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Page 26 · column 1 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
By Deborah Shepherd
Times Newspapers Staff Writer
The compost pile serves so many useful purposes that it’s a wonder the practice ever went out of fashion.
Composting is done in townhouses as well as farmhouses, resulting in rich loam that delights the gardener and a lower volume of kitchen waste that delights the environmentalist.
Gardeners have enough to worry about, what with planting schedules, watering rotation and remembering to watch for mulch sales at the nursery. The wonderful thing about composting is that all the work can be left to hungry microbes.
As long as they have their balanced diet of “greens” and “browns,” and a moist environment with plenty of air flow, microbes will consume yard and kitchen waste. All the gardener needs to do to retrieve the rich, loamy byproduct is bring a shovel.
What can be composted?
“Browns” are dry, dead plant materials:
• Straw
• Dry brown weeds
• Autumn leaves
95.2%