Compost Pile

I briefly mentioned my Dad's compost pile on this blog post about raking leaves.  I thought I would expand a little more on my life of compost piles.

The dictionary definition of compost is:  a mixture of various decaying organic substances, such as leaves or manure, used for fertilizing soil.

When I was really little, I remember Yiayia saving food scraps in a milk container on the counter.  The milk containers back then were a waxy cardboard.  She would cut the top off and fill the container with scraps.  Once the container was full (more like over flowing), Yiayia would take it to the garden, dig a hole, empty the container and cover the scraps with dirt.  Seems simple and easy.  The only problem was the smell from the container in the kitchen.  Oh, and the little fruit flies hanging around the container.  Yiayia did have a great garden though.  I'd like to think that her composting helped out a lot.

I briefly mentioned my Dad's compost pile here.  My Dad had a HUGE compost pile in our back yard.  It was at the back of the yard behind some trees.  My Dad would put all of the grass clippings in this pile during the summer months.  He would throw in branches and sticks.  In the fall, we would put all of the leaves there.  My Dad would tell me that everything we put there would decompose and turn back into dirt.  I was impressed.

At social gatherings, my Dad got a kick out of telling people about his compost pile.  He was quite proud of it.  Then, one day, it happened.  My Dad was boasting about his compost pile and the couple he was telling asked, "What do you do with the dirt?"  That silenced my Dad for a little bit.

My Dad never did anything with the dirt.  We didn't have a garden.  He didn't use the dirt when my Mom planted flowers.  The dirt, leaves and grass clippings all remained there in the back yard in a huge pile just decomposing.

The composting "bug" has reached me.  I feel my garden has benefitted from my composting, probably because of what I've learned over the years.  I compost from April through November in my garden.  My bin that I keep in the house has a lid.  Yes, I learned from Yiayia's experience.  And, I learned from my Dad because I compost in my garden, so I know that the compost is being put to good use.