By Marty Johnson

My first recollection of composting was when my brothers and I were growing up at the garden center, our summer job was to 'dump flats' – after the spring bedding plant season, we dumped the left-over plants that did not sell. This mixture of plant material, and potting media made the best compost you could imagine.

To the non-gardener, composting seems complicated. I try to make my gardening tasks as easy as possible, composting included. My composting recipe is to add brown material -leaves, twigs, old tomato plants etc. to green materials like grass clippings. There are basically 3 other important ingredients to the recipe that will greatly speed up the process. 1. Oxygen - keep the compost 'turned' regularly, about every 2 weeks. 2. Water – keep it moist and 3. Microbes – something to get the compost 'cooking' We have compost maker which can be added to the mix, or add some of your existing compost to the mix. I have also added our Cotton Boll Compost which will get it started as well.

Compost can be done in a pile in your garden, or available are several types of 'Composters' which make turning much easier. Stop by our stores for everything you need to get your compost pile started!