Compost Garden Beds for Increased Productivity

Recently, I moved 5 1/2 yards of high-quality compost to one of our garden plats with the generous help of Robert Pierce and my wife, Heidi. While it's not very much compost in the grand scheme of things, it's amazing at how much productivity one can get out of good compost. Last year I tripled my previous year's yields in my tiny 10' x 8' front yard garden by building rows of mounded compost instead of planting into the ground.

The great thing about creating garden beds this way is that if you have poor soils in your yard that are difficult to work with, you can start growing high-quality food right away by growing in compost rows, mounds or pots. No more tilling, no more back-breaking shoveling and a lot less weeding.

It's amazing how much life is the compost shown in the pictures in this article. I saw a toad, a centipede, multiple potato beetles, spiders, as well as tiny insect and worm eggs all within that trailer-load of finished compost. When you water it, you can literally see the insects scatter looking for shelter. Of course, there's a whole world of life going on at the microscopic level in a good compost. Not all compost is the same, however. Do not try to plant directly into compost that is finely sifted as it could burn your plants because of a high nitrogen content. The compost I use started with wood chips as the primary carbon source and was specifically designed for this type of application.

I'd like to write about how a person makes such high-quality compost in future posts. In short, the source of the raw material and the proper ratios of Carbon and Nitrogen are the two most important factors to get the right mix of nutrition and structure.

After unloading the compost, we distributed it into two neat, 15-foot rows. Later, we'll add more rows to accommodate more plants. Each row is trapezoidal in shape, about 18 inches tall, three feet wide at the base and 18 inches at the top. This provides a stable and nutrient-rich growing medium for the plants and also ensures very low levels of erosion due to the presence of glomalin.

Glomalin-related soil proteins, along with humic acid, are a significant cmponent of soil organic matter and act to bind mineral particles together, improving soil quality. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomalin)

Next, we'll put 6 inches of wood chips down between the rows to promote fungal colonization, water retention and to deter weeds. This year, we're growing cool season crops in our compost beds. Since it's late April, we've planted some of these crops already - kale, brocolli, carrots, peas, spinach and onions. These plants offer many benefits for people interested in eating for vitality and the prevention of disease, and make for a very flavorful backyard for anyone looking to localize their food.

Contact us if you are interested in learning how Resilience Urban Farm can make your landscape edible and beautiful.