SOIL-BUILDING BASICS
(Page 6 of 7)
Now that's precisely how MOTHER's master gardeners make the lush brown gold that, itself, produces their abundant crops. You can amend their system somewhat, if need be, to fit your personal situation . . . and still make an excellent soil additive. For instance, if livestock manure isn't readily available where you live, sprinkle a handful of blood meal over each of your organic layers to supply the pile's needed nitrogen. Likewise, you can incorporate freshly cut lawn grass, fallen leaves (chop them up with a lawn mower first), and household—non-meat—kitchen scraps into the heap. If you don't have enough material to make as big a pile as the Sullivans construct (their heaps are frequently 4' X 6' X 12'), add ingredients as you can to a three-foot-square area. Once that section gets to be three feet tall, treat it like a little compost pile . . .and start building a new mini-mound right next to it. And you can sprinkle some soil on each layer—to introduce beneficial bacteria—if you don't want to use the biodynamic compost starter.
RELATED CONTENT
Although composting is a relatively simple science, there are a few things that can go wrong with it. If your pile doesn't heat up properly, first check to see if it's too dry or too damp. If the former is true, water it a bit and cover it back up. If it's too moist, mix in an extra helping or two of dry ingredients. If your would—be compost still doesn't heat up after you've adjusted the moisture level, it probably needs more nitrogen. Turn the mound, working in another layer of manured bedding—or a handful of blood meal—as you do so. (On the other hand, if the pile starts giving off an ammonialike odor, you've given it too much nitrogen and should add some leaves, hay, or dried grass clippings.)
Whether you follow the Sullivans' technique closely or change it to fit your own situation, the crumbly material that you'll produce will be the finest soil conditioner imaginable. If you feed your garden with that rich humus—and follow other good soil—building practices—next year's growing ground will reward you with abundance.
SO MUCH FOR SOLARIZATION
We reported, on page 184 of MOTHER NO. 75, the beginning of our experiment to evaluate the newly touted soil conditioning technique known as solarization. This process consists of simply covering soaked ground with clear plastic sheeting and waiting a month or so for the sun to heat the earth and "pasteurize" it of most weed seeds and soil pathogens.
Well, folks, the outcome of that test (we have to admit) was . . .poor Barbara and Kerry put one small winter-rye-to-be fol lowed-by-popcorn plot "under wraps" right next to another similar space last March. They left the covering on for six weeks. The Sullivans say the ground under the tarp never got especially hot (the temperature peaked at around 100°F on one 80°F day) . . . but they also admit this past spring was a particularly cool one.
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