An important facet of any good gardener's regimen is adding compost to enrich the soil and feed the plants with proper nutrients. Some gardeners choose the fertilizer route, but it's well known that chemical fertilizer causes many problems, such as contamination of water supplies and disruptions to aquatic life. Plus, over time, inorganic fertilizers can leave your soil full of undesirable salts. It's far better to gradually improve your soil with such organic materials as compost and manure.

Benefits of Composting

If you're looking to go the healthful, chemical-free way to gardening at the property you chose from among Klamath Falls homes for sale, you should learn about the benefits of composting.

After all, it's a shame to throw away all those kitchen scraps such as potato peelings, coffee and tea, eggshells, and more into the city trash. Composting can be a way to use them in your garden and keep them out of the landfill. Further, you can add grass clippings, straw, and shredded newspaper and make an even better mix.

Here's a breakdown of the benefits of composting:

• Use up materials that would otherwise be thrown away into a landfill.
• Improve soil to retain moisture and fight off plant diseases and pests.
• Boosts beneficial bacteria and fungi production as organic matter is broken down, and nutrient-rich humus is produced.
• Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, which are harmful to the environment. 

By keeping yard and kitchen waste out of landfills, you're also helping to diminish methane production and release, a harmful greenhouse gas.

How to Make Compost

For compost to "cook" as it should, you need three types of ingredients in equal measure:

1. Brown – That's leaves, twigs and branches, shredded newspaper, cardboard, straw, and eggshells.
2. Green – This includes kitchen scraps (no protein, just vegetable matter), grass clippings, tea leaves and coffee grounds, and tree and shrub clippings.
3. Water – It's important to keep the compost moist. 

Compost ingredients should be balanced; green and brown ingredients should be in proportion. 

Do not add these:

• Dairy products
• Lard, oil, or grease
• Meat or fish  products
• Black walnut tree leaves or twigs (these release substances that are harmful to plants)
• Diseased or insect-infested plants, which might infect your healthy plants
• Pet wastes
• Pesticide-treated yard materials

Choose a shady place for your compost pile. Add brown and green products. Keep it moist. Once the pile is established, bury fruit and vegetable waste 10 inches under. Cover with grass clippings and leaves. Use a pitchfork to toss the ingredients occasionally. You can place a tarp on top to keep the pile moist.

Some homeowners choose to compost in a plastic bin with a lid and holes drilled in it to aerate the contents. You can also buy a composter that can be turned so that you can easily mix up the contents. 

Hint: When the weather turns cold, bring the compost inside, in the garage or in a garden structure, to keep it from freezing. Freezing stops the material from composting.

When to Use Your Compost

Check to ensure the compost is breaking down as it should. Usable compost will resemble soil and can be shoveled out of the pile or removed from the bin, placed in a bucket, and added to garden soil.

Our real estate agents can recommend fixing up your property for sale or acquiring a home in our area. Contact us today.