Grow Your Own Compost

Many homeowners and apartment dwellers maintain a compost pile to deal with their kitchen scraps. Composting not only is a way of quickly breaking down organic waste but it also can be used to fertilize vegetable and flower beds. However, for those who are dedicated to growing a significant amount of their own food, compost is the lifeblood of the homestead. One cannot be self-sufficient and still haul bags of commercial compost from the garden store every week.

California self-sufficiency biointensive gardening writer, John Jeavons, recommends that over 50% of what an urban homesteader grows in the backyard should be plants to build soil through compost rather than food itself. This way, the soil will not become depleted from repeated plantings but can regenerate itself in a sustainable way.

Even if you don't want to get "back to the land" but you do want to grow some of your own compost to supplement your vegetable garden, here are some plants that you can grow to boost your compost:

Comfrey

Comfrey is in a class all by itself and deserves a little corner of every urban homestead. Comfrey has a very long taproot and is efficient at mining up potassium from deep in the soil. As comfrey breaks down in a compost pile, it also releases significant amounts of nitrogen, making it one of the most versatile compost crops. Layer comfrey stalks and flowers between carbon layers in the compost pile.

Corn

Corn is a great triple-purpose crop. The corn on the cob is edible, both for people and animals, the growing stalks provide support for beans or other vining crops, and the dead stalks provide a good source of carbon for the compost pile. To break corn stalks down for quicker composting, run through a chipper/shredder or chop with a hoe.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are also a useful multi-purpose crop. Sunflower seeds can be used as food, used to make oil, or fed to poultry or wild birds. Sunflower plants make an effective wind break for more delicate garden plants. Dead sunflower stalks can be used as a carbon component in compost. A run through a chipper/shredder will render small pieces that will compost easily.

Crimson Clover

Clover and other similar legumes have a unique property that is essential to the backyard gardener- the ability to fix nitrogen into the soil. Clover can take atmospheric nitrogen and turn it into organic nitrogen that the plant can used. Once the clover plant is dead, the nitrogen can be used by other plants. Clover can be composted simply by growing it in an unused bed and tilling it under into the soil. It can also be pulled and added to an existing compost pile.