1.Improved structure—Compost breaks up clay and clods and binds together sandy soil. It helps make proper aeration in clayey and sandy soil possible.

2. Moisture retention—Compost holds 6 times its own weight in water. A soil with good organic matter content soaks up rain like a sponge and regulates the supply to plants. A soil stripped of organic matter resists water penetration, thus leading to crusting, erosion, and flooding.

3. Aeration—Plants can obtain 96% of the nutrients they need from the air, sun, and water. A loose, healthy soil assists in diffusing air and moisture into the soil and in exchanging nutrients. Carbon dioxide released by organic matter decomposition diffuses out of the soil and is absorbed by the canopy of leaves above in a raised bed mini-climate created by closely spaced plants.

4. Fertilization—Compost contains some nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and sulfur, but is especially important for trace elements. The important principle is to return to the soil, by the use of plant residues and manures, all that has been taken out of it.

5. Nitrogen storage—The compost pile is a storehouse for nitrogen. Because it is tied up in the compost-breakdown process, water-soluble nitrogen does not leach out or oxidize into the air for a period of 3 to 6 months or more—depending on how the pile is built and maintained.

6. pH buffer—A good percentage of compost in the soil allows plants to grow better in less-than-optimal pH situations.

7. Soil toxin neutralizer—Important recent studies show that plants grown in organically composted soils take up less lead, heavy metals, and other urban pollutants.

8.Nutrient release—Organic acids dissolve soil minerals and make them available to plants. As organic matter decomposes, it releases nutrients for plant uptake and for the soil microbial population.

9. Food for microbial life—Good compost creates healthy conditions for organisms that live in the soil. Compost harbors earthworms and beneficial fungi that fight nematodes and other soil pests.

10.Ultimate in recycling—The Earth provides us with food, clothing, and shelter, and we close the cycle in offering fertility, health, and life through the shepherding of materials.

Excerpted from How to Grow More Vegetables, Eighth Edition by John Jeavons. Copyright © 2012 by John Jeavons. Excerpted by permission of Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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