Lately, I caught the compost fever and borrowed 3 books from the Library to learn about composting. My previous attempt more than 3 years ago was a total failure. The red wigglers were running away from the piles. This time I decided to study up all aspects of compost and make a gallant effort to do it right. A summary of what I learned:

What is compost?
It’s a rich mix of organic matter (humus), the natural decomposition of organic materials from piling mixtures of animal manure, plant debris, and soil.

Humus acts as a slow release fertilizer, hold soil particles together, help water retention, provides good drainage, present wind and water erosion, supports a wide range of soil bacteria including those that produce natural antibiotics to fight against plant disease, and moderates soil temperature.

How decomposition takes place: psychrophiles (low temperature 13C) bacteria digest the carbon compounds and raise the temperatures for the next group. Mesophiles, mid-temperature bacteria that thrive at about 20~30C. This contributes to the majority of the decomposition. Then the Thermofiles (high temperature 40~70C) will come next to sustain the final phase of decomposition. It’s followed by fungi such as actinomycetes and streptomycetes that produces natural antibiotics.

Why compost?
Compost benefits soils: 1) improves soil texture (turning clay to sand and then to lam), increases microbial activities, provides nutrition but not a fertilizer, adjust soil chemistry, buffers extremes of soil temperature.

Compost benefits plants: 1) reduces insect pests, 2) fights plant diseases. 3) discourages weeds.

How to compost?
Making the simple piles: enclosing the simple pile, add air, reduce the particle size, adding decomposing organism, adding commercial bioactivator products, adding worms, adding nitrogen
What to compost:
Nitrogen (green): alfafa, bone meal, coffee ground, fish scraps, grass clippings, raw kitchen garbage, chicken manure, cow manure, horse manure, human urine.

Both Nitrogen and Carbon: Leaves, rotted manure, washed seaweed, fresh weeds.

High Carbon (brown): Tomothy hay, paper, shredded newspaper, saw dusts, wheat straw, oat straw, wood chips.

What NOT to compost: sawdust from pressure-treated lumber, chips or sawdust from allelopathic trees (black walnut, eucalyptus, red cedar and others with aromatic oils), meat, dairy products, used pet litter or pet feces, human feces, ashes from a coal stove or charcoal ashes, diseased garden plants, grass clippings treated with pesticides or herbicides, invasive weeds, poison ivy.

Tips to speed up compost:
– Large enough pile (3’x3’x3′) to create a big enough critical mass for the compost to reach high temperature of 130F.
– Add enough nitrogen up to a ratio of 1:5 of N/C (nitrogen to carbon). Too much nitrogen invites smell. Optimal is 1:20.

How to use compost:
Use it in new areas: spread 2″~3″ with tiller over the top.
On existing lawn or garden beds.
Apply to trees and shrubs
Use it for transplants
Use it for starting seedlings
Use it in plant container (1/3 compost to peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite.

Replacement for compost: municipal leaf compost, municipal composted sludge, mushroom soil, peat moss and aged cow manure, Canadian Sphagnum peat moss.

Let it Rot

Composting: Hands On Gardener

Compost

I decided to read this book after reading Michael Pollan’s other recent book: In Defense of Food. In this book, Pollan goes into great details about the sources of foods and how it evolves into the “industrialized” model such that most of foods are coming from corn and soy beans. A lot of it is repeated in “In Defense of Food.” I enjoyed reading about the rise of corn (or its ancestor – maize), the science and the history of it. What’s omnivore’s dilemma? As creatures who can eat many different things, how do we know what’s good to eat and what’s not? Also, we need to eat a variety of foods to stay healthy. It’s very enjoyable book.

The author talks about the four possible foods sources in four parts. 1) food from corn, 2) food from industrial organic meal, 3) the local sustainable meal – food from grass, 4) The DIY meal – hunted, gathered, and gardened food.

Part 1: The industrialized food chain starts with corn because dried corn is easy to transport and almost indestructible. “The chain is powered by oil and gasoline and controlled by giant corporations like Cargill and ADM. It separates us from our food and keeps us from knowing what it really is we’re eating.”

In 1919, one quarter of Americans lived on a farm. The average farmer feed 12 other Americans, vs. 140 nowadays. The corns that are being grown are mostly hybrid (whose parents have different traits – resists disease and produces lots of ears.) It’s used to 9x the yields of farms from 20 bushels per acre to 180 bushels. The GMO (genetically modified organism) corn seeds do even better. It got some help from the U.S. government after WW2 by converting the bomb-making know how (use of ammonium nitrate) to making fertilizer (same common ingredient – nitrogen). Farming is no longer an ecological loop – it’s more like a factory – converting raw materials (seed and fertilizer) and turned it into a finished product – corn. Every bushels of corn requires about 1/2 gallon of oil to grow. In the end, we put in 7x energy (growing, transporting, and storing food) to get the energy stored in the food itself. The nitrogen cycle of the fertilizer was explained.

