Resourceful gardeners can make an organic soil amendment, even if they don’t have much space at home to work with. Two local gardeners have developed their expertise in composting methods and shared their knowledge with the Herald.

Composting has grown in popularity in recent years. It involves the process of decomposing organic materials otherwise seen as waste into a composted material rich with plant nutrients and beneficial organisms.

The natural process reduces the need for other chemicals and encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi in the dirt, according to information from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Added to soil, the compost helps it retain moisture and suppress disease.

Jamie Nixon Garcia has been composting on and off for about 10 years. She had a much bigger compost pile on her 20-acre farm in Michigan before moving back to Moses Lake a few years ago.

Nixon Garcia has a small compost tumbler in her backyard in Moses Lake now. It has a two-sided bin that be turned to mix up the contents and prevent anaerobic byproducts from building up. One side of the bin is for more recently added materials with the other side filled with more “complete” composted dirt.

“For me, one of the biggest reasons that I’m composting is reducing landfill waste, I’m into being less of a consumer and less of an environmental footprint,” Nixon Garcia said.

She said she keeps an old popcorn tub under her sink for materials she’ll add to her compost pile. Things that can be added to the pile include: produce scraps, potato peelings, coffee grounds, apple cores and banana peels.

Nixon Garcia said she tries to tumble her compost bin about once a week. The materials will eventually break down into the dirt gardeners desire. She said the process typically takes about 30 days for the composted materials to be ready to be added to her raised garden beds and herb garden.

When starting a compost pile, it can help to add soil or leftover plants from last season. A long thermometer is key to having a compost pile function, ideally at around 140 degrees.

Once the contents are a nice black color, Nixon Garcia said she knows she has the fertilizer she can put in her garden. She said the process can involve some trial and error, making sure she has the right amount of moisture and the right mix of materials composting.

A good mix of “brown materials,” such as dry leaves, shredded paper and straw, and “green materials,” like coffee grounds and produce waste, is key for the compost to have ideal microbiome conditions.

Too much produce waste can make the compost pile stink sometimes, which Nixon Garcia said shouldn’t be the case.

“It should have just a dirt smell,” Nixon Garcia said. “Maybe if it’s really stinking, maybe you need to add more dry leaves or paper scraps.”

As someone who would buy the organic products anyway, Nixon Garcia said it’s a bonus to be able to make her own and have control over the food she’s growing.

She said composting is something anyone can do without worrying about having a ton of extra space or time on their hands.

“I bought a tumbler, but you can make one out of a big tote bin,” Nixon Garcia said. “There’s a lot you can do for a little if you’re interested in reducing landfill waste and making healthy garden fertilizer, teaching your kids about the natural processes in soil, what happens to things.”


Randy Zielke, of Moses Lake, took his compost pile a step further by introducing “red wiggler” worms in a process called vermicomposting. Zielke said he started his first worm bins about a year ago.

He started with some roughly 4-foot bins and added some bedding material, which consisted of things like coffee grounds, shredded cardboard, office paper, peat moss and even shavings from the outer shell of coconuts.

Zielke said you want materials to be moist when you ball them up in your hand, with maybe a few droplets coming off. Anymore than that and there is too much moisture.

“I went to Walmart and bought about 10 cartons of worms and stuck them in there,” Zielke said. “I had worms right away that wanted to take off. If I’d known at the time, all you need is a light on it. They don’t like light, so they’ll (go) back into the compost bin.”

He said the worms tend to work mostly in the top 3-6 inches of the soil, so a really large container isn’t necessary to start your worm bins. Shredded paper and egg cartons added to the top keep in some of the odor and can help prevent fruit fly infestations in the warmer months.

Vermicomposting can lead to an even more nutrient-rich soil then traditional composting, as it creates compost more quickly and can bring a lot of beneficial microorganisms and micronutrients to your garden.

“I basically check on them every day or two, at least once a week,” Zielke said. “By having a combination of peat moss and coconut and paper, you kind of have a fluffy material there and then open your carton of worms and place them on top to penetrate that material.”

While not a direct substitute for fertilizer, worm castings, an organic fertilizer byproduct produced by the worms, can be extremely beneficial for the soil when mixed in with the rest of the compost pile added to the garden.