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What is compost? I mean, from reading articles I know what goes into compost; but exactly what is it? Is it a fertilizer or is it a soil amendment? What importance is it and what is it used for and for what purpose is it used for?
joy112854
Primarily a soil amendment. It improves clay soils so they drain better and plant roots can penetrate better and get air between waterings. It certainly makes clay soils easier to dig in, and when it's on the dry side it's not clumpy and hard.
It improves sandy soils (the opposite of clay) in that it makes them hold some of the water that otherwise runs right through sand. Gives it more "heft."
As the compost in soil further decomposes, it also acts as a weak fertilizer, so that's another benefit. It adds trace elements to the soil.
A good planting mix is equal parts of loam, compost, and finely shredded bark mulch.
Is this anywhere close to what you are asking, or am I totally off base?
pgt: Thanks for that link there is a lot of valuable information there. I am beginning to think that there is a composter in my future; hmmm, wonder what kind, any suggestions?
joy112854
Joy-you don't need a composter to compost. Just a place to put your materials. In a very basic form you can make a circle with rigid wire (a little bit more rigid than say chicken wire) and put your pile in there. I have a 3 bin system built our of recycled shipping pallets. Think the letter E with an extra 1/2 an E. It took 7 pallets for all the sides. I have 3 bins so I can have a fresh pile, 1/2 decomposed pile, and completely decomposed pile.
Happy composting! It's the best thing you can do for your garden and for the environment.
