Composting your kitchen and yard waste is smashing for the environment and also produces a rich end-product that's glorious for your yard and garden. If you haven't composted before and are curious about beginning, there are 2 main methods to begin : by either building a compost pile in your yard, or by buying ( or making ) a compost bin. Each technique has its own benefits and downsides, dependent on your present position.
With a compost pile, the primary advantage is the simplicity of making one, and the cost ( free ). All that you need to do is find a place in your yard where you can build a compost pile that's at least 3 feet in diameter ( larger is even better ), and then just start layering green and brown organic matter in a pile, and keep it wet.
You may use the compost pile system simply to compost yard and kitchen waste, and you'll be ready to compost all of the materials you want to compost as long as you've a massive enough space where the pile is built. A drawback of compost piles nevertheless, is they can frequently become unpleasant, and it's for that reason that many house owner find them far from their home ( which also makes them more inconvenient to use ). They also have a tendency to compost materials slower than if you were using a revolving compost bin. You can improve the composting process by turning the pile often, but this may be a chore, particularly if the pile is big.
The benefit of using a compost bin is that it can keep your compost sharply contained, and the materials will probably compost quite quickly within the compost bin so you'll have your compost earlier. This is particularly so with tumbling compost bin models, where you can turn your compost simply employing a hand crank. Frequent turning means quicker composting. If you're an house dweller or have a home with small or not yard space, tiny compost bins can also permit you to compost where you can not construct a compost pile. Since many of these units are quite engaging, you will also not mind having them close to your home, which suggests they are also handier to use to dump kitchen waste. Downsides of using compost bins includes a restriction on composting space, since you'll only be well placed to compost as much material as the compost bin can handle. There's also the cost of buying or making a compost bin.
models are quite affordable, they are still not as cheap as making a compost heap in your back yard for free.
M. M. Day has written numerous articles on home improvement and gardening, including other articles with suggestions about purchasing small compost bin models like a back porch compost tumbler. A back porch compost tumbler is ideal for apartment dwellers and those with little or no yard space, but are still interested in composting their kitchen and yard waste.
If you have started to explore the fantastic sector of gardening, you've probably started composting. If that is the case you will have found out that the compost pile can become unpleasant and clumsy to contain when it is left loose. Many of us find they have better control of their composting efforts when they utilize a compost bin. A compost bin keeps the pile clean, contained tidily in one spot, and makes turning your pile less complicated.
There are a considerable number of options when referring to choosing a compost bin. Which one is good for you? Which Compost Bin is best for You? A few people decide to construct their own compost bins, building them from lumber and hardware, wire mesh or concrete bricks.
These work fine, but unless you have already got the materials, you may finish up spending about as much to build your compost bin as you would if you bought a tiny commercial one. Mull over how gigantic your bin should be, how snug you are using tools, and if you've got the resources needed to build up your very own bin. Sorts of compost bins include one bin systems and systems with 2 or 3 bins. If you don't have a big garden and are creating a typical quantity of compost, a two bin system is a well-liked choice. Tiny areas may only make allowance for an one bin system nevertheless, and that may work fine. Gardeners who find they can generate a good amount of compost and want storage for their finished product may need a 3 bin system. In an one-bin system, obviously the whole contents of the pile will remain in the same place. With 2 or 3 bins, you can keep compost in its early stages in one bin and more advanced compost in the second. If you select three bins, you would store the completed compost in the 3rd one. Besides keeping your compost pile tidily enclosed, commercial bins have a couple of other benefits.
A few of them may be able to insulate your pile and help keep the essential heat locked in so your pile continues to rot later into the season. Commercial bins are customarily more interesting to the eye than home-made bins, and it provides the answer to your composting containment problem instantly. No loitering somebody to "get round to it" and build the bin you want. There are corporations that sell compost bins made of recycled plastics also. Selecting one of those products will permit you to take another step in the direction of safeguarding the environment.
There is not any Wrong Choice so long as your compost bin is well built and permits correct drainage and ventilation, there are no great advantages
to choosing one compost bin over another. It boils down to which one is right for you and your garden. Size, price and functionality are the main things to consider. With just a little thought, you will be able to determine which compost bin will work best for your situation.
Richard H. Composters.com Online retailer of eco-friendly compost bins, compost tumblers, rain barrels, and other composting equipment and supplies.
Lots of novice gardeners believe that their plants and vegetables only need plenty of water and sunlight in order to sustain a healthy and fruitful lifespan. However this is not entirely true as plants also need healthy soil rich in nutrients to be able to survive and grow properly. The solution to this dilemma is composting.
