I'm often asked what it takes to make good compost,
and my first answer surprises the inquirer. First
off, I do not generally recommend composting because
of the equipment, time, and effort, and because few
people have the time or inclination to really do it
right. Rather, I suggest putting clippings, scraps,
etc. into the ground immediately, so that mixed with
the soil they can compost naturally, and there will
be no flies, rodents, smells, etc.
That said, here's my experience in composting:
For 15 years I have owned a 3/4 acre parcel adjacent
to Utah's Hogle Zoo, where I have grown a vegetable
garden using the
Mittleider Method as taught in many
of the developing countries around the world by
Dr. Jacob R. Mittleider.
Many people have asked, as they visited over the
fence, if I used the zoo animals' manure, and I
always told them no, that I use natural mineral
nutrients. But then one day a lady piqued my
interest when she said the Seattle Zoo sells their
composted animal manure to the public as "Zoo-Doo."
I decided I could make a lot better compost than what
Seattle got ... so I first bought a Compost Tumbler
and learned the best procedures and mixes as I tested
small batches, using the manure from 7 of the large
herbivores. Very quickly I learned how to maintain
the mix at a constant 140+ degree heat, and after 3
weeks I had beautiful, black, sweet-smelling compost.
I thought this was great, but there was nowhere near
enough compost to take care of my large garden, so I
then acquired a 10-yard cement truck and began doing
large batches. With loads this size, they maintained
temperatures over 140 degrees for 3 weeks, and then
cooled down for one week. And you've never seen such
beautiful material - I really felt like I was making
the world's best compost!
I obtained the right to use the Zoo-Doo name, bought
bags, T-shirts, banners, cart, etc. and began selling
at the Zoo gift shop and in the local nurseries. I
ended up on TV and in the newspapers, and became
known as "The Zoo-Doo Man."
Whenever I had more than I could sell, I would drive
the cement truck down to my garden and off-load the
batch over the wall. I then put it into several
soil-beds and grew vegetables with it – to compare
which was better – compost or the Mittleider natural
mineral nutrients, which I’d been using all along.
And I grew good stuff with my Zoo-Doo.
However, the most important thing I learned in that
two-year experiment was not how to make and sell
Zoo-Doo. I learned for myself that I could grow
better vegetables more consistently, and with a lot
less time, cost, and hassle, with a few pounds of
inexpensive natural mineral nutrients, than I could
with truckloads of “the world’s best compost.”
Jim Kennard
is President of the
Food For Everyone
Foundation, a non-profit organization with the
mission of "Teaching the world to grow food one
family at a time". You'll find many free vegetable
gardening resources, including a gardening ebook,
greenhouse plans, automated watering plans, and
a free chapter from each of the great gardening
books and software CD's Jim offers, at the
website:
www.foodforeveryone.org