Even with all the help in industrial methods and productivity (from 4B bushels in 1970 to 13B bushels now), the farmers are still losing money due to the depressed corn prices, despite the government subsidy. This leads to consolidation. The corns are used: 47% for animal feed, 24% for fuel (Ethenal), and 19% exported, 4% for high fructose corn syrup, 6% for other processed food. The sad part is that the animals (cows, pigs, chickens) we eat are being fed corn which by nature they don’t eat, so they can grow 5x or even 10x as fast (from 4~5 years to 14 months). This means the animal meat we eat are not healthy when they’re alive – potentially causes chronic diseases for the consumers.

Wow, the efficiency of turning corns into meat: beef: 7:1 for beef, 6.5:1 for pork, and 2.6:1 for chicken. Chicken is a more efficient meat machine. A corn kernel consists of germ (used for corn oil), pericap, and endosperm. Cornstarch is made of what’s left of the kernel. Using an enzyme, the cornstarch’s glucose can be transformed to fructose. HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) is made of 55% fructose and 45% glucose. The rest of cornstarch can be fermented to become ethanol and even plastic. The book has a nice diagram of the corn-derived products. Breakfast cereal box consists of only 4 cents worth of materials and can be sold for $4. Undigestible corn starch (resistant starch) is being invented to get us to eat more of the fake food without gaining weight. On getting fat, the poor are hit the hardest because cheap foods are loaded with sugar and fat.

Rats solve the omnivore’s dilemma by tasting a small sample. We have a body of knowledge about food and cooking foods. French eat variety of foods in small portions and don’t go back for seconds. They eat with family and friends in long, leisurely meals. Every step up the food chain (from corn to beef), approximately 90% of energy is lost.

Part II: Industrial organic meal
“Organic” definition could be very loose – 95% organic ingredients unless it’s labeled 100% organic. “Made with Organic ingredients” just need to have 70% organic ingredients. But no use of pesticides except natural substance like BT (made from a common soil bacteria) and plants are fertilized with manure. Instead of chemical weed killers, a tractor plows the field to kill them but it kills off nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Organic salad production from Earthbound as described in the book is impressive. But free-range chickens are not so free-ranging. Most of the “Cornish-Cross” chickens stayed inside the warehouse-like barn instead of roaming outside. They take only 7 weeks to grow from egg to full size. Organic cows are never fed corn that contains residues of atrazine, the potentially harmful herbicide.

Organic fruits and vegetables contained higher levels of vitamin C and a wider range of natural chemicals called polyphenols, which help plants to defend themselves against pests and diseases. Our bodies evolved to use these same compounds to protect us from disease. Unfortunately, almost 80% of the fuel burned is used to process food and move it around – no different from non-organic food.

Part III: The local sustainable meal: food from grass
The author travelled to Polyface Farm to investigate their sustainable, “beyond-organic” local farm. It boasts a year of grazing on grass by cows, chickens and hens, all self sustaining and self replenishing – all the energy used to make the food comes from the sun – no pesticides, no artificial fertilizer, no polution and no extra waste. Some lessons about annuals: wheat, rice and corn are annuals: they don’t put down a deep root system. Instead, they survive by making seeds, which have to be planted every year. There are at least 8 kinds of grasses being eaten: Red Clover, Fescue, Foxtail, Timothy, Orchard Grass, Blue Grass, and Lupines. The trick is not to let the cows take a second bite until the grass has had time to recover. This takes about 14 days. By moving the cows daily, the cows don’t get a second bite. Chickens take 56 days to grow big enough to be slaughtered. They get 20% of their diet from fresh grass, worms, grasshoppers, and crickets they find. They do eat a mixture of corn, toasted soybean, and kelp. In nature, birds follow the herbivores and dine on the insects that would otherwise bother the herbivore.

During the winter, the animals move into barn. Their droppings (manure) are covered with a layer of wood chips or straws to form compost and warming up the floor. A layer of corns were added to the manure to turn them into alcohol for the pigs to root out with their snout. “Most of the time pests and disease are just nature’s way of telling the farmer the’s doing something wrong.” The forest next to the pasture held the water, and the farm cool in the summer and it offers plenty of chipmunk for coyotes do they don’t attack the farm animals.

Part IV: Hunted, gathered, and gardened food.
Lots of gory details about hunting and gathering mushroom. Interesting.

