Gardening to me is an opportunity and a delight to work with nature and never against it.When l turn the soil over early in the season here in Akbuk Turkey,l always use the fork so not to injure the living creatures in the soil,and also if l see any surface living insects on the surface,l will never harm that insect,because of the job that insect does to control the pests that does damage to the plants.l am as strong believer if you work with nature,nature will work with you,and l have always believed that.
When l first moved in my house about 4 years ago here in Akbuk the soil was very poor.There was no texture to it and was very hard to the touch when dry and very sticky when went.This type of soil was hard clay,with no living organisms in it.So with a little patience and know how,l now have a more healthy garden with soil that is filled with living organisms.This allows the soil to breath and to stay healthy,feeding the nutrients to the plants.
Gardening doesn't have to be expensive if you know what to do.The compost you need to improve the texture of the soil is from the kitchen waste[not cooked and no fats] Dig a hole one foot deep to one foot wide.throw in the waste and then throw on one inch of soil.Water the soil into the first layer and leave it.The next batch of waste you have to throw in the hole is the same method as the first,and water that one in again.Keep on doing this until you reach the top.tamp it down and throw on the top layer of soil tamp that down and water in.
Wait two seasons and you have a good quality type of soil that the plants will love.
This is the way l do it here in Akbuk.But in England when l was a professional gardener,l built my own compost bin,one for humus and the other was for leaf mould.never mix leaves with the other composted kitchen waste,because the leaf mould breaks down by fungi,where the compost breaks down with high active microbes that gives off a heat up to 150 degrees.
-
rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Welcome to the forum! I love your philosophy about working with Nature. I have said the same thing (not necessarily as eloquently! 
) as have many others here.
But there are lots of different ways of accomplishing the same thing. I do mix the leaves (browns) and the weeds and kitchen scraps (greens) in the same pile. If you read the "stickies" in the Compost forum, you will see that we generally suggest some balance of browns and greens to have a balance of bacterial and fungal activity.
More green may make the pile heat up easier. But it can compost through other actions (earthworms, insects, etc) without ever getting to 150 degrees and still be rich, organic compost.
We all have to work out what works for us.
) as have many others here. But there are lots of different ways of accomplishing the same thing. I do mix the leaves (browns) and the weeds and kitchen scraps (greens) in the same pile. If you read the "stickies" in the Compost forum, you will see that we generally suggest some balance of browns and greens to have a balance of bacterial and fungal activity.
More green may make the pile heat up easier. But it can compost through other actions (earthworms, insects, etc) without ever getting to 150 degrees and still be rich, organic compost.
We all have to work out what works for us.
-
The Helpful Gardener
- Mod
- Posts: 7491
- Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
- Location: Colchester, CT
Snail it is always nice to have professional gardeners here and I appreciate and agree with your input. This is not so hard but I too like your method of a green compost (bacterial) and a brown compost (fungal). Like Rainbow I too mix these back and forth as needed (mostly the browns to my greens for carbon) but like them seperated for different jobs. Shrubs and vines (especially small fruit like berries and grapes) seem to like a more fungal mix, while row crops and vegetables like bacterial, and the higher temps you get in a mostly bacterial mix ARE good for eliminating pathogens (which aren't thermophilic, or heat loving, like our compost bacteria).
Evergreen trees and the soil around them are a good way to get fungal cultures for brown/leaf composts; I have seen pictures of your country and you have some very beautiful pines that would work well, but this makes for a very slow compost and you must be very patient with it...
HG
Evergreen trees and the soil around them are a good way to get fungal cultures for brown/leaf composts; I have seen pictures of your country and you have some very beautiful pines that would work well, but this makes for a very slow compost and you must be very patient with it...
HG