Make compost to increase soil carbon and garden health
We'd like to discuss one of the important measures of soil fertility: the amount of carbon in soil. Too few are aware of the significance of soil carbon on garden health and the environment.
This element is everywhere on our planet so it's no surprise that carbon is found in soil too.
Microbial life in the soil and plants need it to sustain themselves, and it happens to be plentiful in mature compost - which is one of the reasons why compost is so good for your soil.
Compost carbon matters a lot
Carbon cycles naturally into and out of soil. Trees and plants take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to photosynthesise sugars. Some carbon goes into soil as sugars exude from plant roots. Soil organisms feed on these sugars, and release carbon as carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere through respiration. In nature, dead plants and animals decompose to add carbon to soil.
A little-known fact is the earth’s soil once stored plenty of carbon. Regrettably, unsustainable land practices are depleting soil carbon with harmful consequences - less fertile soil and the release of carbon into the atmosphere.
You might not know that a similar process takes place in gardens with the use of conventional fertilisers to grow plants - it strips carbon continuously from your garden!
We can take wisdom from modern farmland management here. Good farmers don't plough - an old agricultural method that lowers fertility because it accelerates the loss of carbon from soil.
However, there are practical ways to slow carbon loss and even add carbon to your garden soil.
Mulch bare garden soil
If left bare and exposed to the weather, soil degrades and loses its carbon stocks. Covering it with biodegradable mulch is good gardening because of the many mulching benefits such as conserving moisture, controlling weeds, stable soil temperature and reducing erosion. As a bonus, soil microbes break down the mulch and add a little bit of carbon over time.
Make compost rich in nutrients & carbon
We can reverse the decline in soil carbon by gardening with compost, which returns carbon (alongside other nutrients) to the soil.
In particular, mature compost is the best kind to make. It is packed with humus, a natural compound full of goodies to any garden:
- is nutrient-dense, including high levels of carbon
- functions like slow-release fertiliser
- retains water to make your garden more drought-resistant
- plays an important role in biological soil health
It isn’t obvious but the solids harvested from your home composting system is unfinished or rough compost. It converts to its final form when allowed to rest in a suitable setting - read more about it here.
This mature form looks, feels and smells like good dirt, i.e. very similar to quality soil.
It requires a little patience, but the wait is worthwhile because you earn yourself with a superb end-product and once it's in your soil, you'll notice the difference!
Make compost fast and odour free
Composting doesn't inherently emit bad smells—in fact, if it does, something has gone awry. You might not even notice the odour but a smell trail is sufficient to attract unwelcome visitors like rats. This can thankfully be rectified, but the problem may recur if there is a mismatch between your compost equipment and type of wastes.
Bioverter makes composting easy, especially with waste composites containing kitchen scraps as the main component. It enables you with minimum physical effort, to produce compost fast and odour-free.
Get out there today and start making mature compost to help improve soil fertility and health. It'll help you achieve gardening success!