In-the-soil composting

By the end of the summer the composter container is full up. So with all those harvested garden plants being yanked out, I find it easier to dig a trench in the garden and bury it all. Last year we had a bumper crop of spent stems & leaves and piled it high in some of the smaller garden spaces. One spot I planted sweet corn with four Moon and Stars plants in behind the corn. Other than all the compost that was made, I also buried up to the rim two small six-inch plastic plant pots with holes in the bottom - in the soil between the melons - being sure to fill the pot with water every day it didn't rain (nearly all of the days!).

We have already harvested four of these watermelon and have three more left. Picked this one yesterday morning.



I am so full of watermelon I can hardly move!

I too like in-soil composting. After all, that's where all of the microbes are anyways.

My pet peeve with the tumbler type bins is that there usually isn't enough soil in there to provide the necessary microbe population to do a proper composting. I have heard many gardeners complain that after x many months, their compost isn't ready yet. When I ask how much soil they mixed in with the plant matter, they usually look at me dumbfoundedly and say "Huh?"

Rather than yanking plants, I like to whack them off just below the soil line. The roots are already buried, and the soil critters are already busy working around them. As they decompose/get eaten, they leave great tunnels for worms, oxygen and water. It helps that soil live and grow.

John Polk wrote:

Rather than yanking plants, I like to whack them off just below the soil line. The roots are already buried, and the soil critters are already busy working around them. As they decompose/get eaten, they leave great tunnels for worms, oxygen and water. It helps that soil live and grow.

Good idea!