Composting is like a lot of things. There areﾠ different difficulty levels depending on how much effort and time you are willing to dedicate to the art of making your own soil.

Dunmore resident Fred Fromhart has learned over the years the best technique for making compost.

He began with a compost tumbler.

ﾓThose are great if you want to spend a lot of extra time on the materials, but there is so much you have to do with the materials before they go in the tumbler,ﾔ Fromhart said.

With a compost tumbler, all the scraps you add to the mix have to be finely chopped up first. An extra step Fromhart saw as a waste of time.

ﾓIf I want to put scraps of grass in my compost mix, I donﾒt want to sit down and chop it up after Iﾒve mowed the lawn,ﾔ he said.

The up side to using the tumbler and chopping up the materials is that the compost if ready to use within months.

After just a year of working with the tumbler, Fromhart changed to a more laid back approach with his compost.

ﾓNow, I have a pile in the yard that I throw everything onto,ﾔ he said. ﾓI go out and add blood meal, green sand and rock phosphorus, mix up everything and let nature take its course.ﾔ

Blood meal ﾖ actual dried animal blood ﾖ green sand and rock phosphorus can be found and any garden supply store. These materials assist in the breakdown of raw materials like grass, coffee grounds and table scraps.

Making a large compost pile and using all sizes of scraps leads to a longer waiting period for the compost. Fromhart said it could take up to a year for the compost to be ready, but the benefits you reap are worth the wait.

ﾓCompost is the best, richest soil you can use on your garden,ﾔ he said.

Whether you have a vegetable garden or flower garden like Fromhart, compost will increase the health and size of your plants.

Now, the next time you hear the nursery rhyme, ﾓMary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?ﾔ you can answer confidently, ﾓwith compost.ﾔ