Compost Pile

It is starting to feel like fall. The leaves have turned colors and are dropping off the trees. There is frost on the ground when we wake up. The garden season is officially over. Time to get ready for winter.

This week we pulled up all the plants left in the garden and chopped them for the compost pile. We used a big shredder that my grandpa had in the shed. All the stuff went in whole in one end and came out in pieces on the other end. 

We also raked the leaves and picked them up with the lawnmower. My hubby did that part. I raked everything away from the edges so he could get to it all. The lawnmower cut all the leaves into nice tiny pieces, which we threw onto our growing compost pile. I throw all my scraps from peeling and cutting fruits and veggies into the mix. During the summer we put our grass clippings around our plants to keep the weeds down. In the fall it all goes into the pile.

My hubby mostly takes care of the compost pile. I would not have known how to do it if not for him. We throw everything in a pile and he turns it over from time to time throughout the winter. It puts out a surprising amount of warmth; the snow will usually melt off of it before it melts anywhere else. That’s how we know the little microbes are working their magic in there and breaking things down. Since we live in a desert we have to keep an eye on it and make sure it has enough moisture. If their is snow, it’s not usually a problem, but sometimes we have to go throw a bucket of water on it. 

According to my husband, the grass clippings from the summer will balance the leaves from the fall. I forget the exact chemistry but they have different nutrients that the soil needs. He says the stalks and stems have different make up from the leaves. All of it is good for the soil but it is best to balance how much of each kind you have. If you had too many leaves and not enough stalks that would not be good, and vice versa. If you are an expert in this area we would love to hear your feedback.  It must be working because our garden seems to grow well. I really like the idea of putting nutrients back into the ground after we use them. 

The only thing we didn’t pull up was the spinach and the peas. We planted both in late August or early September.  Despite the freezing temperatures we have already experienced, both crops are doing okay. They are not growing, exactly, but they haven’t died either. We covered them with leaf clippings to see if that would insulate them a bit. We thought about putting more effort into it, but it was hard to find the motivation. We figure, if they survive we will have a head start in the spring, and if they don’t, we won’t be out anything anyway. We had spinach survive the winter last year, so we will see.