{"id":65476,"date":"2026-03-24T12:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=65476"},"modified":"2026-03-24T12:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:19:09","slug":"compost-heap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=65476","title":{"rendered":"Compost Heap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been a busy few weeks at the WLBOTT Agricultural Extension Service<\/strong> (Go Waggies!<\/em>). In addition to our usual duties that include repairs to the manure spreader, seed selections, and debates over crop rotation (“i<\/strong> before e<\/strong> except after c<\/strong>” gives us guidance: I<\/strong>daho potatoes, E<\/strong>ggplant, C<\/strong>ucamelon[1]<\/sup>), we were wondering if it’s time to utilize our compost heap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup> Cucamelon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before instituting our “No Parrots While Harvesting Cucamelon” policy, we had numerous eye injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the policy, we encouraged protective eye wear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Back to the Compost<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For years we’ve been adding to the compost heap, but it never gets any taller, implying that a great deal of compression is taking place. Frankly, the compost bin scares us a little, so we gathered the Elders to ponder over the situation. Baba Yaga<\/strong>, who is currently residing in the WLBOTT<\/strong> test gardens, was curious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Heap Analysis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We used the powers of Elder G<\/strong> to predict the internal state of the compost heap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geological Formations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The World’s Largest Fire Ant Colony<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Armadillo Habitat<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

A Little Background<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There a period of geological history, where plants covered the earth, but there was no fungus or bacteria to break down the dead plant material. This caused enormous deposits of dead plant material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elder G<\/strong> gives us the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It\u2019s one of those wonderfully strange chapters in Earth\u2019s story where the planet briefly forgot how to clean up after itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re talking about the late Carboniferous Period<\/strong> (roughly 359 to 299 million years ago) – a time when the world was less \u201cyard with a compost bin\u201d and more \u201cyard where nothing ever gets taken out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Great Pile-Up<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

During this era, vast swampy forests spread across the continents. Think:<\/p>\n\n\n\n