Making Compost for Organic Gardening

Hayley Ninnis

Introduction• Yoga and art enthusiast Hayley Ninnis explores her creativity and

passions in many ways. For example, Hayley Ninnis enjoys gardening, and she has become interested in particular in organic gardening.

With the increasing awareness of the dangers of pesticides to people and the environment, organic gardening has grown in popularity. Many people wish to grow home gardens without using synthetic fertilizers or other potentially harmful ingredients. While growing an organic home garden does involve multiple steps, getting started doesn’t have to be difficult. A good place to begin is to create compost, a mixture created from decaying food and vegetables that gives plants the nutrients they need to thrive.

Organic Gardening• To make compost, you need to first set aside space for a

compost pile outdoors. A designated area of a few square feet can work. Then, you can begin to alternate layers of leaves and trimmings from plants with scraps from the kitchen, or even manure if it’s available.

Place some soil between these layers, and then put between 4 and 6 inches of soil on top of the entire pile. Over time, you can add additional layers and turn the pile, adding water as needed to moisten it lightly. Depending on local temperatures, this pile should yield quality compost to spread around crops in a couple months or more.