Compost feeds life, not just NPK numbers

A compost heap that finished well carries organic matter and a crowd of organisms. Spread as a thin living layer, it feeds the web that cycles nutrients and helps crumbs hold water and air.

It is not a precise fertilizer. Nutrient content varies. Heat in a pile also kills many root fungi, so compost does not replace a mycorrhizal partner at planting.

Keep heaps aerobic and finish them before they go on a bed. If a bed still dusty after compost, you may need more cover and less tillage — not a stronger soluble blend on top.

In this series

• Treat soil as a living web, not an inert bag of fertilizer
• Roots feed microbes; microbes then feed roots
• Compost feeds life, not just NPK numbers
• Keep soil covered so organisms can work
• Heavy tillage breaks fungi, worms, and structure
• Trees like a more fungal system; annuals like faster bacterial cycling