Review: Mike McGrath's Book of Compost

If you've ever listened to public radio on a Saturday morning, there's a good chance you've heard of You Bet Your Garden, hosted by the always-energetic, awesomely alliterative Mike McGrath. If you haven't caught the show, let me tell you this guy is an absolute walking Wikipedia of plant knowledge. He knows EVERYTHING you could ever want to know about organic gardening. The man won four consecutive Best of Show awards at the Philadelphia Flower Show. 'Nuff said.

That's why I was so excited when Santa (he reads my blog) brought me a copy of Mike McGrath's Book of Compost. The book is a slim and trim 120 pages and I tore through it in just a few hours. By the end, I was so excited about composting that I literally dreamed about shredding leaves that night. Sweet, nutrient-packed Fall leaves. Mmmmmmmm...

McGrath writes how he talks: with tremendous enthusiasm and copious dry humor, complete with plenty of italics, parentheses and all-caps. Normally these typeface techniques would irritate my inner English major, but in this case it just seemed to be part of the fun. Mike McGrath simply loves to compost and he's not afraid to SHOUT IT. I respect that.

The book makes composting dead, rotting simple. (Spoiler: all you really need for compost are shredded leaves.) You're not going to see charts with carbon and nitrogen ratios or anything of the sort. And if you're looking for elaborate explanations of thermophilic bacteria and the like, you should go elsewhere. Instead, what you'll get is a thorough schooling on how to compost, why to compost, and how to use compost in your garden while ditching harsh fertilizers and pesticides. Plus, don't forget the wonders of compost tea.

You'll come away a true believer that compost is the bees knees when it comes to gardening. As McGrath says, "Two to four inches of compost... will feed every single one of your outdoor--and indoor--plants; and it will feed them better than any chemical fertilizer (and better than just about any packaged organic one, too)!" As I read the book, I began to wonder if compost could cure cancer. Can someone look into that?

As an added bonus, McGrath even teaches you how to have the greenest grass in your neighborhood using only--you guessed it--compost. After you amaze and astonish your neighbors by taking all of their leaves off their yards in the Fall, you'll make them green with envy over your luscious lawn come Springtime. It's fantastic, and by golly I'm gonna do it! With Mike McGrath's help, I'm a real-life beginner composter and proud of it!

Mike McGrath's Book of Compost (Amazon)
You Bet Your Garden (WHYY)