A rottin' job
BY BRAVETTA HASSELL World Scene Writer
Saturday, October 20, 2012
10/20/12 at 4:52 AM
Tulsan Michael Patton uses clippings from his yard, leaves from a variety of trees, and maybe some food scraps for his composting. And sometimes, he'll take a leaf or two from his neighbor's yard, he admits. But their grass clippings? He'd have to first see how they treat their grass before deciding.
Patton, executive director of the Metropolitan Environmental Trust has been composting for years - decades really. And he will tell you there isn't a reason not to: "Leaves and grass are more valuable than trash. You should want to keep them and use them."
Composting, he said, is Mother Nature's way of recycling.
In nature, composting is always occuring when grass, fallen leaves and other natural debris hit the forest floor and slowly start to decompose - breaking down and providing essential minerals and nutrients for plant and animal life as well as microorganisms. With no help from people, the process happens but can take an inordinate amount of time.
Closer to home, composting is the process of combining yard waste, selected kitchen scraps, air, water and a little bit of time to yield a natural, nutrient-rich amendment for your soil. In your own backyard with five to ten minutes of regular attention, aeration and water, you can manage that decomposition and speed it up.
Getting your compost to a place where you can start to use it in your landscape - a beautiful "black gold" as many call it - can take as few as three to four months.
Tulsa County Master Gardener Karen Watkins learned at the Tulsa Home and Garden show 20 years ago and has been doing it ever since. What plants she doesn't automatically till back into the earth or leave in place as shelter for wildlife, she composts in a 3-by-3 pile. It's something that can be done throughout the year but like many, Watkins usually starts in the late summer and early fall for use in the spring.
Then, she'll incorporate what she yields into plant holes and apply it to anything else she wants.
If her bin is completely full come springtime, Watkins can cover her 20-by-10 garden bed with an inch-thick layer of the "black gold," and when using on individual plantings, she easily has more than enough.
"It's something that you are not paying for and you are having all the benefits," Watkins said.
"Why buy dirt when you can make your own?" Patton asks. It's one of the simplest things that people don't do.
In addition to enriching soil, composting can help clean soil, help prevent pollution and lower gardening costs, fertilizer and pesticides, reports the EPA.
A compost pile is like a recycling center, said Patton, who will speak at a composting seminar that starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the OSU Extension Center.
Just be diligent, is Watkins biggest advice.
"If you just go out there and turn it, make sure it's moist ... monitor it," said Watkins, "(you) will increase your success."
How to compost
Composting can be as simple as creating a pile of fallen leaves and - for the most part - leaving it alone.
"When leaves fall off the tree, they turn into dirt," said Michael Patton, executive director of the Metropolitan Environmental Trust.
Choose how you will compost - in a bin or pile. A bin can be purchased at a local home garden store or neighborhood recycling program, and is often faster and neater than the pile system.
Select the right location. Place your compost area in partial shade and away from large trees.
Add your organic matter. Add approximately equal amounts of carbon-rich browns and nitrogen-rich greens to the pile, layer by layer, one of green, one of brown, moistening layers at intervals and piling to a dimension no larger than 4-by-4 feet and at least 3-by-3 feet. You want your pile large enough to heat up but small enough to heat up uniformly.
Get it going, keep it going. As your organic materials begin to break down, the temperature of the pile can reach at least 140 degrees, Patton said. The pile will need the water, but just enough to keep it moist like a wrung-out sponge. Then weekly, turn or "fluff" your compost pile with a pitchfork. Aerating the heap helps speed up the decomposition process.
Your compost will be ready to use when it is dark, crumbly, has little odor and you can't see the individual ingredients you started the process with.
Composting event and bin sale
Who: Metropolitan Environmental Trust, Tulsa Master Gardeners program and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service continues its series of events.
When: 9 a.m. to noon Saturday
Where: OSU Extension Center, 4116 E. 15th St.
Cost: $10; space is limited but not sold out. Visitors will receive a $10 coupon to use when purchasing a Garden Gourmet compost bin during the program - discounting the bins from $45 to $35. Those unable to attend the seminar can purchase a bin between 9 a.m. and noon.
For more: Tulsaworld.com/themet.
Compost materials
"Browns" are organic materials that are high in carbon, and "greens" are organic materials high in nitrogen. Acceptable materials:
Browns
- Leaves
- Weeds
- Hay and straw
- Wood chips
- Spent plants
- Pine needles
- Cardboard
- Shredded newspaper
- Small tree branches
Greens
- Fruit and vegetable scraps
- Tea bags
- Coffee grounds and coffee filters
- Egg shells
- Grass clippings
- Hair and fur
- Green garden waste
- Some poultry manure
Don't use
- Meat
- Dairy products
- Diseased or insect-ridden plants
- Fats, oils, lards
- Pet waste
- Yard trimmings treated with chemicals
Bravetta Hassell 918-581-8316
bravetta.hassell@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Trash and other materials (left) can be turned into rich, nutrient-filled compost with a little effort. CHRISTOPHER SMITH/ Tulsa World
CHRISTOPHER SMITH/ Tulsa World
CHRISTOPHER SMITH/ Tulsa World
CHRISTOPHER SMITH/ Tulsa World
CHRISTOPHER SMITH/ Tulsa World
CHRISTOPHER SMITH/ Tulsa World
In addition to enriching soil, composting can help clean soil, help prevent pollution and lower gardening costs, fertilizer and pesticides, reports the EPA. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World file
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