Composting Turns Garbage into Gold
by Ellie VandeVisse

It may take nature decades or centuries to make humus that is crucial for a productive field or forest. You can compost to produce humus in 2 months!

Compost is the ultimate in recycling.
You simply mix your leaves, grass clippings, weeds, and food waste with moisture, and stand back! The Transformers go to work. The Transformers are microscopic organisms, and they wisely and magically process organic matter into nature's best fertilizer and soil conditioner.

Add mature compost to your soil, and you vastly improve your soil health, texture, aeration, and drainage. What happens when you spread compost around your vegetables, flower and herb beds, berry bushes, and lawn? You'll reap more and healthier greenery, reduce disease and insect problems, and spend much less time watering- all non-toxically.

Why all this vigor? You are feeding your plants both major nutrients and trace minerals. Compost microbes transform these nutrients into complete foods in useable forms. Compost releases this fertility steadily throughout the season. It's proven- add compost and you add nutrition, yield, and effective resistance to drought, pests, and disease.

You can make or buy compost. Now here is something you can do in your own back yard to practice recycling and ecological stewardship. Enjoy!

Locally you can buy mature, bagged compost in a store near you. Apply it lavishly!

· Alaska Gold in most gardening sections of stores. Made at Anchorage Regional Composting Facility at Pt. Woronzof, 243-8577

· Alaska Humus at Alaska Mill and Feed, gardening stores. Anchorage, 258-1504.

· Fishy Peat at Save U More, Alaska Mill and Feed, and NOLS in Palmer (745-4047). Made in Anchor Point, Kenai Penn, 235-7288

· Microbe Magic through Good Earth Garden School in Palmer, 745-0758