Hydrophobic compost
The
four tons of compost Mark bought me a few weeks
ago was actually more than
I needed.
I can't quite understand the concept, but I added a five gallon bucket
to each of my garden beds and had a lot leftover, enough to make some
extra raised beds using the lasagna method. I put down layers of
cardboard and paper as a weed retardant, then piled up masses of
compost, leaves, and mostly composted wood chips. The wood chips
are full of happy soil critters, and I'm hoping they'll inoculate the
whole pile before I need to plant the beds in a month.
I was so pleased with
myself...until I went out to look at my new beds
after last week's rain. Did you know that if you buy compost that
has been allowed to dry out all the way, 
the
compost becomes hydrophobic and is
very difficult to rewet? Despite nearly an inch of rain, our
lasagna beds were bone dry. Yikes!
So we hooked up the
sprinklers and started soaking the new raised
beds. I watered half the beds for an hour, then let the liquid
percolate down through the compost while I soaked the other beds for an
hour. Alternating this way for about fifteen hours finally wet the majority of the compost and I'm hoping the dry spots will equalize out over time.
As
with any farm trauma, there's always a silver lining. The
tiger swallowtails are quite happy with the damp compost and have
gathered
by the dozen on newly wet raised beds. Nothing like hordes of
fluttering butterflies to brighten your day!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Hello! I wanted to thank you for the information about dry compost. I have been trying to find out what is wrong with the compost we purchase. I know it is full of nutrients, but never fluffy, loamy or rich smelling. I am considering trying to rehydrate it before it is added to the garden, but if not, I will use your method to rehydrate it.