composting 101 - help!

[prettymom]

We just moved. Our new house has a couple of big garden boxes in the back. The soil is like clay and there are some weeds. Because it is so late in the season, I don't think I will be planting this year, but I would like to work on getting that soil ready for next year.

My question: Can I just compost directly in the garden boxes? I've never done composting before. I am hoping it will work just to through my food scraps and yard clippings into the boxes directly for a few months. Thoughts?

[cymbeline]

I would make sure the ratio favors the yard clippings, and you might want to throw in some worms to get things going. Is there more than one bed? We did this one time, filled a bed with compost from the overflowing bin and then covered it with black landscaping fabric to make sure it stayed hot and broke down quickly. The only thing I can say is that you might start out with lots of unwanted pests -- the kind you want in the compost pile but not eating up your new plants ;-)

[kdabbler]

Personally, I wouldn't compost directly in the garden boxes unless you plan on dumping the boxes a month or two before you do your planting. Part of the composting process is creating a little ecosystem of bugs and worms to break down the material. If you planted directly in the box while you are composting, you might get unwanted pests who think your garden plants were part of the compost buffet they've been enjoying.

[Lazy Gardens]

Originally Posted by prettymom

My question: Can I just compost directly in the garden boxes? I've never done composting before. I am hoping it will work just to through my food scraps and yard clippings into the boxes directly for a few months. Thoughts?

Certainly. You may want to bury the food scraps, or at least put them under the clippings, or the birds will drag them all over the yard. Water occasionally to keep things moist and composting.

Here's an article that explains it:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art..._or_piles.html

[jencen]

We are prepping our beds for next season after buying a house this June with soil that has a high clay content as well. After much research, we decided to try sheet mulching and let the worms do most of the work. If you do choose to compost directly into your garden beds, be prepared for a lot of volunteer seeds to sprout. Good luck!