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created by: Wordbird For hard and clay soil:
You can add some Gypsum to clay soil to loosen it up, don't walk or step in the soil, and toss in some compost next fall...tea bags, coffee grounds, shredded leaves, fresh cut grass, banana peels. Mix, cut up big chunks, and bury them in a channel you dig into your area. I dig about 6".
No fat, no animal feces or litter, no meats. You'll get yourself some animals digging that up, and creatures and insects of a type you don't want.
They used to say add sand but now they discover you have to add the perfect amount, or you actually harden the soil. It's also now recommended we don't till, or upheave the soil....compost, I think, is your best helper.
I had rock hard, eroded, "dead" clay on a slope when I moved to my new place! Ugh.
It had been herbicided to death, walked on, there was no life whatsoever on it or in it.
A year later it has worms and the occasional butterfly or bee, it's easy to work in, it's nice darker brown. So I know compost works even in the toughest spot of hard or clay. Cuz that's all I did, is add compost, and the occasional bag of manure soil.
Your Compost Master....
Well I just bought a tiller (has not arrived yet) so I will be turning some earth here. But I really would like to get a compost pile going (my neighbor has a large compost tumbler that is just sitting unused I might see about getting it). I have a ton of worms in my clay like soil and I love it! When I was a kid we had lots of big fat red worms in our garden soil. Sandy soil had none of those guys. I know it may sound weird, but I go around smiling cause of the worms. So what do you put in your compost pile? And what do you think of compost tumblers?
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Hi! Smiling over worms, huh? LOL. you know I got an advertisement for a compost tumbler and it looks fantastic. I asked around and someone said they love theirs. I used to go cheap...I'd get a plastic trash can with the lid on, and you can tip it on its side and just roll it with your feet. Not exactly a "tumbler" but a quick and dirty "in the meanwhile." So YES..
I think a tumbler sounds great. If you get one, let me know!
It's easiest to say what NOT to put in my compost. FATS, ANIMAL FECES, MEATS and DAIRY are no. There's scientific reasons for that, and pest reasons. I say animal feces because some people attempt to put their animal droppings or cat litter in the compost.
I also don't do weeds. Because you need a big compost at a hot temp to kill weed seeds.
My favorites are bananas and peels (worms love those and so do roses). I put fruit peels and cores, vegetables, even dryer lint, and hair so long as it's not matted. Shredded paper if it's not matted. Coffee grounds, tea bags...
The compost needs green (grass, plant debris(), brown (decayed material, leaves) and then your fruit or foods. I do the layer method. A layer of green, a layer of food, a layer of brown, then start over. Mix them a bit.
What's your compost like?
