Organic Gardener's Composting

Superio

il temporarily provokes the opposite of a good growth response until soil animals and microorganisms consume most of the undigested pape

the information in the first half of the book is all you need to know. If you need compost to

tle H

and composts available while the field crops got the rest. So I've learned a great deal from old farming and market gardening literature about using animal manures. In pre

ctive of chicks, and capable of foraging. A typical pre-1900 small-scale chicken management system was to allow the flock free access to hunt their own meals in the barnyard and orchard, luring them into the coop at dusk with a bit of grain where they were protected from predators whil

and seeds. Twentieth-century chickens "living" in egg and meat factories must still be fed low C/N foods, primarily grains, and their manure is still potent.

rn plant leaves like chemical fertilizer does and must be applied sparingly to soil. It provokes a marked and vigorous growth response. Two or t

bilized humus, be it a chemical or a natural substance, accelerates the decline in soil organic matter. That is because nitrate nitrogen, the key to constructing all protein, is usually the main factor lim

tion. More microbes accelerate the breakdown of humus and even more plant nutrients are released as organic matter decays. And that is why holistic farmers and gardeners mistakenly criticize chemical fertilizers as being directly destructive of soil micro

on the amount and quantity of bedding used and the time allowed for decomposition to occur, the resultant C/N will be around

enerally from horses. The difference between the "long" and the "short" manure was bedding. Long manure contained straw from the stall whi

on revealed lots of stems and seed heads would be rejected by a smart buyer. The working horse's diet was supplemented with a daily ration of grain. Consequently, uncomposted fresh short manure probably started out with a C/N around 15:1. However, don't count on anything that good from horses these days. Most

deal of ammonia would escape the heap). Market gardeners raising highly demanding crops like cauliflower and celery amended composted short manure by the inc

/N would probably be in a little below 20:1. After tilling it in, a short period of time was allowed while the soil digested this compost before sowing seeds. Lazy farmers spread raw manure load by load as it came fr

. The finished compost tends to have a C/N that is related to the ingre

05. This fascinating little book was written to encourage British market gardeners to imitate the Parisian marcier, who skillfully earned top returns growing out-of-season produce on int

g the

C/N will eventually lower itself. The key word here is eventually. The most dramatic decomposition occurs during the first few turns when the heap is hot. Many people, including writers of garden books, mistakenly think that the composting ends when the pile coo

contains 5 to 10 percent soil, is kept moist, is turned occasionally so it stays aerobi

ve during hot weather because the soil itself is supplying nitrates from the breakdown of organic matter. Summer legume crops, like cowpeas and snap beans, tend to be net consumers of nitrates, not makers of more nitrates than

can all make significant contributions of nitrate nitrogen and smart farmers prefer to grow their nitrogen by green manuring legumes. Wise farmers also know that this nitrate, though produced in r

pecial provision must be made to encourage azobacteria other than maintaining a decent level of humus for them to eat, a balanced mineral supply that includes adequate calcium, and a soil pH between 5.75 and 7.25. A high-yielding crop of whe

ates, steadily lowering the C/N. And carbon never stops being digested, further dropping the C/N. The rapid phase

s passed and the heap is cooling, it is commonly invaded by redworms, the same species used for vermicomposting kitchen garbage. These worms would n

wly spread out over crude worm beds and kept moist. More crude compost is added as the worms consume the waste, much like a household worm box. The worm beds gradually rise. The lower portion of these mounds is pure castings while the worm activity stays closer to the surface where food is available. When the beds have gro

Even though Fallbrook is surrounded by large acreages devoted to citrus orchards and row crop vegetables, the

Howard's In

e was known about the actual microbial process of composting until our century. As information became available about compost ecology, one brilliant individ

reals. The farm was powered by the same work oxen used by the surrounding farmers. It would have been easy for Howard to demonstrate better yields through high technology by buying chemical fertilizers or using seed meal wastes from oil extraction, using tractors, and gro

idues. So Howard began developing methods to compost the waste products of agriculture, making enough high-quality fertilizer to supply the entire farm. Soon, Indore research farm was enjoying record yields without having insect or disease problems, and

ecological climax of maximized health and production. Conserving the manure and composting the crop waste allowed him to increase the soil's organic matter which increased the soil's release of nutrients from rock particles that fu

antages: no nitrogen or organic matter was lost from the farm through mishandling of agricultural wastes; the humus level of the farm's soils increased to a maximum sustainable level; and, the amount of nitrate nitrogen in the

vitations to visit plantations throughout the British Empire. It prompted farmers world-wide to make compost by the Indore method. Travel, contacts,