It’s so good to have someone touting your own virtue when it’s widely perceived to be a fault in this society. Indeed, the introverts in this country have gotten a bum rap. Thanks to this book, people like us can feel good about ourselves and learn a few techniques in thriving in this mostly-extroverted society, epitomized by someone like Tony Robbins and business school like Harvard Business School.

The author sited several key famous introverts: Rosa Park, Steve Wozniak, Einstein, Dr. Suess, Al Gore, Warren Buffet, Gandhi, and etc. She interviewed several introverts especially someones in Cupertino, CA where I reside. I was shocked to realize that Cupertino is the capital of introverts.

Also, I was surprised to learn this contrarian view that collaboration kills creativity – “solitude is the key to creativity.” And brainstorm does not work as effectively as electronic collaboration due to social loafing, production blocking, and evaluation apprehension. It was Steve Wozniak’s introversion that allowed him to create the first Apple PC. Social networking is ironic as Internet was first used to “promote bands of often introverted individuals.”

It is mentioned this interesting science about one’s temperament exhibited as babies may lead to the adulthood as an introvert or extrovert. The “high-reactive” (to stimuli) babies turn into introverts and “low-reactive” babies turn into extroverts.

Of course, there is a free-will part of introversion.

Extroverts like Ted Turner tend to seek rewards (buzz) and take on more financial risk as opposed to introverts like Warren Buffet, who think more carefully and pause in time of loss and persist when challenged and frequently in a state of “flow.” Einstein – “It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s that I stay with problems longer.”

Cain explored the culture difference of the extroverted West and the introverted East. Indeed, growing up in Taiwan, I was encouraged to listen more than talk – classical introverted teaching.

In the last part, Cain offers some help for the introverts. Being good at “self-monitoring” could make good pseudo-extroverts for the love of what they do. HSM (High-self-monitor) are better liars than LSM. A good HSM like Professor Little makes a good speech by continually checking his audience for subtle signs of pleasure or boredom and adjusting his presentation to meet its needs.

When to act more extroverted? Need to have the “personal” project/passion. To find it: 1) think abck to what you loved to do when you were a child. 2) pay attention to what you gravitate to. 3) pay attention to what you envy. Don’t act out of character too long. Have many “restorative niches.” Negotiate a “Free Trait Agreement” with your loved ones.

Bridging the communication gap. Introverts tend to be conflict avoiders, while the extroverts are “confrontive capers.” at ease with an upfront, even argumentative style of disagreement. They tend to understand each others a little less each time they argue in a way that the other disapproves of. Introverts like people they meet in friendly contexts; extroverts prefer those they compete with. Introverts need not bite but need to “hiss” the extroverts. Introverts are better at decoding the social dynamics but not good at participating in one due to brain’s ability to process a lot of information at once. Introverts tend to focus on one or two serious subjects in conversation, while the extroverts chose light-hearted and wider-ranging topics.

Working with introverted kids: 1) work with them on reaction to novelty, 2) expose your kids gradually to new situations. 3) teach them self-coaxing skill. 4) teach them simple social strategies to get through uncomfortable moments.

Went through the book fairly quickly. Good examples. Too bad that they don’t provide the examples online for download. I consider myself fairly good at spreadsheet but was surprised how advanced Excel spreadsheet has come along with all the database, statistics and other programmable functions now.

Some worthy takeaways:
1. Use of Arrays by using Ctl-Alt-Shift Enter. Wow!
2. Formula auditing tool to check dependents and precedents.
3. All the statistical functions including percentiles, quartile, frequency, and etc.
4. Database functions to search and match.
5. Computer binary/hex/octal conversions

This book might come in handy for people who use the spreadsheets a lot. I’m a causal user and found those formulas out of the realm of my everyday usage.

I didn’t know much about Dick Van Dyke because listening to this audiobook. I knew he had a Dick Van Dyke show and that was it. I’m a big fan of Mary Tyler Moore and was pleasantly surprised to learn that Mary came out of his show and played his wife for so many seasons.

Like many old timers in that era, Dick had the passion for entertaining and making his audience happy. He sharpened his dancing and comedy routines while playing in all the various clubs before meeting his “savior” – Carl Reiner, who I later found is still enjoying acting and writing at his age of 90. Dick was thrusted into a leading role in the Dick Van Dyke Show bearing his name. The show was named after him because the network executive couldn’t come up with a better name. Then it was the start of a beautiful relationship with Carl Reiner and beginning of his TV career. He thrived in physical comedy, taking the cue from his heroes, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton and etc. As a result of reading this book, I started watching the first season of the Dick Van Dyke Show. It was as timeless as he claimed. Laughter and humor seem to the enduring part of our culture.

