Post by SpyderLady on May 25, 2007 17:39:15 GMT -6
How to Compost
Whether you live in a country cottage with a strawberry patch the size of an Olympic pool or a high-rise city apartment with flowerpots for a garden, the time to start composting is now. Yes, composting will make your garden happy, but it has a double environmental payoff: Composting keeps waste out of landfills, and it fertilizes without chemicals. In other words, it isn’t just for you— it’s for all of us.
But what the heck is it? “Composting is simply the process of breaking down plant materials to form humus, a cakelike soil that’s so rich it’s basically the world’s best fertilizer,” says Gayla Trail, author of You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening and creator of yougrowgirl.com. Just think of it as recycling, only instead of plastic bottles and aluminum cans, you’re recycling dead leaves and carrot peels. (Just like regular recycling, there are things that can and should be composted and those that shouldn’t. Stay tuned for more on that.)
Don’t think you have a lot of appropriate trash to compost? Take a look at the state of our landfills today and think again.
WHAT GOES INTO OUR LANDFILLS
* Yard waste (leaves and grass) makes up approximately 20 percent of the waste stream or about 230 pounds per person per year.
* Food waste makes up about 9 percent of the waste stream or about 100 pounds per person per year. Much of our so-called trash is “green waste”—coffee grounds, leftover salad fixings and the scary stuff found in the back of the refrigerator.
BENEFITS OF COMPOSTING
* Keeps yard waste out of the landfill, reducing methane emissions, which are a factor in global warming.
* Reduces ground water contamination, which helps conserve natural resources.
* Reduces erosion when used along roadside embankments.
* Helps plants grow larger and stronger, making them better able to resist pest attacks.
* Helps the soil hold water.
* Feeds the soil, replenishing valuable nutrients. getting started
There are several basic tenets to consider before you start your own green-waste recycling system including size, water and air.
SIZE
Even apartment dwellers can compost. If you don’t have a yard, you can try vermicomposting—that is, composting with worms (not icky ones, and no, they won’t take over your apartment!). Worm composting can be done in just the space under your sink; 3x3x3-feet is the minimum space recommended for a full-size compost pile. With vermicomposting, “beneficial bacteria break down kitchen waste into little packages for the next guys in the food chain—the worms—to eat,” explains Alane O’Rielly Weber, creator of wormlady.com and an instructor for the Master Composter Program of San Mateo County, CA. Th e worms in turn give you rich, moist, odorless compost. For this job, you need a particular type of worm called red wigglers, sold at garden centers, bait shops or online.
WATER
Water your pile until it feels like a wrung-out sponge, no more, no less. If it’s too dry the organisms will simply die from dehydration. If it’s too wet, they’ll drown. Glistening is just right.
AIR
The organisms in your compost pile will suffocate without air. Stir the pile once every week or two to let air circulate. Now you just need to decide which system of composting is right for you.
which method?
You don’t have to have an elaborate container or a ton of space to make compost at home. You can spend $100 or more on the latest container or you can simply make an old-fashioned pile. It’s up to you and how much time and space you have to commit to the project. Here are two choices. You can just heap up dry grass clippings and leaves and let the pile decompose (that’s passive, cold composting). But if you want to recycle kitchen scraps too, consider hot composting—mixing wet and dry waste in a bin, then occasionally turning the pile to aerate it, creating heat and accelerating the breakdown process. If you choose to go this route, do some checking before you lay out any money for a bin. Many cities offer outdoor bins for free or at a substantial discount. To find out if yours does, contact your local waste management service or department of public works.
COMPOSITION
If you choose hot composting, here are the basics: Put your bin in a level, shady spot, then add a few inches of brown material (see “Items You Can Compost,” right), then a thin layer of green material and finish with a thin layer of brown. Next, sprinkle the compost with water (again, so it’s just damp). A blend of carbon-rich (brown) items and nitrogen rich (green) goodies makes for happy microbes. Stick to the “two parts brown to one part green” ratio when you add to your pile, and always finish with brown on top. Finally, you’ll need to turn your bin. You can do this as often as every few days or as little as once a month, but the more you do it, the faster it will “cook.” In about six months, you’ll find a brown, earthy mixture at the bottom of your bin—homemade compost!
troubleshooting
Problems with a compost system usually are solved easily. Here are the three most common concerns:
THE SMELL
The solution? Add more brown materials like leaves to balance nitrogen-rich food (like fruits and vegetables) or cut down on water. A well-balanced pile will smell like a forest floor.
