Dear Carol: My wife has been saving coffee grounds, crushed eggshells and orange peels to add to her vegetable garden soil. But lately she has also been saving raw garbage such as spoiled whole vegetables and fruits.
She doesn't have a compost pile; she just wants to put all this directly into the garden soil. I don't think this is a good idea. Could I have your opinion on this? -- Pappy, posted on syracuse.com.
Dear Pappy: There is no problem with putting spoiled fruits and vegetables into a compost pile. The idea is for them to decompose into organic matter. They just started the process a bit prematurely in the crisper drawer. The old expression is "If it came from the soil, give it back to the soil."
Besides compost piles, there is a composting method called "trench composting," where you dig a trench in the garden and throw the compostables into it. You then fill the trench with soil.
The covering is important so you don't attract insects and vermin. If the materials aren't buried, there will be flies at best and rats at worst going after whatever rotting food items are in there.
The smaller the pieces, the faster the decomposition will happen. Garden waste can be shredded. Some people even blend or chop their food waste. If you throw a whole cabbage or winter squash into a compost pile or the garden, the vegetables or fruit will break down eventually, but you are going to be turning up chunks of rotting vegetable for quite some time.
I've tried various composting systems. I prefer the methods that require the least effort from me. The process takes longer, but everything decays in time. I have two plastic compost bins for food waste. Every fall I dig them out. Whatever hasn't broken down completely -- that is still recognizable -- gets thrown back in for another year. I move the bins around so that I don't have to move the compost too far. I spread it around where it is. It gets forked into the soil when I plant. I then put the bins in another spot that could use compost next year.
Compost is terrific stuff. Plants grow when there is lots of compost in the soil, between 15 and 20 percent. That's about a 2-inch layer of compost dug into the top 10 inches of soil. The soil is also much easier to work, and air and water can move through it freely.
There are materials that should not be added to compost, not because they won't decay, but for health and safety concerns. Pet waste may contain germs that make people sick. Meat, fats and bones will slow down the process, smell awful and attract rats. If there is a vermin problem, it is better to use only garden refuse like grass clippings, leaves and twigs in the compost. Rats will eat anything people eat.
Carol T. Bradford, of Syracuse, has been gardening in Central New York for more than 25 years. Send questions in care of Home & Garden, The Post-Standard, P.O. Box 4915, Syracuse, NY 13221, by fax to 470-2111 or by email to email@example.com. Letters might be edited for space and clarity.