T wrote:
songbird wrote:
....
that'll do it! they turn a pretty interesting
color of orange if you cut them and leave them to
oxidize in the air for a few minutes.

They still did not decompose! They worked their
way up and out of the ground and rolled abound
(yes, even the flat ones). Took me forever to figure
out what they were.

I have dug up vegi table scraps TWO year old that
did to decompose.

Does Peat Moss qualify as "organic matter"?

yes, make sure it is sourced from a sustainable
producer. i don't use it here much any more though
because if you take bagged leaves and other stuff
and bury it for a few years it will end up looking
like peat moss. i just dug up a stash from several
years ago and if i'd have lit a match it would
have probably blew up since there was so much
methane coming out of it. but then i have clay
and moisture to seal things in down deep enough.

i was rather surprised by that. looked exactly
like peat moss. it is now all stirred in with the
garden soil in that garden and looks pretty good.

the problem with peat moss is that when it gets
dry it can take more than a simple quick watering
to get it rehydrated. mixed in with garden soil
that is kept moist it is an excellent material,
but it is not a heavy fertilizer, like most
composted materials the benefit is from the
improvement to the soil structure and the habitat
it provides for the bacteria/fungi/etc as it
gradually decomposes.

i think in a pretty active garden soil it
breaks down further within a few years but if you
keep adding organic material as you garden each
season that isn't too much of an issue.


songbird