Simple Compost for beginners

Mapletree farm-made biochar compost

Please refer to the previous blog on composting and study that as well

COMPOST — THE HEART OF FARMING AND THE TRUE ROOT CAUSE OF ALL HEALTH

At Mapletree farm, we use a lot of compost. I mean a LOT. Why we do this is for very simple reasons. When the soil has a lot of compost, it makes the soil rich with good microbes because compost is microbe food. Microbes do multiple things and I explain a few things here and also explain how mapletree soils are superior to any other soil growing food for you.

1. Microbes extract nutrients from the soil in a steady fashion that matches the feeding rates of plants. This steady rate of feeding is possible when we do not — Absolutely do not disturb the soil at all. A biological feeding system for the plants (nature’s mechanism) gets set up after weeks of no disturbance of the soil. This system keeps on improving for years and years and it reaches a steady state. In that steady-state, the soil becomes Akshayapatra — meaning “inexhaustible vessel”.
2. Microbes form a defensive network for the plant root system and also increase the immunity of plants while feeding on food juices secreted by plant roots
3. Microbes are a critical part of the soil food web and also increase the photosynthesis of plants and that means more food per acre.
4. In a soil that is plowed regularly, Bacteria are the dominant microbe. Bacteria develop rapidly just after plowing the soil as the soil gets oxygenated by plowing. There is a high supply of nutrients from the bacteria to the plants and then the supply dwindles thus starving the plants.
5. At Mapletree, our soils are fungal dominated because we do not disturb the soil. In undisturbed soils, fungal species grow rapidly. Not only do bacteria and fungi co-exist in an optimal fashion, but they also supply nutrients much more steadily. Also, fungal soils supply a lot of micronutrients to the plants compared to bacteria. This leads to darker pigmentation and vibrant colors and shining skin of vegetables supplied by Mapletree farm. All this magical nutrient-dense product takes a lot of work and investment in the soil and training our farming team. A ton of compost costs Rs 4000–5000 to make. This means an acre at mapletree farm takes 500,000 Rs worth of compost a year to develop top quality soil in that acre. This ie because we use 100 tons of compost per acre in the first year.
6. When we do it for two years, soils become extremely rich and start providing nutrition-rich rare to find superfood. You will see noticeable taste and quality in Mapletree grown products because the investment made in the soil is very high. The yield per acre is also very high at Mapletree and we expect a minimum of 30 tons of high-quality vegetables and fruits from each acre of farm soil we develop. We count more on our soil fertility bank account than our money bank account.

One of the reasons organic food costs higher than chemically grown food is because organic farming requires lots and lots of compost. At Mapletree we add 80–120 tons of compost per acre in the first year of soil development to grow vegetables. In the second year, we use about 80–40 tons while carefully measuring soil organic matter content at 1 foot deep soil sample. If the soil at that depth has 4% organic matter we need to add very little compost to maintain the organic matter levels because the soil has already reached steady state and has become similar to akshayapatra. In the long run (less than two years), organic farming requires fewer inputs and makes food nutrition-dense, soil healthy, absorbs all the rainwater and keeps it and sequester atmospheric carbon and nitrogen better. Just a few side effects of organic no-plow agriculture done the right way. Mapletree customers directly benefit from this. It requires only a high initial investment and in the long run fares much better than chemical-based agriculture.

In this blog, I describe three types of compost. These are not advanced versions of compost that are made by professionals with thoroughly refined steps using their own years of experience. The compost described in this blog is for beginners and as your experience increases, you can make better and better compost. You can make a biologically active compost that is far superior to regular compost. You can refine and increase the variety of ingredients used to make the compost. You can make compost tea and spray on plants. Compost is the elixir of deep organic farming. If a farmer or gardener is not making good compost, then this needs to be corrected immediately.

In our next blog, we will discuss how to convert biomass carbon into soil organic carbon in a very efficient way.

Compost using cow dung — step by step.

