Composting is the process of allowing organic materials to decompose or biodegrade to the point where they turned into workable soil or nutrients for the soil. This process has been happening in nature for millions of years, without the aid or control of humans, and is an important part of what is commonly referred to as the circle of life.
However, composting can also be controlled by human in compost bins where the natural process can be accelerated. In fact small home garden compost bins can produce compost in as little as 30 days.
While it is scientifically complex to understand, the actual work needed for composting is very simple and easy for most people to grasp. In fact, during the centuries before scientists were able to explain the composting process farmers used compost to maintain the health of their crops and gardens.
Scientifically speaking, during the composting process organic materials breaks down into their most basic form and decompose, hence the word compost. After the material decomposes completely it reaches a stable state known as humus. Humus can remain in this stable form for centuries, if not millennia. In agriculture, humus is sometimes referred to as mature compost and used to improve the soil quality for crops and plants.
In nature, one of the easiest ways to see composting in action is to walk through a forest. Each year the leaves that fall, the animals that die and the organic matter left behind by birds and animals breaks down and feeds the forest. Just lift some of this matter and you will see the composting process in action and at different levels of decompositions. The smell created by this whole process is quite distinct, and is one of the reasons many forests strike the senses differently from season to season.
In the world of human controlled agriculture, composting can be on a grand scale where tons of compost is made from the organic waste of farming or on a much smaller scale where the home gardener uses a small compost bin.
Usually the process is accelerated with heat on a large scale by covering large compost piles with plastic to capture the sun’s rays or on a smaller scale using earth worms in small home garden compost bins.
No matter the scale; composting has many benefits and fits in nicely with today’s life style. Many families are looking for ways to save on their food budgets, eat healthier and contribute their part to saving the environment. Composting can help with all three by providing nutrient rich compost for theirs garden enabling them to grow their very own produce without the need for commercial fertilizers which saves them money and the recycling of their organic waste is friendly to the environment. A win-win for everyone.
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