Pascale’s Garden

Now that you have put in the work, waited the required amount of time and have your finished compost material – what are you going to do with it? There are more uses than just laying it down on your flower beds. Some are practical everyday uses and others are more specialized.

You can make a tea with your finished compost; it is not for drinking though. To make your compost tea, add your humus to a water-tight container and fill with water. Let the tea “steep” anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days. After it is done, put the liquid compost through a fine screen to collect any debris. What you have made is a liquid fertilizer that can be sprayed on plants or other garden areas.

Compost can be used to help stop the spread of erosion. It can be laid down thickly on the area that is eroding away or it can be mixed with water to make a thick slurry and then sprayed on the area that is in danger.

Humus (finished compost) is used as a final layer over a finished landfill to help new plants grow with little to no erosion. Finished compost can also assist in revitalizing an endangered wetland. The nutrient rich composition can be used to create a new wetland as well.

Of course there are the traditional uses too – in gardens, planting beds, or other areas that plants or vegetation grows. If you are starting a new compost bin, in place of a layer of topsoil for the base you can substitute an equal amount of compost material. Farmers and cities use mature compost on a large scale; it helps the environment and reduces the amount of garbage that ends up in a landfill.