However, humans being what we are, it does not seem possible for good technology to be broadcast without each user trying to improve and adapt it to their own situation and understanding. By 19

sened its value-but Howard of 1941 did not resist this dilutive trend because in an era of c

ts before he became a crusading ideologue, dead set against any use of agricultural chemicals. A great many valuable lessons are still contained in _The Waste Products of Agriculture. _Unfortunatel

and other forest wastes, weeds, and green manures grown specifically for compost making. All of the urine from the cattle shed-in the form of urine earth-

temporarily inhibiting plant growth]. The fine state of division enables the compost to be rapidly in

ap must always be in the same range. Every time a heap was built the same assortment of crop wastes were mixed with the sa

us, rapid, and uniform throughout the process. This mechanical softening up was cleverly accomplished without power equipment by spreading tough crop wa

stricted the air supply and thermal mass so as to "bank the fires" of decomposition. This moderation was his key to preventing loss of nitrogen. Provisions were made to water the heaps as necessary, to turn them several times, and to use a novel system of mass inoculation with the proper fungi and bacteria. I'll shortly discuss each of these subjects in detail. Howard was pleased that there was no need to a

ying the manufacture of humus up to the point when nitrification is about to begin. In this way the Chinese principle of dividing the growing of a crop into two separ

ng must be sanitary and odorless and that flies must not be allowed to breed in the

re Compo

h sloping sides. The pits were sufficiently spaced to allow loaded carts to have access to all sides of any of them and a system of pipes brought water

nd Uri

rs. All soil removed from the silage pits, dusty sweepings from the threshing floors, and silt from the irrigation ditches were stored near the cattle shed and used to absorb urine from the work cattle. This soil was spread about six

rly acid. Additionally, the clay in the soil was uniquely incorporated into the heap so that it coated everything. Clay has a strong ability to absorb ammonia, preventing nitrogen loss. A clay coating also holds m

p W

ic and cart wheels before stacking. All these forms of vegetation were thinly layered as they were received so that the dry storage stacks became thoroughly mixed. Care was taken to preserve the mixing by cutting vertical slices out of the stacks

mped into an empty compost pit, mixed with a little soil, and kept moist until they softened. Or they might be soaked in water for a few days and

nu

be used fresh. Fresh cow dung contains bacteria from the cow's rumen that is essential to the rapid decomposition of cell

the Com

ures of manure and bedding were brought out from the cattle shed they were thinly layered atop thin layers of mixed vegetation brought in from the dried reserves heaped up adjacent to the compost factory. Each layer was thoroughly wet down with a clay slurry made of three ingredients: water, urine-eart

Versu

ated. Even though the pits were under a roof, they would fill with water during this period. So in the monsoon, compost was made in low heaps atop the ground. Compared to the huge pits, their dimensions were smaller

ld not reach the ultimate extremes possible while composting. The pits were better than heaps because air flow was further reduced, slowing dow

e Range in

Temperatur

58 11 55 12

st

51 22 48

ond

45 40 40

rd

39 76 38

ys for each

re Range

e-50 degree 1 50 degree-45 degree 25 45 degree-40 de

l 97

rn

, to restore moisture and air, and to supply massive quantities of those

f the pit was dug out with a manure fork and placed atop the first half. A small quantity of water was added, if needed to maintain moisture. Now the compost occupied half the pit, a space about 15 x 14 and was about three feet high, rising out of

d be added. This time the entire mass would be forked from one half the pit to the other and every effort would be made t

res but the increased oxygen facilitated nitrogen fixation. The contents of several pits might be combined to form a heap no larger than 10 x 10 at the base, 9 x 9 on top, and no more than 3-1/2 feet high. Again, more water might be added. Ripening would take about one month. Howard's measurements showed that afte

