Getting Down to Gardening Basics

Seems we've been happily throwing banana peels, teabags and eggshells into the backyard compost pile without stopping to think about what's next. Sure, I turn it every chance I get and add layers of dirt, clippings and dried leaves, but it's not going to win any awards for heated perfection. The worms definitely like it, so we must be doing something right.

Year-old Compost Pile (not yet sifted)

At the recent Organic Growers School, one of the instructors reminded me to stop throwing produce on the pile and let it complete its journey toward garden-ready humus.  In other words, alternate piles.  Okay, I knew that, I just forgot, in my zest to plan for everything we want to plant this spring.

So, above is a look at our year-old compost pile (looks a bit like a shallow grave, so I hope my neighbors read this post before jumping to conclusions).  And here's next year's brand new compost pile, started with a layer of vegetable scraps from the kitchen, and continuing with a layer of plentiful dried leaves.

Veggie Layer of New Compost Pile

Dried Leaves Layer of New Compost Pile

For all of the detailed information I tried to take notes on at the school, much of the organic growing method comes right down to basics, like starting with that rich, homemade compost.  So as I try learning new things I'm also relearning some things that most of us knew all along.

This week at FlourSackMama.com I hope to share more from the Organic Growers School, starting Monday with the dirt on growing organically.