The Many Benefits of Compost

Benefits of CompostCrumbly Compost Feeds the Garden and the Good Soil Microbes

The benefits of compost are so dramatic that no garden should be without a system of regularly incorporating it.

A beautiful and productive vegetable garden can be thought of as an up-and-down cycle. Nutrients are brought up out of the soil and into the plants, which we then eat to build and fuel our bodies. In the "old days" our human waste (and eventually our bodies) would return to the soil, recycling the minerals and other nutrients back down.

In our modern, congested world, our waste (nitrogen), our crop residues (carbon, potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc.), and eventually our bodies (all of the above), go elsewhere. We have kept taking the minerals and organic matter up and out of the ground without replacing them.

The Role of Soil Microbes

It's not quite as simple as it sounds. This up-and-down cycle involves a miraculous web of microbial life.

An incredibly complex web of soil microorganisms break down the dead plants, animals and waste into simpler forms, and then literally "feed" the plant roots what they need in exchange for sugars exuded by the plant's roots. They are like waiters in a restaurant, bringing food and getting a tip.

These soil organisms also need compost and minerals to live and do their jobs.

The many benefits of compost make it one of the experienced gardener’s most precious “crops”. I make a ton of compost, using two of the homemade compost bins shown here. (We need to replace minerals too, but that is covered on the organic fertilizer page.)



Agricultural soils have now become so depleted that our food contains a fraction of the nutrition that it used to 100 years ago. (If you don't believe me, Google around...)

Artificial fertilizers used by commercial agriculture don't fully replace what is taken and they damage soil ecology. Tillage practices also destroy the microbial life.

Taking control of the nutrition in your food is one of the most powerful reasons to grow a garden, and  to compost.

The Top Seven Benefits of Compost

Improved soil structure.

benefits of compostApplying the Benefits of Compost to My Garden


Optimal water retention.


Enhanced soil microflora.


Improved plant nutrition.


Increased pest resistance.


Nutrition bank account in the soil.

The stable carbon compound known as humus is organic matter that has completely broken down, and it is very stable, even for millenia. Humus binds positive ion nutrients like calcium and magnesium in the soil, keeping them from washing away, and holding these nutrients "in escrow” until the plants need them. When plant roots need those minerals, they are there for them to take. (It's actually the microbes that take the minerals from the humus and "feed" them to the plant roots, in exchange for sugars that the roots exude.)

Higher nutrient-density food for us.




Help share the skills and spread the joy
of organic vegetable gardening, and please...

~  Like us on Facebook  ~

Thank you...  and have fun in your garden!

New! Comments


Affiliate Disclaimer
