Fertile soil, as everyone knows, is essential for growing anything to a decent size, texture and taste. Some people are lucky to live in places where the soil is naturally fertile. Others, like us, need help.
That composting was going to become a part of our lives we realised relatively quickly. Granulated fertiliser was good but it cost money and we would have to use a lot of it, all the time. Composting, on the other hand, not only didn’t cost anything but it turned waste into something really useful. Also, how hard could it be? Which are perhaps the most famous last words before disaster strikes.
Anyway, we read up on composting a little (which was our first mistake), dug out a deep pit (which was our second mistake), and started throwing our plant scraps into it without any sort of follow-up (which was our third mistake). We realised our mistakes after a while, when we discovered with much disappointment that we had only produced about an ounce of compost underneath a pile of would-be-compost. We read up some more. We consulted neighbour Valia, whose compost can win prizes. We corrected the mistakes. And, of course, we learned some lessons.
#1 The pit has to be just right
#2 Coffee grinds and mix them well
#3 Enjoy your fertile soil additive
We put compost in the holes we dig for the plants before we sow/plant them, and we also spread some around plants once they’ve taken, with the first soil loosening. With compost and our soil, more is always better.
P.S. Excuse the utter lack of colour coordination. These are work clothes and with work clothes, anything goes.