Compost Basket: A Free Long-Term Fertilizer Solution!

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Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers are selected based on their passion and expertise in a specific area; so it doesn't surprise us that volunteers translate that passion into longer term projects, blogs, presentations, or even more F2F assignments! 

 Hailing from Absarokee, Montana, long-serving F2F volunteer Wayne Burleson has served through Partners of the Americas in Guatemala and Nicaragua on a variety of occasions. As a horticulture volunteer, Wayne is an expert in organic inputs and organic kitchen gardening and runs a blog that features innovative methods for food gardening. 

Below is a sample of the work he's done in his own garden for those with (and without) a green thumb!
COMPOST BASKET - a 4-free long-term fertlizer solution
  1. Make a small wire basket to hold raw organic matter in, build it right in a growing vegetable garden bed.  
  2. Throw into this wire basket: clean kitchen waste, old garden plants, banana peels, over-ripe fruit like avocados etc., dry grass and other raw wasted food stuff. Don't forget to add soil between the layers.  
  3. Water the compost basket once in a while.  
  4. As the organic matter rots (compost is being made), it will feed the soil which feeds the plant. When water is added, the new nutrients are leeched right into the vegetable root systems.

"This is the second year we have done [a compost basket] and our tomato plants are twice as tall with lots of tomatoes on the plant compared to the other tomatoes growing away from the compost basket."
 - Wayne Burleson
Read about the innovative work Wayne has done through F2F in herd management, dairy, and organic agriculture: Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Wayne Burleson.


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