Our school garden needs organic fertilizer. Why not prepare it with the students?

Hello friends, this time I will explain how we can, make an organic compost, with our students for the school garden. It is very easy and it is a strategy that will have some busy students and you will learn a lot.

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The objective is to make students aware of the importance of using organic materials for the production of organic compounds, both for the environment and for plants.

The teacher can begin his activities by asking the students:

What is the composition of garbage in our homes and school (distinguish between them).
What happens after garbage collection by collectors?
Where does the garbage go? Everything we produce is garbage?
What is the difference between garbage and waste?
Can garbage be converted?
What parts of the garbage could we use?
How are organic waste converted into a compound?
Discuss with the students, the factors that regulate the composting process: humidity, aeration and temperature (what is the importance), what is the function of the microorganisms).
What activities could we do to illustrate the transformation of garbage into something good for nature?

The compost for the school garden is beneficial in every way. For plants, the compost, introduced into the soil, is a good organic fertilizer. For the soil, the compost is a natural conditioner: it improves the structure of the soil, loosens and retains moisture and fertilizers in the roots of the plants.

What is compost?

Compost is a composition of organic substances decomposed under the influence of microorganisms. Compost is used to improve soil structure, as well as fertilizer.

Used material

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• Remains of food and garden pruning;
• To place the waste: wooden box with screen, plastic planter or you can make the composting directly on the floor.
• Garden fork (or other instrument to move the material deposited in the composition).

Steps to compost:

- Chop the materials:

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The size of the materials is important, because the microorganisms manage to degrade the waste more quickly.

- Mixing of materials:

The wet material (kitchen waste) must be mixed with the dry material (garden waste).

- Stirring of materials:

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From time to time, mix and remove the compost with the forks to obtain better access to the air and a uniform humidification of the compost.

The monitoring of the factors that govern the decomposition process must be done by the students themselves.

Some factors (humidity, temperature and aeration) are important for the transformation of organic material into a compound; The whole process must be controlled so that the microorganisms find the ideal conditions for the reproduction and degradation of organic matter.

All organisms need water to survive and, therefore, the composition must always be moist, so that the microorganisms do not die. But it is extremely important that the material is not too wet.