Compost

So I have been trying to figure out why some of my garden has not been doing to good for the past few years. Over the 11 years I have been living here I have been composting, isn’t that good for the soil? Yes it is but once your soil is overwhelmed with compost that hasn’t been properly composted it’s no good. After “doing my own research,” it’s funny when the academically challenged Karen says it but I am doing my own research! I have done more than watch YouTube videos confirming my ignorance, I have watched videos challenging my knowledge and figuring out how that may or may not work with my limited space. I really didn’t like setups people have done themselves as it all appeared to be in places where it doesn’t get super cold in the fall or winter, or they had a different setup then me. I searched out other options, I found one but “doing my own research” didn’t stop there; I read actual literature written by people who study that kind of thing professionally. I now have two bins, with a third on its way to rotate dirt and compost over the course of three years. I have enough compost collected for this first year in the fall it will be rotated into the year 2 bin which will not have anything else added to it, it will occasionally get stirred in the spring and summer. Most of the dirt that is currently growing stuff will go into the first bin along with the compost I create over the rest of the year. You maybe wondering what will happen at planting season next year if there are three baskets? I plan on getting enough potting soil to act as my third pile, so at the end of that season I will have enough dirt in my year two basket to switch over to the year three basket, enough dirt and compost in my year one basket to switch over to the year two basket, and then I get to put all of the used dirt into the year 1 basket. Once planting season comes around I will take the dirt from year three and plant in it. If all goes well or bad I will publish my results in this less than peer reviewed place to say I have done my own research, sure it’s a case study not being peer reviewed; with many factors not being considered but it is more like doing my own research vs “doing my own research.”

If it turns out good I will rinse and repeat, if it doesn’t I will try and figure out why; real research!