Composting is my current obsession when it comes to gardening. I can’t help what the weather hits us with but I can ensure my vegetable plants get plenty of nutrients to grow strong and hopefully grow us lots of delicious fruits, vegetables and berries!
The current garden consists of blueberry bushes, elderberry bushes, rhubarb, kale, chives, garlic, Swiss chard for perennial/ over winter foods, then usually I’ll plant carrots, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, green peppers, along with a few specials. One year I tried growing luffa plants… Didn’t go well.
My mother got me a compost book as a gift which has been a wealth of knowledge. I’ve always composted at home since moving here in 2019 but I didn’t necessarily know what I was doing LOL. I’d pop the organics into the black bin in the back yard and didn’t have any idea where to go from there- So this book was ideal to progress those heaps I’d already started.
The first thing I realized was how valuable Delilah’s poop would be for my compost heaps. I knew rabbit poop was good for the garden but it REALLY is good for the compost heap which will hopefully blanket my garden beds someday. The information in the book about “keeping” rabbits I just rolled my eyes at.. Delilah and I share a bedroom and that won’t be changing lol. She’s a spoiled indoor bunny with beautiful and healthy garden nuggets 💩.
Below are my favorite takeaways from this book and what I will be focusing on this summer (2025).
6 Basic Rules of Compost Gardening:
Keep your garden and compost as close to each other as possible to save yourself a few steps.
Work with what you have. Don’t run off and get a bunny just for their poop- start with your vegetable scraps and yard materials like grass clippings and leaves.
Make your compost an oasis for worms which will help everything decompose naturally.
Reuse and recycle: Use old detergent containers or other (cleaned) large plastic containers to store your compost in when it’s ready. No new fancy containers required.
The more different items added to your compost the more diverse it will become!
Compost to suit the needs of your plants.
Never in my wildest dreams would I keep a rabbit in such a small cage, but I’m very excited to utilize Delilah’s poop. She’s a working gal!
I think the biggest thing I learned from this book is that composting should not cost you anything. There’s so many different ways to create a heap of compost to compliment your garden, and so many ways to store it! If you have a yard with a little free space you can compost.
Growing in a compost heap is also an option for some plants. Pumpkins will be very happy growing in a compost heap! I don’t grow pumpkins since I only consume about one per year but I still thoroughly enjoyed this little fact.
A big thing to remember about composting is that it’s an all year activity. If you create a heap in the fall it will work its magic all winter and be ready for spring.
This book also provided national information on saving seeds and pollinating certain plants yourself to help with the process if you don’t have many pollinators around (like in the city).
I’m very excited to take my compost to the next level and bring new life to my gardens.
