Trench Composting

This past Saturday we trench composted our summer cover crops to add nutrients back to the soil in prep for our fall planting. This is known as the “lazy man’s” method of composting because you’re burying your "green manure" or compost directly into the soil, right in the garden. This hassle-free method is an easy way to enrich your soil without the odors, turning and watering, or having a large compost bucket or pile in your backyard.  Learn more about cover crops here.

WHERE: Between rows, at center of bed, in our case we did it at the top of the bed because it is on a slight hill and nutrients will eventually reach all plants. Be sure to rotate and move your trench every growing season so new parts of your garden will be revitalized. If trenching between rows, be sure to plant rows far enough apart so that you don’t harm roots while digging.

WHEN: Anytime in the growing season, but best to do it in between seasons so you can use cover crops, plants you are cutting back 

HOW: Dig a hole roughly 12 inches deep and wide enough to bury whatever scraps you have collected, dump in 4-6 inches of compostable material, and cover it back up with dirt. 

WHAT: 

• Kitchen Scraps such as fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and eggshells.
• Cover Crops/Grass Clippings: Leave an open space in your garden to bury grass clippings this summer. Rotate your spot each year to help nourish your soil.
• Recycled Oyster Mushroom Blocks: Add mycelium that will help decompose the plant material faster. 
• Fall Leaves: Raked up and mowed leaves can also go in your trench compost. As with bin composting, leaves are considered “brown,” so it is helpful to balance them with some “green” so that all of the nitrogen in your soil isn’t taken up to help decompose the leaves. If you do add leaves in the fall, simply cover the leaves with other nitrogen rich items, such as grass clippings, vegetable waste, and coffee grounds.
• Surprise! Tea bags, cotton or wool rags, dryer lint, fireplace ash, hair, and animal fur—all can be added to your trench compost.