Macroorganisms and Composting
by John Yazo
The reason your compost pile stops cooking is because the environment for the aerobic organisms have changed to a humus material that is ready for your gardening needs. This doesn't mean that there isn't life still in the pile working hard for you. Macroorganisms are the next important stage of life that takes over once the cooking process ends. They are a larger organism, and many of them feed off the earlier inhabitants that controlled the compost pile.
This diverse group of organisms keep improving your compost by mixing and turning the pile, along with adding their own nutrient rich casting throughout. The most common of this group to the home gardener is the earthworm, others include beetles, centipedes, enchytraeids, fermentation mites, flies, nematodes, millipedes, pillbugs, sow bugs, springtails and wolf spiders.
Many of the macro-organisms are not primary consumers, like bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes, instead, they feed on them or on each other. Micro-organisms transform composting material chemically, and macro-organisms generally are physical decomposers, grinding organic material into smaller pieces, making the work of the micro-organisms easier.
Leaving your pile to sit for a few weeks once it has cooled will bring this next for of life into your rich humus compost to continue the process of adding more valuable nutrients that will greatly benefit your gardens soil structure and the plants you are growing.
Once your compost has been added as a soil amendment or an organic mulch to your garden, macro-organisms are one of natures workforces that start doing there job onsite. They are the animals, mostly invertebrate, that live in garden soil, and are generally visible to the naked eye. Many of them benefit the soil by breaking down minerals, nutrients and soil particles. They also add additional elements to the soil like, egg casings, digested soil, digested plant and animal materials, some even prey on others.
Composting is a way of recycling your organic household and yard waste just as nature does in it's natural environment. It is the best and most efficient way to add the natural rich nutrients back into your gardens soil. Improving your gardens soil by these natural methods will greatly benefit the crops you are growing, allowing them to thrive and produce a high yielding healthy crop that is healthier for you along with the environment.
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