Making Your Own Compost

by admin Posted on October 8, 2011

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Anyone  planning a home garden should consider including a compost bin in their plans. Organic compost is one of the easiest, most effective ways to improve the quality of your soil and increase the yield from your plants. Compost not only acts as fertilizer, but also improves soil structure and can even protect your plants from disease. Compost is incredibly easy to make and requires minimal cost and effort! All you need are organic materials to compost (such as leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, paper, etc.) and a place to let these materials bio-degrade—a compost bin.

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You can purchase fancy tumbler compost bins from home centers and websites, but I prefer a simpler and more affordable option. My compost bin is constructed of wooden pallets that I screwed together to form a box. The slats in the pallets allow air to circulate, which aids in the composting process. (Wooden pallets can be found all over the place and can often be had for free. I found mine in a dumpster on a construction site.) I also found a piece of plywood which I use as the lid for the bin. I cut one of the pallets in half in order to create a removable panel which would give me better access for turning the pile and adding material. The compost bin takes up about a 4′x4′ area in the corner of my backyard, so even if you’re short on space, you should be able to find room to build your compost bin. The larger the bin, the more material it can hold and thus the more compost it can produce. Try to estimate how much compost you’ll need for your garden when planning the size for your compost bin. For larger gardens, multiple bins may be needed. (It’s usually better to have several smaller piles than one large pile because a large pile will be much harder to mix.)

The best compost is made from a blend of nitrogen-rich “green” material and carbon-rich “brown” material. Examples of nitrogen-rich materials would be grass clippings, kitchen scraps, coffee grounds. Carbon-rich materials include leaves, paper, wood chips and twigs. Having an even blend encourages the materials to break down and produce compost. This process is called “cooking” because the pile actually heats up as the material breaks down. If your pile is hot, you’ll know that it’s working. Too much nitrogen or carbon will mean that your compost pile is not going to cook efficiently, and therefore it will take longer for the material to break down.

To help you get started, here are some great tips for creating great compost for your garden:

• Gather all grass clippings and “green” yard waste but be sure to mix with the “brown” materials like leaves and shredded paper to add carbon. If you have too much nitrogen-rich material, your pile will compact and start to stink.

• Never compost animal by-products (meats or pet droppings). Stick with food scraps and yard waste only.

• Avoid all pesticides and herbicide treated materials. For example, if you recently spread weed-killer on your lawn, don’t add the clippings.

• If you add weeds to your pile make sure your pile is good and hot. It should be steaming hot, otherwise it may not kill the weed seeds. Then you’ll end up with weeds in your garden come springtime.

• Turn your pile as often as you can with a pitch fork or shovel. Turning it will speed up the process. Turning once or twice a week should be sufficient.

• Keep your compost damp but never wet. As you add material to your pile make sure that each layer is moist as it is added. During the summer your pile can dry out and the composting process will slow down. During the rainy season your pile can get too wet which will slow or stop the cooking process. Keep your pile covered to hold in moisture but keep out rain.

• Add compost to your garden a few weeks before planting. Work the compost into the soil with a metal rake or a garden tiller.

• Worms are great! If you see worms in your compost, then you probably have a good mix. Worms will help further break down the material.

• The center of your compost pile should hold a temperature between 120 and 150 degrees. Composting is easier during the warmer months because it is far easier to keep the temperature of the pile in this range.

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Benefits of Making Your Own Compost
• Improves the soil structure and creates a better plant root environment
• Increases moisture infiltration and permeability of heavy soils, reducing erosion and runoff
• Improves water-holding capacity, keeping your soil moist longer between watering
• Supplies a variety of nutrients directly to your plants
• Control / suppresses certain soil-borne plant diseases
• Supplies significant quantities of organic matter
• Improves and stabilizes soil pH

 

 

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Having Less and Doing More

by admin Posted on April 7, 2011

Do you own your stuff, or does your stuff own you? I believe that when you have a lot of belongings, there is a certain amount of time and energy that must go toward caring for those belongings. Cleaning, organizing, and maintenance are all tasks that go with the territory, not to mention the amount of money it cost to buy the stuff in the first place. Could that time, energy, and money be devoted to other areas in your life? Would you trade your stuff for an amazing life experience?

