"Environmental Chefs,here's a recipe for you
to fix from scratch
to mix a batch
of Compost Stew.
Ingredients:
Bananas, bruised
Coffee grounds
with filters used
Dirt clods, crumbled
Eggshells, crushed
Fruit pulp left behind, all mushed
Grass clippings
Hair snippings
and an Insect or two
Just add to the pot
and let it all rot
into Compost Stew.
Save:Jack-o'-lanterns
Kitchen scraps
Laundry lint
from dryer traps
Mulch removed
from garden beds
Nutshells
Oatmeal
Paper shreds
Quarry dust
Rye bread crust
and Seaweed strands (a few)
Just add to the pot
and let it all rot
into Compost Stew.
Take:Teabags plucked from
long, hot swimmings
Underbrush prunings
Vegetable trimmings
Wiggly works with compost cravings
Xmas tree needles
Yellow pine shavings
and Zinnia heads
from flower beds
whose blooming days are through
Just add to the pot
and let it all rot
into Compost Stew.Moisten.
Toss lightly.
Cover.
Let brew.
And when the cooking is complete,
Mother Earth will
have a treat,
dark and crumbly,
rich and sweet . . .
Now open the pot
and what have you got?
Compost Stew!
Finished Compost Stew - Black Gold for the Garden
4 comments:
What a cool post. I just met someone touring and visiting the garden from Belize with Bruce a few weeks back.
Does anyone know if there is any stipulations on what kind of shredded paper can be use? I know Bruce mentioned it, but I evidently didn't write it down.
I looked back through my Master Gardener training notes from the Jan 2011 classroom presentation of Dr. Bruce entitled "Black Gold; Art and Science of Composting." I did not find info on what kind of shredded paper CAN be used, and I was reminded that newspaper is NOT a suitable ingredient for Compost Stew. So, while I have you attention, here are a couple of other nuggets taught by Dr. Bruce.
"Garbage becomes rose,
Rose becomes compost,
Everything is in transformation."
Quote from Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist.
Understanding the Compost Food Chain
The incredible and mostly invisible biodiversity symphony of chemical and physical decomposers contributing to Microbe Farming, that is going on deep down in that compost pile. For more details, go to: http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Slide_Show/sld008.htm
Maintaining the Carbon:Nitrogen (Brown:Green) Ratio
We learned that all organic matter is composed of substantial amounts of carbon (C) and lesser amounts of nitrogen (N). The balance of these two elements is the C:N ratio. Performance (cooking) of the compost pile (soup) in transforming organic wastes (ingredients) into Black Gold is determined in large part by this ratio of ingredients added to the soup pot (pile). Compost scientists have determined that the fastest way to produce Black Gold is to maintain a C:N ratio somewhere around 30 parts Carbon to 1 part Nitrogen. If the C:N ratio is too high on the Carbon side of the equation, the soup cooks too slowly. If the C:N ratio is too high on the Nitrogen side of the equation, the soup begins to rot, and stink! We are aiming for a balanced recipe that yields an earthy, sweet smelling fluffy organic stew that can feed other populations of microbes where we grow our plants.
Examples of the high carbon ingredients are called the Browns for good reason.
Cardboard, wood ash, corn stalks, fruit waste, leaves, shredded paper, nut shells, pine needles, sawdust, wood chips, straw.
Examples of high nitrogen ingredients are called Greens, and for good reason.
Garden clippings, vegetable scraps, certain kinds of animal manure, seaweed, hay, coffee grounds, weeds.
We all can benefit from a home compost pile. Not only will it produce Black Gold, it reminds us and teaches our kids invaluable lessons about the cycle of life, turning trash into treasure, waste management, and the invaluable role of microbes in sustaining life on earth. Are you now ready to home Compost?
Machu, thank you so much for this! I am trying so hard to be a better steward of the planet. It is amazing how much stuff can actually go in the pile. I can't wait for my first born, dirt that is!
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