I

3

THE USE OF COMPOST AND SOIL

FERTILITY

GOAL: Maximize quality and quantity of cured compost
produced per unit of compost built and maximize
microbiodiversity

A “Natural” System

n nature, living things die, and their death allows life
to be reborn. Both animals and plants die on forest
oors and in meadows to be composted by time,
water, microorganisms, sun, and air to produce a soil
improved in structure and nutrients. Organic plant
growing follows nature’s example. Leaves, grass, weeds,
prunings, spiders, birds, trees, and plants should be
returned to the soil and reused—not thrown away.
Composting is an important way to recycle such
elements as carbon, nitrogen, magnesium, sulfur,
calcium, phosphorus, potash, and trace minerals. These
elements are all necessary to maintain the biological
cycles of life that exist naturally. All too often we
participate instead in agricultural strip-mining.