Composting

Some things I've learned since starting this garden have made me feel rather naive. One of the biggest is composting. I'm an intelligent person with a lot of interests but before this, when I heard the word "compost", I typically thought of a garbage pile. 

Once I started reading about composting, I thought it would take very long periods of time for a compost pile to become usable. I was also very apprehensive about the odor, even though the articles I read said that was not a concern, if handled properly. I did pay great attention to what not to put in my compost pit. 

It was a pleasant surprise for me when my first batch of compost took only about 5 weeks. I do know now I should have let that batch sit at least another week, just for curing. Some things I placed in it were a little too large and I wound up raking it out of the garden later. Yeah, that's attractive. Still, it did it's job quite well and I learned to be a bit more patient with the process. 

One thing I found conflicting information about was ash in the compost. After I had torn down a huge pile of bamboo and branches, I didn't have any place to put the stuff, so I burned it. I went with the people who said it would work and placed the ashes in the compost pits. Now I'm glad I did! When the compost was cured, I spread it all over the yard, including the grass. A few days later, the grass began turning greener than it has been since I moved in here (and I'd guess greener than it has been in many years). One note, however- my soil had tested very alkaline, so I had been adding various substances (all organic) to make it more acidic. 

I am still going to have to work on the acidity of my soil before next spring. I do know teh pH has to be lowered gradually or during the winter, otherwise plants get burned. Here, that's a big issue. Desert soil is notoriously alkaline. 

I planted a bunch of new seeds yesterday, as I read in Mother Earth News that this is a good time for last plantings of some items in this area. However, the weather is cooling down early this year and I'm highly expecting an early and harsh winter. So, I need to go cover the rows with plastic to retain moisture and help with night temperatures until the seeds germinate. Last chance to have a full garden this, my first season.