Value of In

armyard manure and that his target was compost with a C/N of 10:1. Since it was long

le materials like cotton residues, cane trash, weeds, fresh green sweet clover, or the waste of field peas. These experiments were always unsatisfactory. So Howard wisely mixed his vegetation, first withering and drying green materials by spreading them thinly in the sun to prevent their premature decomposition, and then taking great care to preserve

ost with a chemical fertilizer called Adco was in v

and then falls. When, however, urine earth and cow-dung are used, the residues become covered with a thin colloidal film, which not only retains moisture but contains combined nitrogen and minerals required by the fungi. This film enables the moisture to penetrate the mass and help

inoculation at two weeks, with material from a month-old heap provided a large supply of the type of organisms required when the heap began cooling. City gardeners without access to fresh manure may compensate for this lack by imitating Howard's mass inoculation technique, starting smaller amounts of compost in a series of bins and mixing into each b

half the nutrient content of the food passing through cattle is discharged in the urine. But, equally important, soil itself was beneficial to the process. Of this Howard said, "[where] there may be insufficient dung and urine earth for converting large quantities of vegetable wastes which are available, the

two feet deep. Where air was insufficient (though still aerobic) decay is retarded but worse, a process called denitrification occurs in which nitrates and ammonia are biologically broken down into gasses and permanently lost. Too much manure and urine-earth can

ompost in Deep

deep Pit

material

start 4,

n (lb) at sta

gen at end

of nitrogen (

or gain of nitro

. Heaps two or three feet high will achieve an initial temperature of about 145 degree. The purchase of a thermometer with a long probe and a litt

cul

decomposition. It supplies large numbers of the most useful types of microorganisms so they dominate the heap's ecology before other l

t _could _be a business. Such an approach is not without precedent. Brewers, vintners, and bread makers all do that. And ever since composting became interestin

t respect, inoculating compost is very different than beer, wine, or bread. With these food products there are few or no microorganisms at the start.

ded is present at the start. A small packet of inoculant is not likely to introduce what is not present anyway. And the complex ecology

s Clarence Golueke, who personally researched and developed U.C. fast composting in the early 1950s, and who has been

usiness, entrepreneurs are constantly attempting to sell inoculants to municipal co

in the early 1950's (when [I made my] appearance on the compost scene), starters were primarily microbial and references to identities of constituent microbes were very vague. References to enzymes were extremely few and far between. As early ("pioneer") researchers began to

s an array of enzymes. For some reason, hormones were attracting attention at the time, and so most starters were supposedly laced with hormones.

"Although anecdotal accounts of success due to the use of particular inoculum are not unusual in the popular media, we have yet to come across unqualified accounts of successes in the refereed scientific and technical literature." I use a variation o

iogr

g and soil o

Beech Leaf Press of the Kalamazoo Nature Center, 1981. If ever there was a serious investigation into the full range of the earthworm's

s, 1982. A delightful, slim, easy reading, totally positive book that

Harnessing the Earthw

s, 1

imprinted "Emmaus" this is not the Rodale organization, but a group that separated from Rodale Press over ten years ago. included on the staff are some old Organic Gardening and Farming staffers from the 1970s, including Gene Logdson and Jer

orey Communications, Inc., 1975. Next to my book

e Formation of Vegeta

Observations on their

& Co.

ology of Compost. Sy

vironmental Advisor

and Forestry, 1972. Ac

ery u

ale Press, 1972. Golueke, writing in "scientific" says much of what my book does in one-third

er should confront Donald Hopkins' thoughtful critique of Albert Howard's belief system. This book demolishes the notion

orms. _Charlotte, Vermont: Garden Way Publishing Company,

xford University Press, 1931. Many organic gardeners have read Howard's _An Agricultural Testament, _but almos

ord University Press, 1940. Describes Howard's ea

Faber & Faber, titled Farming and Gardening for Health or Disease. A full deve

oward's second wife. This one, slim volume expresses with elegant and passionate simplicity all of

H. F. & G. Witherby Ltd., 1962. Soil zool

ress, first published 1911. Treasured by the organic gardening movement for its description of a long-stan

. _Spring Valley, New York: Anthroposophic Press, 1976. A good introduction to this phi

ific Translations, 1961. Organic gardeners have many vague beliefs about how humus makes plants healthy. This book scientifi

e University Press, 1976. Soil zoology at a level assuming readers have university-level biology, zoology a

hworms for Your Farm and Garden. _Emmaus: Rodale Press, 1977.

arm, and in municipalities. The book has been through numerous rewritings since the first edition; this version is the best. It is more cohesive and less seeming li