Dick Van Dyke, from his own portray of his life,, appears to be a very happy person. He happens to be so talented in doing what he so enjoys doing – entertaining people. The TV/movie industry has served him well.

Going in and out of show business, the premise of the book, was because of his wife’s nagging him to retire and sail into a quiet life, which he ultimately decided wasn’t for him. He’s too outgoing/extroverted to do that, though he often enjoyed the quiet life of sailing off California coast.

He went into great details on some of his favorite episodes in the Dick Van Dyke show. A lot of the episodes came about through the actual stories of himself and others in the show.

He talked about his battle with alcohol and smoking. Instead of denying his problem, he joined AA and combated the demons – several times. He’s also very clear on which side of the civil rights movements he set his foot on, having joined the Martin Luther King’s rally and others.

Dick has outlived his first wife, the mother of his four children, and his long time partner, Michelle. In his mature age of 87, Dick is still going strong. I look forward to many more gigs from him. He seems to have his acts together. Viva Dick Van Dyke.

Until I read the book, I didn’t realize what a bum rap foods have been masqueraded by the food industries.

I like the first paragraph of the book that sets the tone for the author to argue his case: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” By “food” the author means the kind of food that’s close to the original form – not processed or industrialized that we’re often associate with – that our moms feed us. The author paints the history of the food or processed food to date. He pointed out what’s wrong with them and offer very sound advises on what and how to eat. Very well written and interesting and it might save or lengthen your life too.

Some key takeaways here:

The age of Nutritionism by reductionists has arrived. Reducing food down to vitamins is a sure way to nullify the symbiotic effects among the nutrients. No need to be too scientific about the vitamins contained within as the nutrition experts seem to conflict themselves every so often; just enjoy the whole foods that offer the sum that’s greater than the parts. “People don’t eat nutrients; they eat foods, and foods behave very differently from the nutrients they contain.” “If you eat a lot of one thing, you’re probably not eating a lot of something else.” It’s not that we’re eating too much of the bad things but rather we’re eating enough of the good things.

The French Paradox gives us hope that foods are to be enjoyed and savored – not to be rushed, analyzed and used merely as a fuel to maintain a healthy body. Quality of the foods trumps the quantities of the nutrients.

Western diseases follows the arrival of the Western foods – refined flour and sugar and other kinds of “store food.” Obesity followed by type 2 diabetes followed by hpertension and strock followed by heart disease. The rapid increase of dental problems could be attributed to the modern diet.

Neutriens are not as much as before due to industrialization of the agriculture business. The supermarket offers mostly processed (fake, adulterated) foods that emphasize the “nutrients” and not the variety and the symbiotic effects of various foods. The processing of foods typically robs them of nutrients, vitamins specially. The sure way to to make food more transportable (more stable and less vulnerable to pests) is to remove the nutrients from it; calories are much easier to transport.

The common denominator of good health is to eat a traditional diet consisting of fresh foods from animals and plants grown on soils that are themselves rich in nutrients. In lengthening the food chain so we could feed great cities from distant soils, we are breaking the “rules of nature” twice by robbing nutrients from the soils the foods have been grown in and then squandering those nutrients by processing the foods.

The author went through the history and evolution 1) from whole foods to refined, 2) from complexity to simplicity (industrial fertilizer, same breed of chicken, Cornish cross, and etc.). 75% of the vegetable oils come from soy or 20% of our daily calories, and more than half of the sweeteners come from corn or 10% of daily calories. America’s per capita supply: 554 calories from corn, 257 calories from soy, 768 calories from wheat and 91 calories from rice. 3) from quality to quantity. Many traditional diets are nutrient rich and calorie poor. The Western diet is opposite. 4) from leaves to seeds. Seeds are easier to store and contains omega-6. Leaves provide a host of critical nutrients a body can’t get from refined seeds like antioxidants, phytochemicals, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids. 5) from food culture to food science.

Getting over nutritionism:
Some rules of thumb: 1) don’t eat anything incapable of rotting. 2) avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamilier, unpronounceable, more than 5 in number, include high-fructose corn syrup. 3) avoid food products that make health claims, 4) shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle (processed foods), 5) get out of the supermarket, 6) eat mostly plants, especially leaves, 7) eat like an omnivores E. (diversity), 8) eat well-grown food from healthy soils, 9) eat wild foods when you can, 10) regard non-traditional foods with skepticism, 11) don’t look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet (it’s the sum of the nutrient parts), 12) pay more, eat less -> spend less on health care. choose quality over quantity, food experience over mere calories, 13) eat meals as a family, try not to eat alone. 14) consult your gut, 15) eat slowly, 16) cook and if you can, plant a garden.

If you get a chance, this documentary is really good and give you a essence of the book in vivid colors.