Into the Heap: Debunking Myths of Composting

• You need a recipe to make compost: Nature has been composting for all time, in virtually all places - and without a recipe. Leaves fall on the forest floor and decompose, without store-bought starter mix or manure being added. Indeed, you can make the maximum amount of compost in the shortest possible time by having a better mix of ingredients than just leaves, but, in time, even imbalanced formulas will rot. The "perfect" blend is said to have a carbon-nitrogen (or C-N) ratio of 25-30:1, meaning 25 to 30 parts carbonaceous material (brown stuff like dried leaves, sawdust, pine needles, straw) to each part nitrogen (fresh green plants, like grass clippings, and also blood meal and manure). Just keep in mind the rough formula brown plus green equals black gold, and include a variety of both C- and N-rich materials.

• You need a formal bin to make it in: A bin that holds fresh, partly decomposed and finished materials in separate spaces, will make composting easier and neater. With such a composter, you move the materials along to the next bin as they rot, so finished stuff isn't buried under fresh stuff and hard to get at. However, you can simply pick an out-of-the-way corner and pile up the debris. Don't get hung up on the accessories: A plastic garbage can with the bottom cut off and air holes punched in the sides and top will work just fine (great for recycling a beat-up trash can into a second life).

• The pile has to be turned regularly. Who turns the forest floor? Nobody, of course. In time, any formerly living things will break down. If you can wait for your compost (up to a year from fresh ingredients to finished stuff with no turning at all), you can save a lot of work. For compost as quick as six weeks, turn every few days - doing so aerates the pile.

• Compost is a fertilizer. Though it does exhibit some nutritive qualities, compost isn't meant to replace plant food. Most of all, it's a soil conditioner, adding organic matter that ensures proper drainage, increasing the soil's moisture-holding capacity so plants can take a good long drink before the water washes through. The confusion about it being a fertilizer may come from the fact that the presence of compost in the soil actually helps make more nutrients available to roots.

• Small yards don't create enough wastes to warrant building a compost pile: Start figuring vegetable scraps, coffee and tea grounds, leftover pasta, rice and cereals, plus even minimal yard and garden wastes - it really adds up. Once you see the benefits of an on-site compost supply, you'll get with the program - and start rounding up all your neighbors' bags of leaves from

• Lime should be added to the heap: Some people add lime when the pile smells bad, or to reduce acidity of the compost. Don't add lime without being sure it's required; turning probably will help get the pile cooking again and reduce rotting smells. Test the pH of finished compost before modifying it with lime.

• It's gotta be hot: Piles that stay between 120 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit will really cook along fast, but decomposition also will occur (more slowly) at cooler internal levels. A compost thermometer eliminates the guesswork. To heat up a too-sluggish pile: turn it (to add air or help excess water drain out), moisten it (to the point of a damp sponge, neither sodden nor dry), or add some N-rich fuel. Remember, making compost is a lot like making soup: No matter what you add, within the bounds of reason and common sense, it works. Sometimes you have to let it cook a little longer, or adjust the seasonings, but in the end you get a nourishing meal - for the soil, that is.

Myths of Composting, The Compost Heap by L. L Binnie.