What Is Soil Incorporation?

Cold Composting by soil incorporation is probably the simplest method of composting. Food and yard wastes are finely chopped, mixed with soil, and buried 200 cm (8 inches) or deeper in the earth.

Depending on soil temperature, bacterial activity, and the carbon content of the wastes, decomposition via soil incorporation, a method of cold composting, will take from one month to a year.

One note of caution, however! High-carbon materials (like raw autumn leaves) are not appropriate for soil incorporation because the decomposer organisms will steal their nitrogen from the surrounding soil.

Leaves may also acidify the soil or inhibit the growth of plants if they are dug into the ground without first being at least partially composted.

The best way to hasten leaf decomposition is to put them through a leaf mulcher first before digging them into the soil. Another option is to run through the pile of leaves with your lawn mower several times before gathering them for the compost pile or for burial.

High-nitrogen materials should be given ample time to decompose underground before the area is used for planting because the decomposer organisms will take nitrogen wherever they can find it while they’re working.

Some people get around the problem of nitrogen loss by adding bloodmeal to the soil before they bury the compost materials. (Bloodmeal is usually easily available from your local nursery.)

Postholing

A post hole digger is a handy tool for soil incorporation, although a spade will do.

The idea is to dig a series of holes around the drip line of trees and shrubs, or in a fallow area of the garden ( to avoid stealing nitrogen from growing plants) and bury organic wastes there.

Postholing is the ideal way to make the compost right where it is most needed. You can use what space you have, then start over where the first load has composted.

If the holes are dug before the ground freezes, you can continue to dispose of wastes in this way all through the winter. By spring, holes are hopefully filled with kitchen scraps, coffee grinds, or tea leaves, etc., ready to begin decomposing via the cold composting method of soil incorporation.

On my next post, I will continue with other methods of cold composting.

Until then…

Stay healthy!

Marcie

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Share This  |  Email It  |  Print It  |  Subscribe to It!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Soil Incorporation, Cold Composting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.