Organic Green Spot Gardening

Bacteria at work in the Compost Pile

First, mesophilic bacteria start to work while the compost pile is cool. These beneficial bacteria begin by consuming and digesting organic matter and reproduce in the process. Heat is released and conditions change to attract a different type of bacteria attracted to a warm environment.
Thermophilic bacteria begin to work as the compost pile heats up. Temperatures may be as high as 160 degrees Fahrenheit and weed seeds, insects, and many diseases are killed by this heat. Finally, a complex form of bacteria called Actinomycetes takes over as the decomposition of organic material is completed.

Actinomycetes give the new soil a pleasant , earthy smell turning it into a finished product.

Other workers in this decomposition process are much larger than microscopic bacteria and include snails, slugs, millipedes, centipedes, nematodes, earthworms, and some insects like spiders and mites.

The final product is called humus and is gold for the organic garden. Humus helps soil particles stick together which in turn allows the soil to be aerated and allows better drainage by adding pore spaces in the soil. The soil can better hold water in periods of drought and reduces erosion. The soil is better able to store nutrients that plants can use in their growth cycle as the nutrients are slowly released into the root system.

The use of this rich humus gives the organic gardener the opportunity to provide a friendly environment to beneficial microorganisms, earthworms, and other subterranean life forms by avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers.

This is the natural process we see in our forests and prairies where growing plants drop their leaves, flowers, and fruits into the soil. This composting process is the organic gardener’s ability to copy the workings of a natural ecosystem by returning vegetation to the soil to be used again by our garden’s vegetables and plants.

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Compost is the Organic Gardener

This year I tried a new approach to growing our kitchen garden which is located next to our urban house.  Space has been limited and our share of sunlight is cut down to three hours a day because of the large office building which shades the garden in the morning and the house itself which shades the garden in the afternoon.

Six hay bales were brought into the space which receives most of the sun.  They were saturated with water and organic plant food for three weeks and then they were covered with a layer of organic topsoil.

Plants were selected to occupy the garden space.  Tomato plants, pepper plants, cucumber plants, and a number of herbs now occupy the space.  I did not count on the volunteer bean plants that had occupied the original soil last year but they have also sprung up.

Composting of the bales has been fast and next year I will plant on the same spot taking advantage of the new rich soil being made by the hay bales.

My lush kitchen garden resembles more of tropical jungle as rainfall has been plentiful this year. Even the giant sunflowers that were planted between the bales will soon be in bloom providing seeds for neighborhood birds.

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