Compost is a key component in many organic gardening plans. The wise gardener can minimize his or her effort by composting in small batches directly adjacent to the planting beds that will require compost. This saves the time that would otherwise be required to cart compost out of a single, centralized pile.

Composting: Dos and Don’ts

Clean up your garden at the end of the growing season. If you clean up your garden when the growing season is over, it will improve the appearance and make less work for you the following year. Remove dead or damaged branches on trees and shrubs, get rid of weeds before they go to seed, and rake any leaves from the lawn. Remove old annual plants and cut perennials to the ground if they normally die back in the winter. Any plant material that isn’t diseased can be put in the compost pile.

Try using coffee grounds on the soil. Coffee grounds have nitrogen that plants will utilize. Generally, nitrogen is the limiting nutrient with any plant and having a good nitrogen source either by coffee grounds, compost, or even diluted urea, will make your plants bloom faster and grow taller.

How to use an organic compost pile?

Use a nicely finished compost pile as fertilizer for your garden. Organic means that you don’t use artificial fertilizers or herbicides to grow your plants, yet sometimes the soil isn’t necessarily full of the proper nutrients for growth. Utilizing a compost pile can provide you with a rich, dark earthy soil that can provide your plants with plenty of nutrients. Use equal parts dried and green plant material for your own compost. Green plant material includes grass clippings, spent flowers, vegetable and fruit waste, weeds and leaves. Dried plant material consists of sawdust, shredded paper, cardboard, straw, and cut-up and dried wood material. Your compost pile should never contain meat, ashes or charcoal.

Avoid chemical fertilizers when gardening, replace them with natural, organic mixtures like compost. Chemical fertilizers will deposit toxins into the soil, which can build up over time and even affect your drinking water. Natural and organic mixtures are safe and won’t cause this toxic buildup.

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