It seems as though nothing has been accomplished, most of the
soil still shows, there is no _layer _of compost, only a thin
scattering.
But for the purpose of maintaining humus content of vegetable ground
at a healthy level, a thin scattering once a year is a gracious
plenty. Even if I were starting with a totally depleted, dusty,
absolutely humusless, ruined old farm field that had no organic
matter whatsoever and I wanted to convert it to a healthy vegetable
garden, I would only have to make a one-time amendment of 50 tons of
ripe compost per acre or 2,500 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Now
2,500 pounds of humus is a groaning, spring-sagging, long-bed pickup
load of compost heaped up above the cab and dripping off the sides.
Spread on a small garden, that's enough to feel a sense of
accomplishment about. Before I knew better I used to incorporate
that much composted horse manure once or twice a year and when I did
add a half-inch thick layer that's about what I was applying.
Fertilizing Vegetables with Compost
Will a five ton per acre addition of compost provide enough
nutrition to grow great vegetables? Unfortunately, the answer
usually is no. In most gardens, in most climates, with most of what
passes for "compost," it probably won't. That much compost might
well grow decent wheat.
The factors involved in making this statement are numerous and too
complex to fully analyze in a little book like this one.
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