I am so sorry; you must have thought that I had succumbed to some farming mishap. Fortunately, not so. I simply did not get round to an inspired sit down with my laptop to share new farming learnings.
But today was a great day of working the cattle and teaching my dogs how to ride a quad bike. So I am at peace, with no corporate obligations chasing me down. I can finally share with you, the importance of compost.
Let me start by saying how much more into “organic agriculture” I am getting. Originally, when we bought the farm, I had said I wanted to be self-sufficient, and equally important, not deal with “poisons or chemicals”. Then when I moved to the farm, it was about national food security, and our moral obligation to look after our battered planet.
To that end, I have had to learn some tricks of the trade, on dealing with pests in the garden, without reverting to carcinogenic compounds. Some tricks are quite simple, and yet effective. But, if I am to stay within 600 words for this post, I shall leave those tips & tricks for another post and focus on composting for this post.
Recently I had the privilege to attend a workshop hosted by Namibian Organic Association, and nahop, on organic composting. There I learnt that organic farming is all about the soil. It is as simple as that.
Shout out to the 26 participants on the Organic Agriculture Training-Stampriet WhatsApp group. We are learning from each other’s postings, and Eckhart & Tangeni share their knowledge and experience freely.
I must borrow from our lecture, because keeping it simple allows you to focus on what you must do, rather than worry about why.
In turn, the bacterial colonies feed off the sugars, and break down soil particles to produce nutrients. Fungi attach to the plant roots, and take those nutrients provided by the bacteria, and water, to the plants.
So, if your soil is poor, there is nothing to break into nutrients. And if you add “artificial nutrients” you gain in the short term, with a powerful boost, but lose in the long term as the microbes, bacteria and fungi have nothing to live off. And they need to help the plant become a robust pest resilient plant over the long term. Not just produce pretty, but ultimately poor-quality fruit and vegetables.
If you page through my blog, you may see that I am in love with the red Kalahari sand. It feels good beneath your feet. (Except in high summer when it is too hot to handle 
). I am always barefoot when it is socially appropriate, and sometimes when it not the social norm. 
So as beautiful as the scenery is, the soil (or in this case, I should rather call is sand) it is not particularly nutritious.
So, I have taken the time to gather materials in my environment, at no cost other than “sweat equity”, and invested it into my own soil wealth. Let me paraphrase the crux of the full day learning we shared that day in Stampriet.
Mattrass, water, brown, water, green, water, brown, water, green, water etc. etc, ending with a blanket. Leave for a couple of weeks, you will feel it heat up by itself. Turn it, leave for another couple of weeks, then its ready to distribute in your plant beds.
Matrass being the first layer of branches. Required to create airflow under your file of organic matter.
It needs to aerate, which is why I have repurposed this old container webbing.
It is also necessary to wet each layer as you put it down, to feed to microbes and organisms that will be breaking down the plant material. Hopefully also providing water to some grubs (good for compost but try and leave out of the ultimate bedding) and earthworms.
Brown layers are wood chips, dried leaves, and grass etc. Provides useful carbon.
Green layers can include Bokashi (well matured), manure (cattle, chicken (including feathers and all that comes when you spring-clean the chicken coup)) even weeds and any green trimmings from tidying the garden. Kitchen waste (but avoid oils, citrus, and vinegar) also good.
I have taken a week or two to create my layer cake, I would say it needs another couple of weeks before I will turn it.
So, when you garden, especially when you have your own little (or large) vegetable patch, think of “living soil” – the better you care for it, the better it will care for your plants.
Soil feeds the soul.
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