Composting in the Desert

Posted by Robert Dailey Sep 10, 2007

Composting is an age-old gardener’s tool for creating rich soil.

It is generally an easy thing do. Just provide the raw materials, add a little water, aerate, and voila, in a few months, you’ve got great soil, rich in nutrients and ready to be applied to your garden.

The active ingredients in compost are microbes: millions of bacteria, microscopic fungi and protozoans which interact with minerals and food sources and break them down.

However, in arid regions, compost is difficult to get started. This is because the low humidity, relentless ultraviolet rays, desiccating winds, and lack of precipitation are not favorable conditions to begin the cycle, jumpstart the compost, if you will, into the biomass that is responsible for breaking down the components into viable soil.

What nature doesn’t provide, then the gardener must. It may be necessary to add water to your compost every day. You will need to determine this. There are wasteful methods to add water and methods which are geared toward conservation of a resource. That's one of the things included in my series of articles on composting

Additionally, since the soil in arid and desert areas is generally alkaline, there are some things you don’t want to add to your compost.

In an in-depth series on composting, you can find step-by-step directions to building and maintaining a compost pile.