Easy and Free:  Organic Gardening Compost

An essential ingredient to any organic garden is organic gardening compost.  While the mulch that is created from compost piles can be expensive when bought at a gardening supply store, those with organic gardening information know that starting a compost pile is absolutely free and provides high grade mulch that can be used to fertilize any garden plants.

How to Make It

The first step in making the organic gardening compost is to find a spot to make the pile.  This is an important consideration since it will be a pile of decaying matter and not a very pretty sight to have in a high traffic area.  Compost piles are almost never seen in front yards for that reason.  They are best made in the back yard, preferably off in a corner or behind something that blocks the compost pile from view.  However, organic gardening compost usually decays better if it is exposed to a moderate amount of sunlight, so whatever the choice in position, there should at least be some light on the spot at some point during the day.

The next step in making organic gardening compost is to begin to add materials to it, preferably a little each day.  The best material to start with, since it is always in bulk, is grass clippings.  If the gardener bags the grass and then dumps it in a pile, he is well on his way to having compost and from that, high nutrient mulch.  Another great starting tool for the organic gardening compost pile is leaves.  When the leaves are raked, they can be added to the pile rather than bagged and put by the road. 

Other materials that can add nutrients to the organic gardening compost are the peels and cores of fruits and vegetables.  In addition, any wood shavings or leaves and branches from pruning bushes can also go in the pile.  One other addition, although it tends to make the compost pile look like a trash heap, adding to the unsightliness, is paper, since it is a wood product and decomposes the same way.

Once the compost pile has had a couple of weeks to start to decompose, then the gardener can look beneath the pile at the warm, earthy soil that is beneath it.  That soil contains the decaying matter that was on top of it and is full of nutrients that are great for the garden.  In addition, all of it is free, only taking a little time and planning to get started with a personal organic gardening compost pile.