Sheet composting is a very good way to practice organic gardening. If you are following our articles you must be aware of what compost is. If you have no idea about compost and composting I suggest check out this article. Now for making compost you need to store composting ingredients in a pile. For a urban gardeners this is not a good news. Generally in urban areas space is a major constrain. Sheet composting solves this problem. This article will give you an idea about how to use it to your benefit.
In this method you don’t heap the ingredients into a pile; rather you mix it directly with the soil. You can use a spade or a tiller for this purpose. What ever ingredients you have planned to put into the compost heap will do. Grass clippings, manure, leaves, egg shells, tea leaves all will work. Try to use a balanced mix of Carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N) when adding to the soil. More on C/N ration in this article.
You need to add this ingredients couple of months prior to planting. As these ingredients are not decomposed while mixing in the soil, it requires couple of months to degenerate and to release the nutrients. You can also add a layer of leaves or black plastic to increase the process of decomposing.
You don’t need to confuse sheet composting with mulching. The basic difference between the two is that mulching is used basically (even if you use organic materials) for weed protection and to retain water. Though it also boosts up soil quality it is not the primary focus of mulching; whereas sheet composting is done to boost the soil quality.
Sheet composting is a very good process if your garden soil is of poor quality. It also saves the soil from erosion. It is a lot less time and effort consuming than traditional composting.
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In this method you don’t heap the ingredients into a pile; rather you mix it directly with the soil. You can use a spade or a tiller for this purpose. What ever ingredients you have planned to put into the compost heap will do. Grass clippings, manure, leaves, egg shells, tea leaves all will work. Try to use a balanced mix of Carbon (C) and Nitrogen (N) when adding to the soil. More on C/N ration in this article.
You need to add this ingredients couple of months prior to planting. As these ingredients are not decomposed while mixing in the soil, it requires couple of months to degenerate and to release the nutrients. You can also add a layer of leaves or black plastic to increase the process of decomposing.
You don’t need to confuse sheet composting with mulching. The basic difference between the two is that mulching is used basically (even if you use organic materials) for weed protection and to retain water. Though it also boosts up soil quality it is not the primary focus of mulching; whereas sheet composting is done to boost the soil quality.
Sheet composting is a very good process if your garden soil is of poor quality. It also saves the soil from erosion. It is a lot less time and effort consuming than traditional composting.
Enjoyed the article? Please consider sharing it:
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