Importance of using organic fertilizer
Many of my friends used expensive store-bought for years and had frustrating results for all the money they spent. After teaching them how to compost, right away, they convert their table scraps into nutrient-rich fertilizer. With minimal effort, they made their waste, the seemingly worthless trash previously dumped in landfills, work for them.
Composting is cheap (maybe even free), extremely good for the environment, drop-dead simple, and the result is the best quality fertilizer that will make your tree nursery thrive. And, here's some more good news: the compost doesn't smell at all! Sounds pretty good, right? But how is that possible, you ask?
For you to compost, you technically need to put your organic garbage in a pile outside and wait for it to decompose into humus, just as it would naturally. That is, however, quite the eyesore. Now, what was that word I just used: "humus"? No, not the dip. "Hugh-mus" refers to organic matter that has broken down so significantly that it has reached a point of stability and will decay no further. You have nutrient-rich humus when compost becomes cold, dark, and crumbly in texture.
Using Organic fertilizer
So here's how to get some much-needed humus for that tree nursery. Seeing as most of us don't want to leave piles of garbage out and about, you can start by getting a bin. Wooden or plastic is excellent. The key to a compost bin is layers. The first layer should consist of carbon-rich browns, like dry leaves or sawdust.
Next, you add nitrogen-rich greens. These are your table scraps (no meats/dairy/bones), grass clippings (nontreated), etc. Continue stacking these layers until your pile is the desired size, watering as you go. Not too much water, though; compost also needs air pockets. Now wait a couple of days, then mix the layers thoroughly. Your compost should give off some heat during decomposition.
So why is it essential to use both greens and browns? Because the correct ratio can hasten decomposition. That is called the Carbon/Nitrogen ratio. For the fastest heating times, try to have a 25 to 1 rate of browns to greens.
It is that simple. You should have a cooled-down pile of hummus ready for your tree nursery in one or two months!
