Volume 6

Clever Composting

Getting the most out of space in your vegetable garden

by Wendy Bartlett, Nairne, South Australia

If you’re having a go at self-sufficiency on a suburban block, I’m sure you’ll be familiar with the frustration of never seeming to have enough nutrient-rich homemade compost to keep up with the demands of those everhungry vegetables, herbs and other crop-bearing plants. As the size of the average suburban block continues to dwindle, so does the available space for that all important vegetable garden, and if you want to have two or three large areas set aside for making compost – forget it, you probably won’t have the room.

So it makes sense to use all available space wisely, which is why I make compost beneath my vegetable garden pathways. It’s easy, inexpensive, you’ll be returning organic material to the earth, it will encourage earthworms to your garden and you can add to it any time with whatever organic material you want – the more variety the better. As the earthworms breakdown the material and incorporate it into the soil, nearby plants will be fed continuously. It’s best to change pathways every year or two to ensure all garden areas are enriched with organic material.

Building the layers

Whenever the paths are looking tired, simply scrape off any loose material and then add a 10 cm layer of animal manure. I prefer to use chicken manure from the chicken coop because I don’t have to bring in any material, plus I know there are no nasty chemicals hidden in it. However, I Clever Composting Getting the most out of space in your vegetable garden Wendy show ing how easy it is to make a compo st pathway.

Layers can be built from manure, decaying leaves, the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag, soft garden and grass clippings, shredded newspaper, blood and bone, woo d ash, shredded hay or straw. do alternate the manures I use to make available a wide range of nutrients to plants. Cow and horse manure are easily sourced, inexpensive and sometimes even free, but any manure will do. It’s important to remember if you’re using fresh manure from birds (the smaller the bird, the stronger the manure) it can burn young seedlings and they will wither and die in days. But planting bird manure 30-50 cm away from young seedlings, as in the pathways, will give it time to break down before the nearby roots of the growing seedlings come into contact with it.

On top of the manure layer I place decaying leaves, the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag, soft garden and grass clippings, shredded newspaper, a little blood and bone, wood ash and then a 10 cm layer of shredded hay or straw (right). If you don’t own chickens or ducks you can add kitchen scraps (not meat) to your paths but ensure they are well covered so as not to attract flies. You can make the pathway as thick as your garden will allow. As material breaks down it will sink and then you can add to it when you like. T he best time to build pathways is when the soil is still warm and there is plenty of moisture around to speed up the decaying process. The faster the breakdown process the faster the nutrients will be available to plants. If seedlings get a good start to their growing season they are bound to be stronger and healthier and more resistant to disease and insect attack.

The importance of earthworms in a vegetable garden If you’ve ever raked your hands through a barren, dry soil you’ll notice the absence of earthworms. This is due to the lack of an available food source and of course water, which is needed for their delicate bodies to move through the soil. You only have to dig into a nutrient-rich moist soil full of organic matter to see it teeming with worms. As they move through the soil they break down matted plant roots and ingest organic material which moves through their body to be excreted as worm poo or vermicompost. This is a water soluble fertiliser and has a near neutral pH and of course, is free.

T he channels they create make more soil, air and water available to plants, which is why it’s important not to trample garden beds but to use pathways for walking on instead. The worms will initially move into the pathways to begin the breakdown process but then they will move into the surrounding soil to continue their work and deposit their tiny capsules of fertiliser everywhere they go. Walking on pathways won’t harm the worms because they will be protected by the thick blanket of material. Worms are the unsung heroes of the soil and should be respected for the enormous contribution they make to any garden. And who else will work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – for free?

Growing and Hoeing

Alysha loves gathering the materials (right). Companion plants and friendly weeds There are many plants, including herbs and weeds, which add beneficial nutrients to the soil. As they decompose they make valuable additions to compost pathways and many of them can be grown in and around your garden for easy access.

Dandelion is especially attractive to earthworms due to the plant’s high iron, copper, potassium, sulphur and manganese content. The worms like to move along the channels made by the roots, giving them access to compacted, harsh soil nearby. Comfrey, an easy to grow plant, which dies down in winter, provides nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (all major elements necessary for healthy plant growth) and also calcium.

Stinging nettle can irritate the skin so wear gloves before handling, but it certainly has a place in the garden as it contains more iron than any other plant as well as copper and calcium. And don’t forget trying plants like tansy, valerian, thistles, watercress, camomile, chickweed and melon leaves. Yarrow is fantastic too as it will accelerate the decomposition process.

Making compost in your pathways saves loads of time because once you’ve prepared your heaped path you simply walk away and allow the worms to get to work. There’s nothing more satisfying than being able to source materials from in and around your own garden. Bringing material in is sometimes unavoidable but having most of it nearby is less time-consuming and less expensive. As long as the paths are moved to different areas of the garden regularly you’ll never again have to worry about from where your plants are going to get their next feed. That seems like sensible gardening to me.