I saw a composting machine costing RM1,500 during one of the trips to Putrajaya Flower Show. It is alright if one wish to spend that much. But there are other means of composting, practiced all over the country.
Farmers pile up palm leaves in neat rows in oil palm plantations to rot. Old oil palm trees are felled and chopped to pieces and left to rot too. On a more rural setting, leftover rice are just thrown under coconut trees, chickens rush and pick, and some are left to decay, food for roots.... Allowing plant parts to degrade, and decompose... is composting. There are so many ways to do it.
Over here, I make it so simple, simply because there are not many things to pile. Weeds, cuttings etc are all thrown into a bag. It will dry up a few months later. As mulch, dry garden waste is excellent....
weeds, cuttings etc, all in the bag.
dry weeds ready to be used as mulch,
bangchik and kakdah
Tanah Merah
Tanah Merah
I like your simple way. Too often we complicate life unnecessarily. The nuclear plant issue is getting complicated due to the advancement in technology.
ReplyDeleteSimplicity is always the best way...nature certainly doesn't go to through a lot of complicated procedures to produce mulch or compost! And you get fantastic results with your garden and flowers!
ReplyDeleteMy hubbie is a composting demon! :-)
ReplyDeleteHe keeps three large compost bins going, and the chickens love them.
I only keep tree barks. I should ask my gardener to keep a bag of weeds for me next time when he comes to mow the lawn. I like your idea!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea I could use old dead leaves as compost until my Aunt let me know, towards the end of last year.
ReplyDeleteI was telling her that I was going to get rid of the tomatoe plants that were now dead in my garden, and she was saying to just leave them there. They would be nutrients for the soil.
Who knew?
:P
Your way of composting is so simple and effective. In my garden, I have 3 heaps of dried leaves and other garden refuse,at different stages of composting.They are sprayed with cowdung mixed with water by my helper once in 10 days.The oldest heap is ready to be used now, with a fine,black, tea- like compost.
ReplyDeleteOhh... for me, due to space constrain, I usually dump all my vegetable bits and ends into the pot and top it up with soil. Once it get to be about 3/4 full, i leave it be for awhile. But at times, when I do not have any more pot to do this, i just dig the old ones and throw in my egg shells, vegetables bits and what have you. I am not sure if this is composting.. and whether this is good for the plants when I plant something on it...
ReplyDeleteI also use all cut up grass and dried weeds as mulch and keep all dried rambutan leaves in a compost bin.
ReplyDeleteOne
ReplyDeleteTheanne and Baron
Kim and Victoria
milka
ZZ
lotusleaf
Food so delicious!
Thanks everyone. I wish I had more time to garden. And blogging too. Internet here so slow that to upload photos take ages.
To do compost is to convert organic material into powdery brown black material which is the end product of decaying. It provides nutrients to the plants in slow manner. Soil will be improved.
In my case, the end product is just dry weeds and garden waste. Once used as mulch, the real decomposition will take place...
Thanks to recommendations to improve the whole idea.
Cheers ~ bangchik
p3chandan
ReplyDeleteYeap.. Whats from the garden must come back.
I have a compost bin into which I put all vegetable peelings etc, it eventually breaks down into a compost which I take out to the allotment to put on the pea/bean beds.Weeds & leaves etc in the allotments are put into an open compost pile there.
ReplyDeleteI find I cannot turn the contents of the bin when it fills up a bit.
Your idea is simplicity but I wonder does your very warm dry climate help the process along?
Peggy
ReplyDeleteDefinitely our hot climate helps. The whole idea is to dry the weeds. Lalang species may take longer longer. Once dried, they are excellent mulch to cool the soil around plants. Fertilisers are well contained, not washed out as we water. The mulch will decompose eventually adding nutrients to the soil.
We have a bigger property in the province and everything just goes back to the soil. When i went home last month we got lots of compost from a 1-yr pile from the goat shed, very high in nitrogen, and dump them around our citrus trees. They gave us lots of fruits so must be fed much to replenish the lost nutrients. However, water is difficult in our area, that we still waits for the rain for the nutrients to be used by the plants. I can relate with you in the difficulty of composting in the city.
ReplyDeleteexcellent way indeed!
ReplyDeleteI have a small corner in my garden to compost all too!