PESTS
The solution? Don’t include:
* Animal products or animal feces
* Fatty and oily food scraps
HARD WORK
The solution: Try a time and back-saving compost tumbler.
WORM TROUBLE
If you choose vermicomposting and your worms are getting sick, avoid garlic, lots of onion and anything spicy or salty, as they can poison worms. Keep in mind that every few months the worms will have cute worm babies. Worms restrict their breeding to match the food available and the size of their bin, so overcrowding is unlikely. If you do feel like you have extra worms, don’t liberate them to the outdoors (they can’t tolerate cold temperatures); donate them to an elementary school or greenhouse.
local programs: another option
Fortunately most cities today have programs to help you save space in your trash bins, including annual leaf drops, holiday tree recycling and branch collection from pruning or post-storm cleanup. Most of these services manage the waste and make it available as useable compost or mulch completing the natural cycle—growth, death, decay and reclamation.
the bottom line
We can do our part to replenish nature by becoming home composters and supporting local reclamation programs. So take up a new hobby, change a couple of habits and help the planet upon which we live not only survive, but thrive. You’ll fi nd that all of these methods are fairly lowmaintenance once you get going. And the best bit is, once you’ve fed your garden with this free, fabulous humus, your plants will thrive like never before. For more information, visit earth911.org and search for “composting.”
Items you can compost ...
Dead leaves
Sticks
Dead (but not diseased) plants
Wood chips
Corncobs
Dryer link
Crushed nutshells
Shredded unbleached cardboard, like egg cartons
Fireplace ashes
Shredded newspaper
Coffee grounds and filters
Dead flowers
Fresh cuttings and grass clippings
Human hair
Tea bags
Vegetable and fruit scraps
Fresh grass cuttings
Pet Hair
Items you can't compost ...
Meat
Dairy products
Bones
Seafood
Cooking oils
Peanut butter
Mayonnaise
Office paper and junk mail
Colored paper from magazines or newspaper inserts
Pet waste or used cat litter
Weeds
Ashes from your grill
Whether you live in a country cottage with a strawberry patch the size of an Olympic pool or a high-rise city apartment with flowerpots for a garden, the time to start composting is now. Yes, composting will make your garden happy, but it has a double environmental payoff: Composting keeps waste out of landfills, and it fertilizes without chemicals. In other words, it isn’t just for you— it’s for all of us.
But what the heck is it? “Composting is simply the process of breaking down plant materials to form humus, a cakelike soil that’s so rich it’s basically the world’s best fertilizer,” says Gayla Trail, author of You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening and creator of yougrowgirl.com. Just think of it as recycling, only instead of plastic bottles and aluminum cans, you’re recycling dead leaves and carrot peels. (Just like regular recycling, there are things that can and should be composted and those that shouldn’t. Stay tuned for more on that.)
Don’t think you have a lot of appropriate trash to compost? Take a look at the state of our landfills today and think again.
WHAT GOES INTO OUR LANDFILLS
* Yard waste (leaves and grass) makes up approximately 20 percent of the waste stream or about 230 pounds per person per year.
* Food waste makes up about 9 percent of the waste stream or about 100 pounds per person per year. Much of our so-called trash is “green waste”—coffee grounds, leftover salad fixings and the scary stuff found in the back of the refrigerator.
BENEFITS OF COMPOSTING
* Keeps yard waste out of the landfill, reducing methane emissions, which are a factor in global warming.
* Reduces ground water contamination, which helps conserve natural resources.
* Reduces erosion when used along roadside embankments.
* Helps plants grow larger and stronger, making them better able to resist pest attacks.
* Helps the soil hold water.
* Feeds the soil, replenishing valuable nutrients. getting started
There are several basic tenets to consider before you start your own green-waste recycling system including size, water and air.
SIZE
Even apartment dwellers can compost. If you don’t have a yard, you can try vermicomposting—that is, composting with worms (not icky ones, and no, they won’t take over your apartment!). Worm composting can be done in just the space under your sink; 3x3x3-feet is the minimum space recommended for a full-size compost pile. With vermicomposting, “beneficial bacteria break down kitchen waste into little packages for the next guys in the food chain—the worms—to eat,” explains Alane O’Rielly Weber, creator of wormlady.com and an instructor for the Master Composter Program of San Mateo County, CA. Th e worms in turn give you rich, moist, odorless compost. For this job, you need a particular type of worm called red wigglers, sold at garden centers, bait shops or online.