1. Spread 250 kg of cow dung in an 8 feet wide x 8 feet long and 2-inch deep pit
   2) Spread 100 kg of semi-dry semi-green plant waste (50% green preferred)
   3) Add 12.5 kg fresh press mud (Sugarcane waste) — You can use fresh chopped up 100% green waste if you do not have press mud
   4) Add 12.5 kg Biochar (optional if you have it).
   5) Mix 1/4 liter of decomposer bacteria and fungal solution with water 20 liters. Alternatively, if you do not have decomposer, take fresh same day cow dung and mix it in 20-liter water and spray it on this pile. On top of this add half-inch layer of your garden soil (farm soil). This inoculates your farm native bacteria into the pile.
   6) Add a generous amount of water or water mixed with cow urine with a 10% dilution to this pile.
   Repeat steps 1–6 till this pile reaches 8 feet tall.
   You now have an 8 feet x 8 feet x 8 feet compost pile.
   8) After 15 days move the pile to adjacent location right next to it by marking 8 ft x 8 ft in the soil.
   9) Cover this pile always from the day you started the pile with 2-inch thick rice straw or ragi straw. It helps the pile breathe and protects it from Sun and Rain. It is preferable to start piles in a shaded area compared to the open Sun. A lot of air movement is needed.
   You can expect this pile to heat up to 140 deg. F. You can add small amounts of non-oily food waste from your kitchen or old unusable vegetables into this pile.
   All farmers must never throw away their crop residue. Crop residue is fertilizer. When you plow the crop residue into the soil, The humification efficiency is 15%. On the other hand, when you convert crop residue into compost using the above method, the humification rate of carbon is very high.
   Follow these rules.
   1) Always make as much compost as you can. You need to give soil more than you take away in the form of vegetables and fruits and grain.
   2) Never plow the soil ever. For sowing small seeds you can disturb the soil only a max of 1 inch and no-more.
   3) Use a broadfork. See the picture below. This can aerate the soil without disturbing soil life. Your local welder can make a broadfork for you.
   4) Always cover the soil and protect it from Sun and Rain and high-speed winds.

Broadfork used to loosen the soil without disturbing soil life

Thermophilic compost without Cowdung

A simpler version of compost when you do not have cow dung is below.

There are many places in the world where there are no cows or other animals and yet you need compost, the primary fertilizer for the soil. So when access to animal manure is difficult, the following simple method helps.

1. Spread a 2-inch thick layer of dry material — dry plant waste with high carbon and almost no nitrogen. This must be chopped up to small pieces for compost pile use.
2. Spread a 2-inch thick layer of fresh green material-green plant waste or old vegetables and non-oily kitchen waste.
3. Spread a very thin layer of moist garden soil(farm soil) with a lot of life in it. The expected ratio by volume is 10% soil, 45% dry waste, and 45% green waste.
4. Repeat the steps 1–3 till you get a 8 x 8 x 8 feet pile. This pile is a hot-compost and heats up to 140 deg. F.
5. Always apply water constantly as you build the pile to keep the pile evenly moist, neither too dry nor too wet.
6. Please note that compost piles should have more internal volume than surface area and that is why an 8 x 8 x 8 feet pile is good compared to smaller piles. In this pile, the heating up becomes easier.
7. Turn this pile after 20 days and one turning is sufficient and in about a total of 90 days, you will have rich moist crumbly earthy smelling brown compost. Separate undecomposed materials from this for adding to the bottom of your next compost pile.

Mesophilic Compost without cow dung

The cold compost pile takes 2 years to cure and is built the same way as the thermophilic pile except that the dry waste is 8 inches thick, green waste is 2 inches thick, and native moist soil is 1 inch thick. This pile does not heat up well. The advantage of this type of finished compost is it retains more carbon from the original materials used as there is less oxidation.

There is another compost where we just have fresh cow dung and no other inputs available. We will discuss how to convert that into compost in the next blog on the compost.

I will also discuss surface composting or mulch composting in the next blog.

-Best Regards, Shankar, Lead farmer at Mapletree farm.