Compost has been called black gold so often it’s become a
cliché. There is, however, truth in that cliché. Any gardening
book or experienced gardener will tell you that the rich,
natural material is the base of a good garden, whether you grow
flowers, edibles or foundation shrubs. Compost adds nitrogen to
feed plants, loosens soil to make room for roots, and nourishes
microbes that help everything grow. The best part: You can make
it yourself. “Every single homeowner who has turf and trees can
participate in composting,” says Erin Hoffer, who teaches
composting and coordinates Plano’s community garden. At its
simplest, composting is allowing organic material such as leaves
and grass clippings to decay. For the precise, composting can be
like gourmet cooking: a matter of studiously following a
multistep recipe. Most follow a middle road, with a little work
paying off in greener grass or bigger tomatoes. “It’s as hard as
you want to make it. It’s as simple as you want to make it,”
says Steve Chaney with Tarrant