The secret life of compost : a "how-to" & "why" guide to composting-- lawn, garden, feedlot, or farm

We don't need to poison the earth in order to grow better food, and what is harmful to the environment when improperly disposed of often can be turned back to the soil in a beneficial way through composting—if you know how. Here's how. Malcolm Beck's Garden-Ville is one of the largest commercial composting operations in the country. He shares his insight into the processes of decay that can transform everything from lawn trimmings to sewer sludge into life-giving earth. Coupled with Beck's insight into nature and practical advice are remarks from Charles Walters, author, founder of Acres U.S.A. "You can study science books until the biology, physics and chemistry of composting are well understood, but that doesn’t make you a master. Composting is an art, and just like any other art, it can only be perfected by doing it and getting the feel of it. I knew nothing about the sciences that explain what happens in compost, but I learned to make compost by watching things decay in Nature. Then gradually, over time, I began to understand the processes involved. When I was a curious child between the ages of two and five, we lived at a place that had a barn with a solid wooden fence running parallel to the east wall. Between the wall and the fence was an area four feet wide. In that little lane were some big hackberry trees. The leaves blown by the wind collected between the barn and that fence up to fourteen inches deep. That was one of my favorite places to play. It always smelled so good! I hoped the leaves would eventually build up so high that I could see over the fence, but I noticed every year before the leaves would start falling again, the pile would be way down and the new falling leaves would only bring the pile up to the original height. I would always dig into this leaf pile and find all kinds of neat bugs and worms to play with. It was always nice and moist, even if it had not rained in a long time. I also noticed how the leaves gradually changed into soil and tree roots were always growing up out of the ground into the decaying leaves. Childhood reasoning told me the roots were eating and drinking from those decaying leaves. By the young age of five, Nature had taught me the secret of her life cycles. Once I got a little bigger, handling manure and other farm waste was always a part of my life. It was a necessary farm chore, and I didn’t mind it any more than any other chore. I could easily see the rewards of hauling the waste back to the fields. The crops were always bigger in the area where it was applied, more earthworms were there, and the soil was softer and easier to plow. Many books on composting make it so complicated that you need advanced degrees in science to understand them. Most people who successfully make compost, however, learned by observing Nature. It is much easier to understand the science after you have mastered the art of composting than the other way around. Studying the science first seems to dampen the desire to experiment. You try to make something work that doesn’t, because you are unaware of some factor that wasn’t covered in the books. Then you become frustrated. Much of the material written on composting is by people that studied the book sciences, but I am not sure they conferred with Nature as to when, where and how it should be done." We don't need to poison the earth in order to grow better food, and what is harmful to the environment when improperly disposed of often can be turned back to the soil in a beneficial way through composting - if you know how. The Secret Life of Compost tells you how. Author Malcom Beck was a lifelong organic farmer, and the founder of Garden-Ville, one of the largest commercial composting operations in the country. Beck shares his insight into the processes of decay that can transform everything from lawn trimmings to sewer sludge into life-giving earth. Coupled with Beck's insight into nature and practical advice are remarks from Charles Walters, author and founder of Acres U.S.A. Copyright 1997, softcover, 170 pages. 44 per case. Praise for The Secret Life of "Malcolm Beck's intuitive knowledge and lifelong research on the subject of compost and composting gives us a holistic presentation of the process in The Secret Life of Compost ." - John Dromgoole , organic gardening authority, radio host "In this nation where we take for granted our extractive, technologically luxurious lifestyle, Malcolm Beck's knowledge and wise words give each of us the understanding and direction to initiate the regeneration of the most precious life form known - soil. For our flower box, yard, farm or vast rangelands, we must be sculptors of the process. He clearly tells us how and why." - Patricia Q. Behrens, Ph.D., Dick Richardson, Ph.D. , University of Texas, Austin "Malcolm Beck is driven by a desire to make his portion of the world a better place by recycling man's waste products as compost to the soil to maintain and improve our nation's greatest natural resource - the soil. By reading The Secret Life of Compost , you too can understand and join this great crusade." - Esper K. Chandler , agronomist, soil scientist, Texas Plant & Soil Lab, Inc., author of Ask The Plant More about Malcolm Beck MALCOLM BECK was a lifelong organic farmer and the founder of Gar-den-Ville, a composting/recycling business and retail horticultural supply house. He spoke widely throughout the country, but was particularly well known in south-central Texas. His Garden-Ville operation has grown from a composting pile on his family farm to a multi-million-yard operation in a few years. His compost, fertilizers, bedding mixes, and soils supply leading landscapers throughout Texas. He authored and co-authored many books on organic gardening. Other Books by Malcolm Beck Lessons in Nature - A collection of essays includes practical and inspirational philosophy and techniques on soil building, planting and growing, pest control and more. We don't need to poison the earth in order to grow better food, and what is harmful to the environment when improperly disposed of often can be turned back to the soil in a beneficial way through composting ­ if you know how. Here's how. Malcolm Beck's Garden-Ville is one of the largest commercial composting operations in the country. He shares his insight into the processes of decay that can transform everything from lawn trimmings to sewer sludge into life-giving earth. Coupled with Beck's insight into nature and practical advice are remarks from Charles Walters, author, founder of Acres U.S.A., the national magazine of organic and sustainable farming. Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Foreword Overview Part I: The Why of Composting Observe the Cycle of Life Why Recycle? Interlude Creating Life & Death Part II: The How of Composting The Art of Composting Home Garden Recycling The Chemical vs. Natural Farming Debate Building Soil on the Farm A Visit to Garden-Ville Large-Scale Composting Marketing & Sales Using Compost The Importance of Carbon The Old Farmer's Prayer Pushing Up Daisies The Judge Afterword Index "Teaches Malcom Beck's static-pile method of composting without unnecessary labor or expensive equipment." -- Publisher's description