I get a feeling of relief when I get rid of stuff. I actually enjoy purging my home of things I no longer use, and going through this process forces me to take a look at the things I’ve purchased in the past and evaluate those purchases. I’m often amazed at some of the dumb things I buy. If I haven’t used something in a year, I usually get rid of it. If possible I’ll try to sell the things I no longer use at a yard sale. What I can’t sell I will donate or recycle. When I’m going through this process I think about the money I could have saved had I never bought these items in the first place. How would I use that money if I had it today? I can tell you that I would NOT go out and buy more stuff. I think spending your money on experiences is far more rewarding and long-lasting. Lately I have been trying to have less, but do more. I avoid purchases of items that I don’t absolutely need, and instead I save my money for vacations, activities, or classes that I am interested in. I bet you can’t remember most of the purchases you made this year, but I bet you can remember your last vacation. What is more valuable to you, the stuff in your home, or the experiences that you have lived? Which of those has a greater effect on you as a person? For me its the experiences, every time. When someone asks me about myself, I like to talk about where I’ve been and what I have done, not what I own.

Instead of dropping your hard earned cash on stuff you want, make a list of things you want to do, places you want to visit, or hobbies you want to pursue. If you have stuff you don’t use, try to sell it, donate it or put it to another use. Make it your priority to collect experiences and skills instead of belongings. Your stuff might not last very long, but the things you experience will stay with you forever.

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Victory Gardens: Reviving an Agricultural Movement

by admin Posted on April 5, 2011

During World War II, commercial food production was greatly affected by the war effort in the US. More food needed to go to the front lines to support the troops, so the US government encouraged citizens to start Victory Gardens (also called War Gardens)–small gardens planted in backyards, empty lots, apartment rooftops and even public parks. These gardens were primarily needed to ease the burden on commercial food production, but they were also seen as a way to boost morale amongst the public. Citizens felt that they could help win the war from their own back yard. They took pride in supporting the war effort, but also experienced the satisfaction of successfully  producing preserving their own food. The beauty of the Victory Garden movement was that so many people bought in to the idea. While each individual garden was small, there were so many of them that it made a huge difference. An estimated 20 million gardens were planted. That’s a lot of food! Unfortunately many people stopped planting their gardens once the war was over.

While things have changed quite a bit since the 1940′s, we can still benefit greatly from growing our own food. As people have become more aware of the benefits of eating fresh, healthy foods, home gardening is making a comeback. Even First Lady Michelle Obama planted a garden on the white house grounds as a way to promote healthy eating. I urge everyone to consider gardening. Even if your space is limited you have options. Consider growing a small herb garden in a window sill or on a balcony. Container gardens can be grown in an area as small as 1 square foot. If you can;t grow your own food for whatever reason, then try to purchase food from a local source, such as a farmer’s market or co-op.

Here are some things to consider:

• Most of the food in your supermarket travels thousands of miles in trucks or planes to get from the farm to the shelves. Think about how much fuel us used to transport those items. What kind of impact does that have on the environment? When you purchase food at the store, you’re also paying for the cost of shipping and storing that food. What kind of impact does that have on your wallet?

• While organic foods have grown in popularity, many commercially available foods are still sprayed with pesticides, herbicides and preservative formulas to prevent disease and spoilage. Not only can these chemicals pose health risks to you, they also impact the environment through air and water pollution. When you grow your own food, you’ll know exactly what it contains, so you don’t have to be concerned about the chemicals you may be exposed to.

• By growing and preserving your own food, you’ll save money. Food grown from seed costs a lot less than store-bought. By preserving your harvest you can reduce the amount of food you throw away due to spoilage. In addition, you can save the seeds from the fruits of your plants and replant them next year. By following these practices you could feed yourself indefinitely.

• Food that you grow yourself just tastes better. Fresh food is more nutritious and has better flavor than the stuff that comes from the store.

• Gardening has many other benefits, such as exercise, spending time outdoors, reduction in stress, etc.

Posted in Home Farming, Recipes and Cooking, Simple Living | Tagged , , , , | 13,063 Comments