Black Gold

Although the term black gold may cause many to think of oil or perhaps The Ballad of Jed Clampett, in gardening it means only one thing, compost. As I removed the cover of my compost container today to add more organic material to the mix, I saw something I had never seen before. White wisps resembling steam rising from the surface of the contents within. It was an indication that the composting process was proceeding as it should and that the past few days of record setting warmth that we have experienced were coming to an end. For only in cooler temperatures could I see this phenomena. And only when the surface of the composting materials had not yet been frozen over by temps below the freezing point of water. All is well. Spring is only about four weeks away, at least as far as the calender is concerned. That's plenty of time to produce more black gold for the garden.