WATER
Water your pile until it feels like a wrung-out sponge, no more, no less. If it’s too dry the organisms will simply die from dehydration. If it’s too wet, they’ll drown. Glistening is just right.
AIR
The organisms in your compost pile will suffocate without air. Stir the pile once every week or two to let air circulate. Now you just need to decide which system of composting is right for you.
which method?
You don’t have to have an elaborate container or a ton of space to make compost at home. You can spend $100 or more on the latest container or you can simply make an old-fashioned pile. It’s up to you and how much time and space you have to commit to the project. Here are two choices. You can just heap up dry grass clippings and leaves and let the pile decompose (that’s passive, cold composting). But if you want to recycle kitchen scraps too, consider hot composting—mixing wet and dry waste in a bin, then occasionally turning the pile to aerate it, creating heat and accelerating the breakdown process. If you choose to go this route, do some checking before you lay out any money for a bin. Many cities offer outdoor bins for free or at a substantial discount. To find out if yours does, contact your local waste management service or department of public works.
COMPOSITION
If you choose hot composting, here are the basics: Put your bin in a level, shady spot, then add a few inches of brown material (see “Items You Can Compost,” right), then a thin layer of green material and finish with a thin layer of brown. Next, sprinkle the compost with water (again, so it’s just damp). A blend of carbon-rich (brown) items and nitrogen rich (green) goodies makes for happy microbes. Stick to the “two parts brown to one part green” ratio when you add to your pile, and always finish with brown on top. Finally, you’ll need to turn your bin. You can do this as often as every few days or as little as once a month, but the more you do it, the faster it will “cook.” In about six months, you’ll find a brown, earthy mixture at the bottom of your bin—homemade compost!
troubleshooting
Problems with a compost system usually are solved easily. Here are the three most common concerns:
THE SMELL
The solution? Add more brown materials like leaves to balance nitrogen-rich food (like fruits and vegetables) or cut down on water. A well-balanced pile will smell like a forest floor.
PESTS
The solution? Don’t include:
* Animal products or animal feces
* Fatty and oily food scraps
HARD WORK
The solution: Try a time and back-saving compost tumbler.
WORM TROUBLE
If you choose vermicomposting and your worms are getting sick, avoid garlic, lots of onion and anything spicy or salty, as they can poison worms. Keep in mind that every few months the worms will have cute worm babies. Worms restrict their breeding to match the food available and the size of their bin, so overcrowding is unlikely. If you do feel like you have extra worms, don’t liberate them to the outdoors (they can’t tolerate cold temperatures); donate them to an elementary school or greenhouse.
local programs: another option
Fortunately most cities today have programs to help you save space in your trash bins, including annual leaf drops, holiday tree recycling and branch collection from pruning or post-storm cleanup. Most of these services manage the waste and make it available as useable compost or mulch completing the natural cycle—growth, death, decay and reclamation.
the bottom line
We can do our part to replenish nature by becoming home composters and supporting local reclamation programs. So take up a new hobby, change a couple of habits and help the planet upon which we live not only survive, but thrive. You’ll fi nd that all of these methods are fairly lowmaintenance once you get going. And the best bit is, once you’ve fed your garden with this free, fabulous humus, your plants will thrive like never before. For more information, visit earth911.org and search for “composting.”
Items you can compost ...
Dead leaves
Sticks
Dead (but not diseased) plants
Wood chips
Corncobs
Dryer link
Crushed nutshells
Shredded unbleached cardboard, like egg cartons
Fireplace ashes
Shredded newspaper
Coffee grounds and filters
Dead flowers
Fresh cuttings and grass clippings
Human hair
Tea bags
Vegetable and fruit scraps
Fresh grass cuttings
Pet Hair
Items you can't compost ...
Meat
Dairy products
Bones
Seafood
Cooking oils
Peanut butter
Mayonnaise
Office paper and junk mail
Colored paper from magazines or newspaper inserts
Pet waste or used cat litter
Weeds
Ashes from your grill
