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Garden club learns composting basics and 'all that rot'

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Southern Maine Garden Club met recently at the Springvale Library for a lesson in composting from Master Gardener, Ron Vincent, from Sanford, Maine. Before his program began, Ron sang the praises of the Master Gardener program through the Maine Cooperative Extension (www.extension.umaine.edu) where he participated in the certificate training program and now he is performing his 40 hours of volunteering for gardening projects for the first year and then 20 hours per year after that.

Vincent gave a slide presentation for learning the basics of composting - the best ingredients for a composting pile; just what composting is - organic material that has been well decomposed under conditions of good aeration and high temperature; the value of composting - improves structure of the soil, promotes healthy soil microbial balance, contributes nutrients and is good for disease suppression.

He went into detail about the best bugs and insects one would want in one's compost pile; how critical the carbon/nitrogen ratio is; the importance of good compost management and finally he showed several examples of effective tools for containment - from the type of structures you can purchase at the hardware store to the "Cadillac System" of constructing several wooden corrals - one for brown matter getting ready to mix with the green matter and then the final container with the compost ready for screening and then disbursement to the plants and shrubs to promote healthy growth.

In addition to his program, Vincent briefly touched on the importance of soil testing in order to learn about any deficiencies your soil may have; and ultimately amend the soil with the nutrients that are missing. He distributed forms and mailer cardboard cartons for members to easily take samples of their soil from various locations in their gardens and then bag up the soil, complete the from and mail to the U Maine Soil Testing Service and await their diagnostic testing.

SMGC meets throughout the year at the Springvale Library on the third Wednesday of every month beginning at 6:30 PM (unless otherwise noted). The public is invited to attend to sample our meetings to see if you would like to join us. The March meeting will be on Wednesday, March 16th, at the Springvale Library; and the topic will be on spring floral arranging demonstrated by Lee Mathews of Lee's Floral Garden in Lebanon, ME. For this program if you want to participate in making an arrangement that you can take home there is a cost for flowers, etc. of $15 that should be paid in advance of the meeting; otherwise you can come and watch and enjoy. FMI please contact in ME - Paula Frodyma at 207-475-8142or in NH - Donna Claveau at 603-332-4860.

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