. 26. Emmaus: Rodale Press, 1945. During the 1940s Rodale Press

namic Farming and Gar

throposophic

Conn. Agric. Expt. Sta., 1972. A rigorous but readable review of scientific lite

been revised by a committee of current British agronomists. They enlarged Russell's book and made more credible to academics by making it less comprehensible to ordinary people with good e

f Michigan, 1968. Soil zoology for American readers without

Connecticut: Devin Adair, 1961. The original statement of mulch gardening. Fun to read. Her di

o the serious

d about it. When I started gardening in the early 1970s l quickly devoured everything labeled "organic" in the local public library and began what became a t

n's father, had become far more intelligent since l last read them fifteen years back. l began to understand that one reason so many organic gardeners misunderstood Albert Howard was that he wrote in English, not American. l als

college professor standing over their shoulder. Older books are often far better than new ones, especially if you'll forgive them an occasional error in point of fact. We are not always discovering newer, better, and improved. Often we are forgetting and obscuring and confusing what was on

The Albrecht Papers,

, USA

hairman of the Soil Department at the University of Missouri during the 1930s. His unwavering investigation of soil fertility as the primary cause of health and disease was considered politically incorrect by the academic establishment and vested interests that funded agricultural research at that time. Driven from academia, he wrote prolificall

he Living Soil. London

derstanding of the science of health and of the limitations of her own knowledge. Balfour is someone any serious gardener will want to meet through

t from the City: An E

. New York: Harper

mall-scale technology leads to enhanced personal liberty and security. Homemade is inevitably more efficient, less costly, and better quality than anything mass-produ

ture and Properties of

: Macmil

l colleges. Every serious gardener should attempt a reading of this encyclopedia of

bar Farm. New York: Ha

unknown to today's gardening public. If you like Wendell Berry you'll find Bromfield's emotive and Iyrical prose even finer and less academically contrive

l and Civilization. _Norman: University of

turned into an impoverished, scantily-inhabited semi-desert by neglecting soil conservation. Will ours' survive

ition. First published London: Longmans, Green & Co., Ltd., 1912

Parkman or Gibbon. Anyone serious about vegetable gardening will want to

entals of Soil Science

Wylie & S

like Brady's work however, this book is a little less technical, an easier read as though designed f

cres and Liberty. _New

ement. He was Ralph Borsodi's mentor and inspiration. Where Ra

on. _Annotated by Donald A. Weaver. Michigan/

ification of atmospheric carbon dioxide by remineralization of the soil. Very useful for its exploration of the agricultural use of rock flours. Hel

ty and Permanent Agriculture. _

inest of soil manuals in existence. Hopkins' interesting obj

sis of Absolute Science and Real Li

of management of overall soil mineralization. People who attempt this book should be ready to forgive that Hopkins occasionally expre

of Soil Formation: a

w York: McGr

still stands in the present as the best analysis of how soil forms from r

. _The Work of Sir Rob

ondon Faber an

with Albert Howard. He spent years "trekking around the Hunza and conducted the first bioassays of food nutrition by feeding rat populations on the various national diets of

o Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled World. First

ly thereafter. Scott was a very dignified old political radical when he addressed my high school in Massachusetts in 1961 and inspired me to

nic and Inorganic Fer

d Agricultural

neration. _La Mesa, California: Price-Potteng

f aged unlettered savages retained all their teeth in perfect condition. So he traveled to isolated parts of the Earth in the early 1930s seeking healthy humans. And he found them-belonging to every race and on every continent. And found out

ganic Front. Emmaus

ic gardening and farming movement in the United States by starting up Organic Gardening and Farming magaz

ritional Values in Cro

nd Fabe

"Is organically grown food really more n

ee Crops: A Permanent

race and Co

s should overlook this classic critique of

ng Vegetables West of

Sasquatch

merican gardeners east of the Cascades. It has been praised as the best regional garden book ever written. Its analysis of soil management, and critique of Rodale's version of the organic gardening and farming

ng. _Seattle, Sasq

ve long periods of drought and still be very productive. My approach is extensive, old fash

sed on Nature's Own Balanced Organic Pasture Feeds. reprinte

Turner offered a remarkably sensible definition for soil fertility, in essence, "if my livestock stay hea

Grassland Sward. _Lon

Ltd.

Voisin continuing on at his amazing best. No one interested in soil and health should remain unfamili