I can relate. My mind wanders on fine spring days, as I lay in the grass watching the clouds fly by, or on my belly, chin propped in my hands, gazing across the garden with a rabbit's eye view, resting my tired back from all the digging.

But this man was referring to gathering as much organic matter as possible to add back into the garden. That seems to be what's happened to my husband David in the last few weeks. He's been in a composting frenzy. He makes regular trips to the grocer to pick up loads of discarded produce. Back home, he forms circles of wire fencing four feet wide by three feet high, and within those he layers the old produce, dry leaves, the remnants of last year's garden and aged cow manure from a nearby dairy.

After a thorough watering, the compost now stands cooking. We open the fences every few weeks and turn the big steaming piles to blend the wet soggy stuff from the middle with the dry edges, and then mound it back into the fence hoops to let sun and worms slowly change it into nutrient-rich humus.

As I plant my spring crops I enrich the beds with the compost that we made last year. Just about everything biodegradable that comes out of our kitchen, and a few things that aren't, end up in the pile. I chuckle when I come across the occasional mussel shell, blue mother of pearl dressing up dark brown earth, or a plastic toy, long ago lost in a curbside leaf pile.

The true reward is when I turn the soil over in one of our raised beds. What was once heavy red clay is now a crumbly mixture of chocolate, coffee and chestnut browns with bits of leaves and pine needles sprinkled in. The spading fork goes down 12 inches easily. We grow really sweet veggies and I think a big reason is all the composted organic matter we've put in year after year.

There are lots of books and Web sites that will tell you how to build a compost pile; one that says it all is called "Let It Rot." You don't need to make huge piles like us. Even if you're not a gardener, it's better to return vegetable scraps, eggshells and coffee grounds to your yard than to send them to the landfill in a plastic bag. It's simple to start; just pick a sunny corner in the yard, rake up a few leaves and start layering.

It's tough to stay focused on my chores when the temperature, humidity and gentle breeze are perfection, so I let the ring of the wind chimes center me like a temple bell. I bask in the sun shining down on our tiny vegetable seedlings, and know it's helping turn last winter's kitchen scraps into next month's dinner.

Maria Hitt writes, cooks, gardens and studies nature in the countryside near Carrboro. You can write to her at mkhitt@bellsouth.net or visit her blog http://morgancreekchronicles.blogspot.com

TO LEARN MORE

For more on composting, check the Orange County Solid Waste Web site: www.co.orange.nc.us/recycling/compost.asp.

Read about how people in apartments can compost using worms! And find out about low cost compost bins available through Solid Waste.

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