Backyard Compost Pile - Grow Your Own Worm Farm

My Grandma Griffard was known in Ste. Genevieve as the "Worm Lady." Local Missouri fishermen would stop by her house to pick up a container of worms before heading out to the Mississippi River. I have memories of walking next to Grandma as she searched for the next worm pile to dig in. I can remember pulling out fat brown worms from an overturned pile and quickly filling up the worm bucket. She would tell me a story of the time she went digging and came face to face with a snake. Fortunately, her dog wrestled the creature and sent it to an early death.

The year Grandma passed away is the year that I started my first compost pile. I had read many gardening books, but I always skipped over the idea of a compost pile. I had a garbage disposal and landscape bags-- what did I need a compost pile for? Why would I want to spend time turning over some brown stuff and green stuff mixed with leftover carrot tops?

That year, I started a new garden bed in the back of the house. I was out of landscaping bags and a neighbor convinced me to try composting instead. I went over to her house and discovered thousands of plants blooming and apple trees bearing beautiful green apples. Compost, she said, was the trick to feeding the earth.

The first pile started out as a bunch of sod cut up from an area where I planted some new shrubs. I added some coffee grounds and a handful of grass clippings. I promptly forgot about that pile for a few weeks until one day, after a few days of rain, I realized that grass and weeds were starting to grow. So I turned the pile over and saw something move.

A nice, big fat worm.

I haven't stopped composting since. For a while, I debated purchasing a compost bin. I saw some fancy barrel type composters as well as a plastic square bin with slats. The price, plus the idea of using plastic wasn't appealing to me. Years later, I'm still composting the lazy man's way: a pile that's hidden behind a shed. Worms have free access to the composting process. Air flows freely around the pile and the occasional rain provides moisture. My garbage disposal rarely gets a workout anymore. The only time we bag our grass clippings is when the compost pile needs more nitrogen--we empty the grass clippings into the compost pile.

Speaking of brown and green stuff-- there's an easy way of remembering the formula for composting. Compost piles should be made mostly of brown "carbon-rich" materials such as wood chips, dried leaves, straw or newspaper. Green stuff (nitrogen loaded) is anything that is fresh-- food scraps, grass clippings or pieces of sod. You'll want 25 times more brown stuff than green stuff in your compost pile. Grass clippings can be spread out in a thin layer on top of the compost pile and allowed to dry out before turning the pile. Once they turn brown, they won't contribute a foul smell. In the fall, I rake up leaves and run over them with the lawn mower and toss those in the pile.

I have also started new garden beds by composting right over the area to be gardened. I first outline the new garden bed and dig up a strip of sod that outlines the bed. I toss the sod grass side down over the rest of the bed and add the composting materials that I have on hand. I use this method when I'm willing to wait a year before being able to plant over the area.

The result of a good compost pile is a rich, crumbly hummus that will feed your garden soil like nothing else. Synthetic fertilizers may provide a temporary solution to grow plants, but compost sustains the earth over the long term. By using compost, you'll have the satisfaction of helping the earth and easing the load in the landfills.

And even better, the worms will thank you for it.