Only Footprints: Bringing you what you need to know about going green and making less of a harmful impact on the environment.
By: Collin Dieffenbach
A compost pile, or compost heap as they are sometimes referred to, is a pile where organic garden and kitchen wastes are disposed, and bacteria and organisms break down the material to form compost. Not only is a compost pile a convenient and ideal location for you to dump your potato and carrot peels, egg shells, wilted lettuce or any other fruits and vegetables left in the fridge. But they also exist to create a superior orchestra of nutrients and organic material that becomes an all-natural, inexpensive fertilizer.
Building a compost pile is rather simple (This link shows a step-by-step guide to building a compost pile.). Most components can be found in your house or out in your back yard. You just need some grass clippings, newspaper, soil, nitrogen-rich vegetable peelings. The manure is optional. Once you put this pile of material together in a suitable environment (Check out this link to find the best location for a compost pile.) the bacteria and microbes get to work and start breaking down and decomposing materials. Soon enough, your pile of leaves and vegetable scraps becomes a collection of premium ingredients to help your garden, and wallet, stay bountiful.
If you have a backyard garden, a compost pile is a surefire way to put loads of nutrients right at the tip of their roots. The nutrients are a result from organisms, like bacteria and fungi, breaking down organic material: earthworms, beetles, and other insects participate, as well. Compost adds important nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the soil, which will help naturally fertilize gardens. Keeping the street gutters fertilizer-free, and helping save you money.
Composts also alter the soil to have a better structure. The structure of soil is important, a hard clay based soil will create a bad environment for water and other necessities to travel, while a crumbly soil allows easy transportation of air and water, which aids the plant in development. Not to mention, a soil with a healthy soil structure has better water retention, which means that water evaporates at a slower rate. Water wastage is very prevalent in the United States. The average American uses about 48 gallons of water a day for lawn and garden use. A soil with a healthy structure will help reduce those numbers.
Compost piles are a great way to create a healthy, powerful, nutrition packed soil. They are cheap, natural and extremely beneficial. You can keep harmful fertilizers out of run off and make use of any vegetable/fruit garbage.
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