Compost is the hands-down best thing you can do for your soil. Compost is organic matter like leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen waste that has been allowed to decompose. It is an ideal soil conditioner, and is used to improve soil health and reduce the dependence on artificial fertilizers.
What’s the Best Kind of Compost, and Where Can I Get It?
Almost anything can be made into compost. Compost is made from mixing high-carbon materials (like leaves) with high nitrogen material (like manure or kitchen waste) with enough water and air to allow bacteria to decompose it.
Almost every savvy gardener has a compost pile in their backyard, but if you’re serious about soil amendments, it’s very difficult to produce enough compost for even a small yard. That’s why most people get their compost commercially, from landscapers or greenhouses. Although you can get it in bags, it’s usually more economical to get it by the cubic yard, and even have it delivered.
Why Use Compost?
Compost is the best way to improve soil health. The nitrogen in compost acts as a natural fertilizer, the carbon breaks up clay and keeps the soil from compacting, and the microbes keep it healthy and oxygenated, all for the benefit of the plants you put into it. This is how organic farming is done, and it’s much better for the soil than chemical fertilizers, in the same way that eating plenty of vegetables is better for you than a multi-vitamin.
Your vegetable garden will thank you if you work in plenty of compost every year when you plant. On the other hand, if you don’t compost, the soil will wear out, because all the nutrients will become fixed in last year’s crops and nothing has been given back to the soil.
Composting is a natural and easy way to maintain healthy soil. To reserve your compost, or to ask us questions about the type of compost we stock, contact JK Enterprise.
