by Trevor Hawkins
A student at Pershing Middle School in San Diego, eighth grader Trevor Hawkes won first place from PPNF judges at the 1997 San Diego County Science Fair with a project entitled Compost: The Ingredients to Good Soil are in Your Trash. His favorite subjects are science, history and Spanish.
Compost is important for us and the environment. Compost is an organic soil conditioner and fertilizer made from natural and organic materials which are broken down by microorganisms to create a very fertile soil additive. Compost can be made by building a pile of leaves and adding organic material like kitchen scraps, grass clippings, fallen leaves, etc. Anything organic - even the waste of vegetarian animals - can be used for compost. When these materials are combined, watered and kept in a dry area, microorganisms in the manure or soil digest the plant material. This process breaks down the materials into humus. Humus (soil) is created by the partial decay of plant and animal material.
The discovery of how manure helps plant growth was perhaps begun in Greco-Roman times by agriculturalists who used bird, cow, horse, goat, and sheep dung. They also used vine, straw, stalks, leaves, weeds, and trash as compost and wrote how this new soil greatly helped the crops. In first century AD, Pliny the Elder wrote on the benefits of green manure (legumes and other plants that are plowed back into the soil to enrich it) and also explored the value of ashes (a rich source of potassium). Sir Francis Bacon was the first to write about fertilizers made from compost and manure. John Winthrop, a founder of the Connecticut Colonies, started the first fertilizer company in America. Many of the first companies used agricultural and industrial residues like animal’s manure, blood and bone from butchered cattle, cottonseed meal, fish scraps and castor pumice. Peruvian guano was shipped for fertilizer use starting in 1849.(1)
Fertilizer is natural or manufactured material that boosts plant growth when added to the soil. Natural fertilizer like manure is the best possible fertilizer for plants. You can’t always depend on it, though, because the cows might have a disease or have eaten something bad. It is also hard to transport and in short supply. So, most farmers use manufactured fertilizer, which at first seems to improve production and quality of crops. The principal minerals in manufactured fertilizer are nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
Plants fed compost grow and thrive because, unlike factory-made fertilizer, compost boosts the plant’s growth while adding a variety of valuable nutrients. Compost gives plants nutrients which they need to be strong. Compost is like a doityourself fertilizer. And the great thing about compost is that you have to use organic material you were going to throw away anyway. It also contributes to sound root structure in plants by keeping the soil loose. Compost improves the water absorption of the soil. It attracts and feeds earthworms. In turn, the worms aerate the soil and leave their castings. Compost also balances the pH of soil.(2)
Compost promotes recycling by using the remains of organic materials that would have been thrown away. This decreases the amount of garbage being thrown in city dumps. The garbage in the dumps rots, which destroys ozone.(3) In 1989, America experienced a problem with its trash. There was too much and not enough area to put it in. Nobody wanted to live next to a dump.
Composting also prevents erosion. First of all, it adds humus to the top soil layer. Secondly, it makes stronger roots which hold soil better. Finally it encourages plant growth, and more plants mean less erosion.(4)
Compost can be made in your own backyard. It can be done over a long period of six to twelve months, or in as little as 30 days, depending on how much effort you put into making your own compost. All you need is water, trash and time - then you are ready to start.
To have a successful garden, your soil must be of high quality. Your soil must have all the nutrients for the plants to grow and thrive. If the soil contains enough nutrients and humus, you are ready to begin. Its structure must be hard enough to hold plants together yet soft enough for air to reach the roots. Soil structure is classified as sandy, clay or loam. Sandy soil is loose and doesn’t hold water. Clay soil is hard when dry and sticky when wet. Loam is a mixture of both of these. Loam will also have large amounts of humus.
Compost has been with man for a long time. Fertilizers were easy to use and became popular. As a result, the practice of composting began to decline. Interest in composting is returning because of trash problems, back to nature ideas, renewed interest in well-mineralized produce and the need to save money. Gardening is very popular today in America, so it is likely that more and more families will keep a compost pile.
References
- “Gardening,” Groliers Encyclopedia, Denis Dickinson; 1996
- “The Earth Machine Users Guide,” Norseman Plastics
- “Is our Planet Melting?” Harmonious Press; 1992
- “Backyard Composting,” Harmonious Press; 1992
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