Despite earning a degree in Horticulture, I had previously been a fair-to-middling vegetable gardener. I was always too optimistic about trying to get a good yield from insufficient inputs. I had was on a site with poor soil, too much shade, and not enough available water during the summer months and the results were predictably disappointing. This year, I went through Charles Dowding’s online courses on gardening. The combination of a few practical tweaks from Charles, what I had learned in hort school, and a new (sunnier) gardening site (with water) resulted in an unceasing overproduction of vegetables.
Charles relies heavily on compost in his no-dig program and recently released a new book on compost titled, well, Compost. It was such a straightforward read that I found myself surprised to reach the end in one sitting. This is the book I wish I had had as a beginning gardener. If you have already made a lot of compost, does it tell you anything particularly new about making compost? It will really depend on your mileage. At the end of the day, it is about mixing green and brown materials together in reasonable proportions and creating an environment where it doesn’t get too wet or dry. Simple, right? Yes. Where this book shines is the first bit in which Charles sums up the reasons to make and use compost.
Does this sound familiar? We add compost to the soil to build humus. I cannot tell you how many times I heard as a gardener. Ever looked at a handful of soil and wondered which part was the humus? I have. The problem is humus doesn’t exactly exist. (No really. Long story. Oopsie.) Charles acknowledges this and, instead, provides readers with a concise summary and helpful diagrams outlining what we do know about the relationship between plants and soil microbes. The simplicity boils down everything a gardener really needs to know in a few short, clear pages. Plants feed microbes sugar. In exchange, microbes provide plants with water, nutrients, and sometimes, themselves. Compost is a microbe haven that helps all these interactions take place. Now, here is how to make good compost.
If I were a new gardener and could have this simple framework in my head from the start, it would have provided me with great clarity. While the science will inevitably evolve, this is a very fair representation of what we currently know, summarized in a way that any reader can understand. Gone is the mystery of humus. In is a very relatable description of the exchange between plants and soil life. Harnessing that can result in overwhelming abundance in the garden. I know!
Compost, by Charles Dowding, is available on his website, on Amazon as a hard-copy, Kindle, and audiobook, and assuredly other booksellers. It is an affordable, easy read that deserves a place in every garden library.
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