Local garden guru Gord Ruddy stopped by the Jasper Local Food Society’s community gardens located on Connaught Dr. on July 7, to talk to the gardeners about compost. 

Ruddy offered tips on how to start the compost, how to keep it going for years to come, and how much can be used in a garden. 

The gardener took a peek at the individual garden plots before launching into his informal discussion. He started off by telling the group that composting is just organisms ingesting and digesting the organic material in the composter. 

It’s important not to put too much of one thing in at once, but Ruddy said it’s surprising what will break down in a short amount of time. 

“You could compost a truck if you wanted to, and the only thing left would be the tires,” Ruddy joked. 

When throwing in plants, Ruddy said you don’t have to worry too much about seeds going in too – except when it comes to invasive species such as mint. When composting mint plants, Ruddy lets them dry out for at least five days before adding them to his compost piles. 

The best way to start a compost is to have two chambers – one to throw anything and everything into and the other to layer more carefully. 

Lots of greenery, grass clippings and horse manure help get the compost pile’s temperature rising, which means the process is working. A well-designed bin with holes in it to allow air to get in is important as well.

“Good compost needs oxygen,” Ruddy said. 

Sand is an important element to add, as it keeps the soil softer. Without sand, the soil will clump together and be as hard as a rock. When searching for sand, try not to get any that has been used for road work, as it will have salt in it. 

Water has to be added as well to supplement the organisms chowing down on the organic matter. Ruddy said that if your compost isn’t doing well, not enough water is probably the problem. 

Ruddy estimated that what you put in breaks down at a ratio of about three to one, and takes about three weeks for things to start happening. Temperatures inside the pile can get up to 175 to 180 degrees. Ruddy told the gardeners about the time his compost pile got a little too hot and caught fire when he added too many grass clippings. 

When adding the compost to the garden, Ruddy said the sky is the limit. 

“There’s no such thing as too much compost,” he said. 

Ruddy has been gardening for many years, and has spent little money developing his soil. Instead he takes his neighbour’s garbage off their hands and adds it to the compost. He once obtained an entire truck- load of newspapers and composted every single page. Ruddy cautioned the gardeners about the use of biodegradable bags. While they do eventually break down, they are better for use in large-scale composting projects, such as the municipality’s green bins. He says the bags take about two runs through his composting system before they break down. 

After the speech, Ruddy was presented with a gift from the food society, and a barbecue followed.