3. Compost
Compost is an exceptional alternative to fertiliser, which builds up not only the organic nutrient levels in the soil, but helps to restore the natural biotic balances which occur in the soil profile.
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
God’s Word is true. He has made a way for everyone to have the best quality soil supplement… Compost. By putting back good quality compost into the soil, farmers can reap the same, if not better profitability in the long term, when comparing to fertiliser usage.
What is Compost?
Compost is simply decomposed organic matter that has been broken down by micro-organisms, especially bacteria and fungi. To ensure that our compost is of the highest quality we must stick to the recipe and make it “to a high standard.” We suggest a compost pile size of 2m long by 2m wide by 2m high. This is small enough for a single person to work in a few hours, while allowing for adequate internal temperature of the pile. The end product compost volume will be around 3.5m3 which will easily be enough for a large home nutrition garden for a year.
If you don’t need as much, you can reduce the compost pile size to 1.5m long by 1.5m wide by 1.5m high. Large scale implementers simply join compost piles together keeping the 2m width and 2m build height but extending them to be as long as their required volumes.
When to Make Compost
Start collecting compost materials at the time when there is plenty of green material around, which in Southern Africa would be January or February, to allow enough time for the compost to fully mature before the next spring planting season.
Compost Ingredients
Compost is made of four main ingredients - nitrogen, green, woody and a dry component. Vegetables prefer bacterially dominated compost as compared to fungal dominated, therefore compared to our field crop compost, we reduce the woody component to 10% and increase our dry component to 35%. All the other ratios remain the same. This lowers the overall Carbon to Nitrogen ratio and makes the pile finer, with a higher percentage of bacteria within it.
a) Nitrogen
Nitrogen is the essential fuel of the compost pile and gets the bacteria going. The most readily available Nitrogen component is manure and should make up 10% of the pile or 15 bags of manure (50kg bags). Use the freshest manure that you can find. If there is no manure in your area then you can use 4m3 of legumes for this and just adjust your green and woody/dry components accordingly.
b) Green Component
Green leaves are a great source of sugars, which are necessary for good quality compost. The green component should make up 45% of your pile and should be used within 3-4 days, otherwise the sugars will convert into starch. Collect approximately 8m3 of green materials made up of leaves, grass clippings, weeds, old vegetables or shrubs.
c) Woody Component
The woody material really helps to encourage the fungal growth in the pile because it breaks down so slowly and keeps the pile aerated. Collect approximately 2m3 of woody materials to make up 10% of the pile using maize cobs, stalks, branches, cardboard, wood chips or shavings.
d) Dry Component
The dry material adds bulk and carbon to the compost and should make up 35% of the compost volume. Collect approximately 8m3 of dry materials, made up of thatch grass, leaves or old weeds.
To summarise, the ingredients we need for compost: 15x50kg bags of manure; 8m3 green (45%); 2m3 woody (10%) and 8m3 dry (35%).
Adding a bagful of previously made mature compost or dark organic matter from the forest can be very beneficial in inoculating your compost with healthy naturally occurring microbes.
The materials should be piled separately until such time as enough of each material has been accumulated. Collecting enough material to build a pile takes time, so you must plan properly. Farming God's Way farmers should get themselves into groups of five to pray, disciple and help one another. If these groups get together when there is sufficient green material around, then they can do their compost piles together in community and fellowship.
Building the Pile
Establish two equal 2m by 2m wide squares using 6 poles to 2m tall. You will need 2.6m long poles so you can bury them 60cm deep to prevent them from falling over. When building the pile, it is very important that the right ratios are maintained. The simplest way to achieve this is to build using alternate layers of the 4 main ingredients. As you build each layer dunk the ingredients into a container of water before you place them, so that you wet the layers thoroughly. A good wetting at the outset will mean you will probably only need to add water maybe once or twice during the turning process.
Start with 5cm woody, then 15cm dry, then 20cm of green, then 2 bags of well wetted, fresh manure on top of that. The picture below is only diagrammatic as you will have many more layers, just keep on layering until you get to the 2m height.
Turning the Pile
Within 3 days, the compost pile will have heated up and needs to be turned. The best way to do this is to mix the pile into the adjoining 2m by 2m position, using a fork or a hoe. The turning process maintains the correct temperature, mixes all the ingredients, brings material from the outside to the inside, aerates the pile with oxygen and allows for moisture levels to be checked and adjusted if necessary. If the pile is not turned it will become anaerobic, have a bad smell and result in poor quality compost.
Temperature
The compost gets hot very quickly because of all the bacterial activity. The ideal temperature of the compost should be maintained between 55C to 68C to kill all seeds and unwanted pathogens. If you don’t turn your compost, the temperature can easily reach well over 70C, which is too hot and kills off the desirable microbes, as well as burning up and wasting carbon.
The most accurate way to determine the temperature is by using a temperature probe. Turn the pile before the temperature reaches 68C. A cheap alternative would be to use an 8mm steel rod. After inserting it for a few minutes, see if you can hold on to it for 5 seconds. If you can, the temperature is less than 68; if not it’s ready for another turn.
A really simple turning cycle is to turn the compost pile every 3 days for the first 3 turns and every 10 days for the next 2 or 3 turns.
The temperature goes down after each turn and rises again until the next turn. This cycle will continue until all the nitrogen in the pile has been utilized. If you followed the guideline ingredient volumes of 15 bags of manure, then the compost will get hot enough for adequate decomposition and also will be maturing and cooling after 6-8 weeks.
Mixing
When turning, mix the different materials thoroughly bringing the materials on the outside into the inside so that it also gets exposure to high temperatures and the inside materials to the outside so all the ingredients get exposed to the decomposition process.
Moisture Content
It is important to test to see whether the pile is moist enough, as a lot of moisture is lost as steam and needs to be replaced. Try to keep the moisture content of your compost at 50%.
You can test this when turning the pile, by squeezing it in your hand. If moisture drips out, it is too wet. If no water drips out, but on opening your hand the material does not hold its shape, then it is too dry, so add water. If squeezed, no extra moisture drips out and on opening your hand the material holds its form, then it is close to the desired 50% moisture content.
Leave a gentle slope on the top of the pile and place thatch grass or grain bags on top to keep excess rain water off the pile, which can cool the pile too much.
Curing
After approximately 2 months the turning process is complete, but leave it to cure thoroughly for another 4 months before you use it. You don’t need to turn it anymore, but store it in the shade or cover it with a breathable material or thatch grass to prevent it from drying out.
Do not cover the compost with plastic as this deprives the living organisms of oxygen.
When complete, your compost should be a dark brown colour, smell sweet and rich, have a crumbly texture and you should be able to see thick fungal strands.
When cured, the compost can be stored as is for years without degrading or losing its nutrients. At this stage your compost will be in the form of 3.5m3 stable organic nutrients and inoculum.
Utilizing the Compost
Compost is the input that we should see on every farm field as we teach farmers faithfulness with what God, in His all sufficiency, has put in our hand.
Compost can be utilized as a surface application or in planting stations/furrows. The yield potential with good quality compost is very high and the cost of producing it is only a few days labour to collect the materials, build and do the 5/6 turns of the pile. The opportunity to excel as a vegetable grower by cutting input costs and growing healthy nutritious plants depends on what we put in!!!
