What is compost? Plus, a special giveaway for readers.

An excerpt from my new book... and the answer to what turns out to be a surprisingly tricky question!

My book! Dispalyed at Huntington Garden (left) and Vromans in Pasadena (right)

It’s been four months since my new book came into the world, and I’m delighted every day by the small pleasures of its existence. I’m still shocked to walk into a store and find it there on display. Friends send me photos of it from all across the country. Strangers send me sweet notes. Men argue with me about compost tumblers on GoodReads. It’s all been so much fun.

But I also wanted to share a little bit from the book directly with you guys, my first and most faithful readers. (Thank you for that!) The following are two short excerpts, selected because I get asked these specific questions so often — but also because I find their particular answers so fascinating. Compost is thought of as such a mundane thing, this fateful act of decay in which we will all eventually partake, but take a slightly closer look and it is actually still so mysterious and wonderful in there. We know so much, and yet so little.

As a reminder: Copies of the book are available for sale at local bookstores everywhere, plus through all the majors like Amazon and Bookshop. You can purchase a copy here.

OR….

… You can skip to the bottom for details on a book giveaway I’m running. ;)

With love,

Cass

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One of my favorite illustrations from the book, by the Sludge Thunder.

What Is Compost?

Every living thing on Earth will die. That includes plants, animals, and humans. When we die, our bodies will begin to decompose. This process breaks large forms into smaller pieces and splits complex chemical arrangements into their individual molecules.

These components cycle back into the soil, forming the basis for all other growth. Roots grow. Shoots sprout. Leaves spread. Life, in all its infinite and complex capacities, regenerates. This is the fate of all organic matter. It is also the operating principle of any compost pile. Composting is the breaking down of once-living organic matter into nutrient-rich, biologically active fertilizer.

There is, however, an important distinction between “compost” and the plain fact of decomposition: the presence of the composter. The composter is tasked with stewarding the conditions of the compost pile. They determine whether decomposition will be hastened or proceed aimlessly, whether it will take place in an enclosed chamber or open heap, and whether it will be driven primarily by bacteria or perhaps fungi. Thus, composting happens anywhere that a composter takes it upon themselves to deliberately manage the process of decomposition. This includes a great variety of forms and approaches—all, in my view, legitimized by their intention and none excluded by the range of their outcomes.

Composting is simple but, for the beginner, it can feel distantly complex, even magical. I encourage you to embrace that feeling. The composter performs a kind of spell, I like to believe, casting deep into the world for something far greater than themselves.

Why Compost Works

Compost is a great gift to the soil. This is in large part due to something we call “humus.” Humus is a dark, rich organic matter that is nutrient-dense, biodiverse, and smells richly of earth. It is the end product of decomposition; in other words, it is what remains when dead things can be broken down no further. It may seem like an ecological afterthought, mere leftovers, but humus is the whole point of your composting work. More than that, it could even be said that humus is the whole point of life on Earth. It is where we start from, in addition to where we will end.

It is humus that marks the difference between plain dirt and living soil, the thing that allows for the growth and flourishing of plants. It contains and releases elements and minerals, making them available for reuse as needed and in the precise quantities required for plants to thrive. Its microbial diversity works to break up toxins and suppress pathogens, and its molecular structure improves soil tilth, helping porous soils retain water and clay-like soils drain better. The range of its ability is matched only by the broad scope of its adaptability. Whatever is growing, whatever the conditions, humus will adjust to provide.

Exactly how humus does this is not totally understood. It cannot be identified by any singular molecular structure. Its innermost processes remain secret, having resisted scientific comprehension for centuries. In fact, the only thing consistent about humus is that it always seems to be different—to the point that some scientists wonder how to categorize it at all. “Humus cannot be regarded as a real substance,” writes German soil scientist

Erhard Hennig, “but rather as a process, a formation, built from a multitude of constantly changing factors.” It can feel surreal that, when composting, we are casually creating such a remarkable, essential, and ultimately unknowable thing. Humus occurs anywhere that organic material is able to accrue and decay, such as on forest floors, although it forms very slowly—in some cases, it can take a thousand years to form just 1 inch of humus. In places where it runs deepest, it forms a layer that is about a foot deep. Your backyard garden, if you have one, is not likely to contain an abundance of humus. The soil may be undernourished from decades of prior use or excessive use of synthetic fertilizers, or it may never have had much in the first place. That’s where compost can come in handy. Good compost replenishes the soil, restoring its capacity to both contain and provide.

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Compost After Reading THE GIVEAWAY

It could all be yours!

I have 5 copies of the book to give away to readers. Each comes with one of my “I Love Rotting and Decaying Stickers.” IYKYK.

Enter to win by simply leaving a comment on this post asking me one question about compost OR telling me your most favorite thing about it. I’ll select the winners at random. …but I am choosing to give away FIVE books, because I am hoping I can have one for everybody who participates!