.
Note: Repeat the layering process until the compost bin is completely filled up, finally finishing off with the dead plant material.
This project is the best way I can think of Welcoming Spring! Spring reminds me of my Iranian colleague who would bring our co-workers a variety of desserts around this time, in celebration of Nowruz (the Iranian New Year, and the start of spring).
I had so much fun taking pictures and sharing my composting thoughts, but please do share your composting tips and tricks in the comments section. I would love to hear your thoughts.
