Compost is the single best way you can generate your own organic fertilizer for your garden, yard or houseplants. You can produce your own compost for free while reducing the household waste you send to the landfill by up to 40%.
My favourite part about composting is the fact that you do not need any fancy systems. It does not need to take up a ton of space and you can even compost indoors over the winter time.
Watch the full video below to learn about why composting is absolutely essential for each gardener, houseplant lover and anyone wanting to live more sustainably.
Slow Release Nutrients
Compost is pretty balanced in its nutrients. It’s also a slow release for your plants, so you can use a lot of it and not have to worry about overwhelming your plants. I have planted tomatoes into a giant pot of just compost and had the most monstrous tomato plants you have ever seen. They were so happy. You can’t use too much of it. That’s the amazing part when compared to a manufactured fertilizer that can very easily burn or kill your plants if not used correctly.
Balanced Nutrients
It’s a fairly balanced nutrient system if you are incorporating a variety of things such as food scraps and yard waste. This makes it super simple. You do not need to test your soil for nutrient levels. You don’t have to read labels on fertilizer bottles and wonder what is best for what.
Balanced PH
Compost has an amazing balancing effect to the PH in your soil. It brings the PH level into the perfect level for most plants. If plants are not sitting around the 6.5PH (most vegetable type plants prefer this) then they cannot access nutrients, therefore starving. So simply adding compost saves you the time and headache of having to test and then figure how to correct it. It does it for you!
Sustainable Household
You are reducing your household waste significantly. I recently had a student in my gardening course do a home study, where they weighed out all of their garbage without separating all the things that can go into their compost. Then they weighed out the garbage after pulling out all the food scraps, paper and anything you can compost. It reduced their household waste by 40%. That’s almost half!
The amazing part is you already have these materials no matter what. You can turn it into something useful for you. Compost that can be fairly expensive to buy. You can make a huge difference to the environment by not only reducing your household waste but also returning it back to the soil. Soil degradation due to industrialized agriculture is a huge and ever growing problem. So don’t underestimate the power of making your own soil through composting.
Moisture Retention
If you have had a season of drought then you know how incredibly valuable good moisture retention in your soil is. Compost & vermicompost hold moisture exceptionally well. Consistent moisture in the soil is important to avoid water stressed plants. Stressed plants are not healthy and productive. Better moisture retention = less time spent watering and less money spent on water.
Soil Texture & Structure
Compost is humus by nature. This makes it fluffy. Allowing good oxygen penetration in the soil. This plus good moisture retention helps you to avoid root rot. The roots can penetrate really deeply and easily while also allowing moisture to reach down deep into the soil. You know your plants have moisture to access even the upper soil layers have dried out.
Microbial Activity
The process of compost incorporates billions of microbes. The microbes are like the little gatekeepers. They unlock the nutrients from the soil, making them bio-available for plants to be able to absorb. In fact, we are not actually “feeding the plants” with compost but feeding the soil, then those microbes unlock what the plants need.
Compost Indoors Over The Winter
I have traditional compost bins outside as well as two vermicompost bins indoors. I do both because I live in a very cold growing zone. I’m in zone 3 in Saskatchewan, Canada. That means that my compost outside is frozen for at least five months out of the year, sometimes six months. This is where my vermicompost bins inside come in. I can keep producing compost all winter long.
Different Types Of Compost Systems
You are not stuck with a traditional outdoor compost bin. From composting without a bin to composting indoors with worms there is a method that will work for you. In fact, I use several!
Learn How To Compost Quickly & Without The Stink
My online course “Your Essential Compost & Vermicompost Guide 2.0” will take you straight to the most important information with concise videos. You will learn all different kinds of compost systems both traditional and non-traditional as well as vermicomposting (worm composting). Troubleshoot a stinky compost bin, how to keep bugs away and how to keep your worms happy.
You can find the exact steps to creating your own compost bin and vermicompost bin in my online course called “Your Guide To Making Your Own Compost”. This is your guide on how to make compost from your kitchen scraps, yard waste and even recycling. Learn everything you need to and have your compost system up and running in a little as 3 days and it’s just $59CDN!
