The other day I was asked “how can a compost pile fail?”. This is an excellent question and the answer depends on your definition of compost. The most amusing one I have heard is that “compost is organic matter that has been decomposed in a process called composting.” The Queen of Compost, Dr Elaine Ingham, has a better one – the “aerobic decomposition of a mix of highly diverse organic materials on which resides a high diversity of indigenous organisms, performing all the soil food web functions.” When compost doesn’t meet minimum biological requirements, including pathogen control measures, we can consider it a failed pile. Possible reasons could be that it was allowed to become anaerobic, moisture was not maintained, and/or starting materials were improperly stored or in unbalanced ratios. Whatever the reason, what’s in your compost is what you are inoculating your soil with. And it matters.

Fall is hands down the best time to apply compost. Soil microbes need moisture to go about their business, and so long as temperatures remain above 4 degrees celcius they will happily keep building soil structure while we find our toques and munch on pumpkin pie. Research has shown that soil microbes can even thrive beneath a thick layer of snow, which provides insulation and a layer of moisture at the interface. Give your microbes fall and winter to settle in, and by spring your plants will have an incredible head start with their microbial allies already well established.

So how can you tell if that pile in your backyard meets minimum biological requirements? What does your soil need in the first place, anyway? Fall Compost Confidence Package includes:

• • A full analysis of your compost (or compost you are intending to buy)
  • An analysis of your soil. Who is already home? Who is missing? Will your compost help or hinder?
  • Repeat analysis of the application area come spring. What does the soil food web look like now, and what is it best suited to grow?

Contact us at [email protected], and take out the guess work.