Running for the Hills: Down in the Dirt

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In May of 2011, Sister Jann McClary and her husband Tariq moved from the Washington DC metropolitan area to establish a new home in the mountains of Colorado, building it from the ground up as part of their plan to become free of the spiritual and physical stress of modern urban life. Sister Jann is documenting her experiences for the Muslim Link. See her earlier installments at www.muslimlinkpaper.com by searching for 'Running for the Hills'. Make sure you select 'Exact Phrase' in the search options. - TML

 

 

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Ever heard the term "black gold"? If you're like me, who spent parts of my childhood (pre-shahada)

(LEFT) - The author's compost pile gets some left over veggies.

watching "The Beverly Hillbillies" on TV, you're probably

 

thinking it's crude, Texas tea, oil, that is. Black gold, as prized by homesteaders does come out of the ground, but then goes back into the ground, where it's more valuable the second time around. It's one of the best things a gardener can put into her garden.  Black gold is compost.


Allaah subhana wa t'ala, tells us that He is Al Qayyum, the One who sustains everything. Everything has to be nurtured to sustain life, even soil, depending on what you're trying to grow, and compost boosts the soil by adding water, air and the nutrients that all the lovely little soil organisms love to eat. They, in turn, break the nutrients down further so they become available for your plants' roots to absorb. Your veggies and flowers will only be as good as the soil they're grown in, so kick it up a notch naturally.


Now, you can go out and buy a bag of compost from your favorite DIY big box store, but it'll be mostly "forest by-products", which is pretty much finely shredded and composted bark, leaves and some sphagnum peat moss. The bark and leaves are not a problem, but sphagnum peat moss, despite its dogged use by gardeners, isn't as "green" as you'd think. It's renewable alright, but it is mined from bogs and takes hundreds to thousands of years to renew itself.  Plus, if you buy this bag of pre-made compost you'll have to enrich it with a bag of fertilizer, and then you end up having spent more money than you intended, and then you'll have gone over budget and can't buy that cool little whatchamacallit you were gonna get to make your gardening easier.

 

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The author's compost pile rots and decays after some days. (Photos courtesy of the author)


 

All the stuff you eat is eligible for the compost pile, with the exception of meats, oils and dairy products. It's best not to use them because their oils clog the air spaces in the pile, which makes it break down slower. That makes it smell, and then rodents come in, thinking you've invited them to a buffet, which means you'll have to get a cat to go after all these rodents, and of course, cats need toys and shots and cat beds and collars, so now your budget's completely out the window. You know this could all be prevented...just make your own compost.


A reasonable balance of dry, carbon-type stuff, like newspaper, dead leaves, cardboard, paper bags; nitrogen-type stuff, like vegetable and plant waste, coffee grounds, grass clippings, egg shells: and just enough water to make the above mixture damp-to-moist, not wet, and you've got the basics of good compost. We could get into formulas for determining the best carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, and cubic foot measurements for precise decomposition rates, but homesteaders rarely have need of calculus (yea!), and besides, I have limited space for this column. Suffice it to say, composting doesn't have to be an exact science, and it's pretty hard to mess up a compost pile. Leave any formerly-living stuff alone long enough and it'll compost itself. Even us. Allaah subhana wa t'ala tells us in surat-ul Ra'ad "...when we are dust shall we indeed then be (raised) in a new creation?..." and in Surat-ul Kahf "...do you disbelieve in Him who created you from dust?..." Eventually even we will enrich the earth.


If you borrow something from someone, or are given a gift, it's good adaab to return the thing in a better condition than you received it, or to give the one who gave you a gift something nicer in return. In Sahih al-Bukhari 'Aisha (radiallahu anha) narrated: "Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa salam) used to accept gifts and used to give something in return." Hasn't Allaah 'azza wa jal given us the good earth and the food that comes out of it as a gift? Well then, maybe we just ought to improve its condition as a show of thankfulness, and so that we can get something better out of it. Composting is a good example of "what goes around, comes around"; you put in good and you get back good, or better. So why not mix up your own soil-building compost that you have control over, and is renewable? It's as easy as taking out the garbage.


Read more of "Running for the Hills" at muslimlinkpaper.com

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