Compost Is The Gardener’s GoldOf all the tools an organic gardener has, compost is the most important. It is fast food for your vegetable garden. If well made, it has all of the essential plant nutrients that your garden plants need, with the added soil building properties of organic matter in the stable form of humus. The highest praise that every garden gnome yearns to hear is that he is worth his weight in compost. All that glitters in the garden is not gold - it is black. A good composting system is the lynchpin of any successful organic gardening effort. Learn how to make compost and success is yours in the vegetable garden. It is the art of art of combining brown (carbon matter) with green (high nitrogen fresh grass clippings or weeds) and letting it rot until turns black (humus). That black is the gardeners’ gold – the richest soil amendment available. It recycles garden waste you would otherwise have to pay to have hauled away and feeds your garden for free. 
Uncle Albertos (right) is the Compost Captain in our village and he has taught me that building a compost pile is not quick and involves some heavy lifting. But, it is worth the effort. You can streamline the process by building compost bins or your own homemade compost tumbler . It is simple and inexpensive. As you learn how to make a compost that breaks down quickly, you will learn that getting the pile to heat up properly accelerates the process and also kills soil diseases, harmful soil organisms, insect eggs, and also cooks the weed seeds so that you stop their reproductive process. But, get a compost thermometer to monitor the process. You can further speed up the process of creating your own black gold by using a compost activator , available at most garden centers or online. The Activator is particularly helpful if your pile is new or you are building it during the winter months. Any clean organic matter can be composted, but since green is crucial to the process, forget the garbage disposal or trash can in your kitchen and get a compost pail instead. Put all of the peelings and organic waste into it and carry it out to the compost pile on a weekly basis. Turn your kitchen waste into more and better vegetables. It is the gnomish thing to do. Happy gardening, Geefrank
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