How do we compost woodchip?

How we could compost woodchip?

A very interesting topic as anything involving a decaying plant being recycled back into the garden sounds healthy. This is how in a pile you can speed up the composting process:

1. Having a green woodchip with leaves on from a soft wood like pine takes less time to decompose.

2. Not letting the pile dry out as microbes need water to aid in decomposition.

3. Turning the pile every few days to add oxygen into the pile and help distribute a dominant microbial population.

4. Adding I.M.O a specific collection of microbes (see chris trump on youtube @soilsteward) which may help establish the best microbial population for your pile. Putting your woodchip on an old woodchip pile or near a woods may help this.

5. Sifting the pile removing larger wood that takes longer to decompose. Large chunks of wood that take longer to decompose can cause nitrogen fixing and acidity in the compost especially logs or branches.

How do i compost woodchip?

1. I have multiple large piles of woodchip of varying ages that sit in place.

2. I then (amongst other things) make woodchip paths out of this woodchip around the garden on a liftable lining.

3. After a year or so i lift the lining and sift the woodchip using the bigger chunks of wood on the path again.

4. The sifted decomposing woodchip i put in a composting pile by the woods to use the local I.M.O population in my garden.

5. After the pile has further decomposed i use this material as a mulch/sheet compost on my garden.

Let the woods into your garden

Why not try something different this year?

Even in a small space a ‘collective garden’ can offer some long-term benefits to your garden and health.

Have a garden bed that not only has what your body needs in the soil but also puts it into the plants that you eat!

There are many benefits to this gardening method and too many to list in one post so….

Want to try or find out about a ‘collective garden’?

Contact me here or on my website for some free information as my focus is to help kick start this method of gardening.

At treaditgardens.com