Clean Out the Fridge, Pump up the Garden!

  

Spring is here! The season for clearing out the old and bringing in the new! As you do your spring cleaning, consider getting rid of your composter. I’ll pause here for a collective gasp from the readers. Well maybe you don’t have to be too hasty and actually throw out your composter, but how about trying composting in a new way?

 

 There’s a new way of composting that is starting to catch on in the gardening world that bypasses the composter to create the product right where it’s needed. Let’s look at how it’s done.

One technique uses trenches. With trenching,

1. Simply dig shallow trenches beside your vegetable rows.
2. Put your food scraps in the trenches.
3. Cover the scraps with a few inches of soil.
4. Water.

Scraps will begin to decompose during the season releasing nutrients directly into the soil. After the season is done and when you begin to change your crop, turn the composted matter into your rows before you plant to make enrich them. That’s it! Too simple!
Some people are experimenting with a layering technique in beds that are not being used for a season or two. To try the sandwich method,

1. Move the top four to five inches of soil from the unplanted bed.
2. Add about a one inch layer of yard waste and/or food scraps.
3. Replace the layer of soil.
4. Water.

When you are ready to use the bed in a couple of months or so, just plant as you normally would and those new roots should reap the benefits of that new compost in which they’re being planted.
 
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