Second Nature: On Composting

Having only recently discovered an early, critically acclaimed gardening book by none-other-than Michael Pollan, I feel compelled to share interesting and educational passages from it as I encounter them. The book is called Second Nature: A Gardener's Education and the following is MP's take on composting circa 1991:

"Some gardeners, and even some garden writers, talk about compost as if it were fertilizer, but that is only part of the story, and it is somewhat misleading. It is true that compost contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash (the principal ingredient of fertilizer), but not in terribly impressive quantities. The real benefits of compost lie in what humus - its main constituent - does to the soil. Consider:

1.) Compost improves the soil's "structure." Soil is made up of clay, sand, silt, and organic matter, in varying proportions. Too much clay or silt, and the soil tends to become compacted, making it difficult for air, water, and roots to penetrate. Too much sand, and the soil's ability to retain water and nutrients is compromised. An ideal, friable garden soil consists of airy crumbs in which particles of sand, clay and silt are held together by humic acid. Compost helps these particles form. 
2.) Compost increases the soil's water-holding capacity. One experiment I read about found that 100 pounds of sand will hold 25 pounds of water, 100 pounds of clay will hold 50 pounds, and 100 pounds of humus will hold 190 pounds. A soil rich in compost will need less watering, and the plants growing in it will better withstand drought.
3.) Because it is so dark in color, compost absorbs the sun's rays and warms the soil.
4.) Compost teems with microorganisms, which break down the organic matter in soil into the basic elements plants need.
5.) Because it is made up of decaying vegetable matter, compost contains nearly every chemical plants need to grow, including such trace elements as boron, manganese, iron, copper, and zinc, not often found in commercial fertilizer. Compost thus returns to the soil a high proportion of the things agriculture takes out of it."

The book is fantastic, folks. Everyone who has ever worked on, played on, owned, tilled, raked, fertilized (**cringe**), seeded, mowed, plowed and otherwise enjoyed or despised any piece of land will appreciate Pollan's insights and reflections.

Guest (Com)Poster

I received a great message in my inbox last night and absolutely have to share it. It comes from David Wase, president of Metropolitan Gallery and gardener extraordinaire.

News Release

Arlington, VA 10/02/2009 7:57 p.m.

Another giant step for bacteria! The Wases of 7th St South announce the inception of a new composter at their mini-micro, sub-atomic sized farm in South Arlington. Utilizing the vegetative remains from human sustenance including coffee grounds, vegetables, a modest contribution from the office cellulose shredder and carefully selected organic contributions from garden cuttings, the Wases' expect a biotic enhancement of significant proportions. This action was taken in recognition of the need to reduce biomass contributions to landfills and deal with the heavy and compacted clay-based soil structure of the (extremely) limited tillable area available at the mini micro farm. The compost production equipment is based on a standard trash container modified to accomplish rapid and complete breakdown- (a process that was tried by ex-spouses but never achieved). The resulting "black gold" will be added to the Wase's vegetable gardens to further enhance their nutrient and water-retention capabilities as well as contribute significantly to soil health and guilt-free gardening.

May all our organics RIP (recycle in peace) !

"The Germinator"

I love this article that appeared in the NY Times last week. The dialogue about what to grow gave me a laugh and artichokes are to Michael Tortorello as asparagus is to me - although he is clearly more courageous. Also, there are some bright sides to the recession, huh? More time with friends and family, less careless consumption, and a potential 20% increase in first-time household food gardens.

And while we're talking about household gardens, here are a few early shots of mine. Hopefully I'll have some extra kale to leave on the doorsteps of justsaying supporters.

the paper towel problem

So you just washed your hands in a public bathroom and now face a choice. Do you use electricity and dry your hands with the blow-dryer or do you crank out a paper towel that you will hardly dampen and quickly discard? I wipe my hands on my pants, jacket, whatever... but depending on your attire and location (work) that may not be an option so...

The NY Times Green Inc talked to researchers at Harvard and the University of Oregon and as you would expect, it is a complex issue. The "lifecycle" energy use of the blower is much lower than the paper towels when you figure in the energy intensive mills creation and shipping of the paper towels. Not to mention there is hardly enough fiber in paper towels for them to be recycled. There is talk about composting paper towels but of course you have to factor in other contaminants that could end up in the trash in a public bathroom.

Check out Slate's Green Lantern's detailed take on the debate in this post from earlier in the year.

Heavy metal compost lot?

At first I wanted to post about James E. McWilliams article because of the following paragraph that quite nicely sums up conventional vs organic agriculture:

Conventional agribusiness, after all, is a chemically dependent, resource-intensive venture that contributes to global warming, aquatic "dead zones," and massive land degradation. Organic systems, by contrast, restore soil health, foster biodiversity, and recycle organic matter rather than lading the land with synthetic chemicals. Whereas conventional agriculture follows the law of supply and demand, organic agriculture follows what its founder, Sir Albert Howard, called "the law of return." Potential waste, according to this dictum, ends up enriching the soil.

But as I read on I thought, "Geez... Is nothing safe?"

So we know that chemical fertilizers used in conventional agribusiness result in the presence of excess metals like lead, nickel, mercury, copper, arsenic, zinc, and cadmium in soil but it turns out that the same toxins are in organic soil. Great.

So what is going into the compost pile? Animal manure, rock phosphates, fish emulsions, guano, wood ashes, etc. Doesn't sound so bad to me. James E. McWilliams' conclusion, as he wrote about in Slate, is that we should read the organic labels with more skepticism. But here's the thing, scientists have not conducted enough research to say that organic soil has higher counts of these heavy metals than conventional. I get the sense that the news here is that there is still a presence of these metals in organic soil and products and people should be aware of that. Thankfully, the Organic Trade Organization and the Organic Materials Review Institute are keeping a close eye on the issue.

As far as I'm concerned, it is hard to know exactly what we are putting into our bodies but I do know that the environmental impact of conventional industrialized farming is reason enough to opt for local, organic foods. I also like to believe that my Chinese foot detox patches pull excess metals out of my body regardless of how much heat I take for using them.