Can I enrich my garden soil with food scraps without composting?
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Night shots of the flower beds finally filled with soil. I couldn’t wait till the morning to take photos of them.
Question by heyitsme: Can I enrich my garden soil with food scraps without composting?
I don’t have the money, space, or resources to start a compost pile. I’m starting a garden this spring, and I would like to make it all natural and organic. The weather has started to get nice, and I was wondering if I could start adding food scraps to my soil now? I want to add squash scraps, strawberry tops, etc. Can I just mix them in with the soil? My hope is by the time planting-time comes around, the soil will be filled of vitamins and minerals.
So can I do it without a compost pile?
Can you help? Leave your own answer in the comments!
5 Responses to Can I enrich my garden soil with food scraps without composting?
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You really need to let it sit and decompose for awhile, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t buy some good compost now and then have your own ready for the fall. Compost isn’t that expensive and it makes a huge difference. Here’s more on the compost thing– pretty easy to get started and you don’t need a lot of space.
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/gardening/starting-a-compost-pile.shtml
Allison1888
October 31, 2011 at 4:25 am
Mostly what you’ll get is rotting food in your garden which will bring insects and rodents. If you have the money,space and resources to start a garden, you have enough to start a compost. It doesn’t need to be fancy or take up a lot of room. Some fence wire shaped into a circle will do it, or buy some cedar boards and build one. Chicken wire is cheap. And you can toss things into it all year round.
Karen L
October 31, 2011 at 4:50 am
You could try chopping/shredding all scraps as small as you could make them and burying them. After all, our forefathers buried fish heads in their gardens. Keep a look out for unwanted guests, though…
If you can fill a bag, check this out:
http://www.tinkersgardens.com/vegetables/composting.asp
Happy gardening!
Dez
October 31, 2011 at 5:38 am
No because the food will “burn” the plants and kill them. The decomposition process in composting causes the organic materials to become hot, so its not a good idea to throw raw food materials in with live plants.
However, you can give them coffee water and crushed egg shells at any time.
Chelsea
October 31, 2011 at 5:41 am
Some questions for you.
Do you have black garbage bags? If you do, put the scraps in one, add a little dirt and tie it securely. Roll it over every 2-3 days Leave it it the sun. Compost in about 2 weeks.
Do you have a plastic garbage can with a lid? Do the same thing, but you’ll have to keep it moist and stir it every 2-3 days.
Something tells me you have the money and the space for that.
saaanen
October 31, 2011 at 6:27 am