I never knew I had a green thumb. I grew up with parents who kept us indoors and cautioned against getting dirty, which meant I never played in the dirt or even touched it.

And then recently I decided to grow my own food. (Reasons: concern with GMO foods, limited choice of organic produce, to show my kids where food really comes from, and my love of food and cooking fresh, flavorful food.)  As a person who never touched dirt, of course I had no idea of what I was doing.  I started off with okay results.   …And then my friend (Sandra) introduced me to small batch composting.   Suddenly my garden went gang-busters!  Everything started to look healthy and robust, really alive!

Like many people I’ve talked to, composting had never worked for me in the past. I found it difficult and it seemed to bring more bugs into my house than into my garden.  But small-batch composting (as I call it) is totally different.  It is so easy and the results make it sort of addictive.  It has made my garden so lush that my friend’s husband actually gasped when he saw my garden and immediately wanted to know why it suddenly looked so good.

So here’s how to Small-Batch Compost:

Find a spot where you can dig a small hole. Don’t worry if your soil is rock hard and you can only dig a few inches deep, that is actually deep enough.

Next throw in your compostable food waste. I dump in the refuse from my juicer, so everything is already in tiny shreds (which makes the process go faster).  But you can throw in anything that was grown from the ground.

Next cover it with dirt so that none of the debris is showing. Turn and chop the soil maybe once or twice before a week is up.

In just a week you will have dirt that looks like “devils food cake” as my friend Sandra puts it.  This dirt is so full of nutrients because you have just “fed” it.  And that is all there is to small-batch composting! Yes, it is that easy!  Make sure you spread this nutrient-rich soil all over your garden.  Mix the soil up well before you plant your seeds.  (I’ve learned to sprout them first before planting them).  You will be amazed at the speed your plants will grow and how vibrant your garden will look!

Good Luck and Happy Gardening,

Your Sensible Girlfriend