Now, most of us aren't too sure of what the heck composting is or what it even entails - I know I didn't! An easy way to explain it is composting is a way for us to give back to the earth by using organic materials such as food scraps, vegetable scraps, grass clippings, leaves and manure from grass eaters like cows, sheep and rabbits. In general, composting is a wonderfully organic process that benefits your garden and the environment tremendously. In today's article we'll go ahead and talk about the benefits of composting, what you should and shouldn't compost, and some composting systems you should consider investing in.
We all know that when anything dies it starts to decompose - humans, animals, plants, it's all a very natural process. But did you know that in turn, the soil becomes very rich in nutrients and new life starts to grow? That's the true benefit of composting and that's what you want for your garden. In addition to improving your soil, it saves you money, makes for terrific mulch for your garden, and places less burden on landfills.
Before you start undertaking a large composting project, there are a few key things you should keep in mind, like what you can and can't use for composting. Let's start with what you shouldn't compost; this includes weeds full of seeds and/or diseases, pesticide infested plants, wood ashes, lime, barbeque charcoal, meat, grease, bones, dairy products, cat, dog and/or human waste, plastic, metal, glass, branches, wood chunks, anything contaminated, and large loads of soggy matter. Obviously anything in the aforementioned list would have an adverse effect on your compost, or won't decompose properly, especially the bones, but we'll go more into that later on in a future article.
With that said, it's highly recommended that you use grass clippings, leaves, non-diseased and seed sprouting weeds, dead plants, food scraps like fruit and veggie wastes, cow, sheep or llama manure, straw/hay, coffee grounds, and even hair and lint when composting. These items break down quick and easily, giving you the end result that you're looking for.
The next thing that you need to keep in mind is where you're going to be doing all of this composting work. While some don't mind working on their compost heap out in the open, like in the woods or in an open area preferably away from prying eyes (I never said it was a pretty looking process), I suggest looking into a bin or tumbler system. There are a couple of compost bin systems that you should consider: the one bin and multi-bin systems. For the money conscious the one bin system is the preferred method since it is easy and most municipalities even work with manufacturers to make this method available to the public. In addition, it's easy to move about, most can hold heat well and is sturdy enough to keep rodents and other wildlife out. The multi-bin system is for households that produce a lot of waste; it generally does the same thing as the one bin method but it allows you to stockpile your materials in one bin and in the other when more materials become ready. Both methods take anywhere from three to eight months in terms of ready to use compost.
Another method you can consider is working with a compost tumbler, which isn't cheap, but it is small if you're working with limited space. Think of the benefits though: tumblers rotate which keep your compost aerated and generate heat, which in turn means that you'll have a batch of ready to use compost in about three weeks. The wire collector is another option to weigh. Great for garnering up quick, ready to use composting, it's cheap and you can even make one yourself out of rabbit wire or field fencing. However, I don't really recommend it too often because it's easy for wildlife to break in to and it doesn't hold in heat very well. But the great thing about it is after your compost is done and ready, all you have to do is just remove the wire covering.
Do keep in mind the laws of your city. You wouldn't think it, but check with your local government agency to see what your city will let you compost, like food scraps and what not. After all being cited for not composting within the legalities of your city isn't very green. And when choosing the ideal composting system, think about your needs, how much waste you can you'd regularly add to it, how animal-resistant it is, and whether you can easily remove your ready to use compost. I know it's a lot to think about before you begin, but trust me, it's well worth the effort. In our next installment I'll go ahead and talk about the science and art of composting - stay tuned!
*Referenced from Home Composting Made Easy by C. Forrest McDowell, PhD and Tricia Clark-McDowell, 2002.
Having an adequate supply of good rich compost is the gardeners dream. It's got many uses, and all those uses will end in better plants. Nevertheless, composting can be time intensive and tough work. I place a reasonable price on my time, so spending agespiles does not qualify as a worthwhile exercise, at least in my book. Nevertheless , I am doing compost, but I am doing so on my terms. I built 2 composting bins.
Each bin is five feet wide, five feet deep, and 4 feet high. I built the bins by sinking four" by four" posts in the ground for the corners, and then nailed two by 4's and one by 4's, alternating on the sides. I left two" openings between the boards for air flow. The 2 by 4's are firm enough to keep the sides from bowing out, and between each two by four I used one by 4's to save a little cash. The bins are only three sided, I left the front of the bins open so they can be filled and emptied simply.
I started by filling only one of the bins. I put grass clippings, dried leaves, and plant clippings in the bins.
I try not to put more than six" of each material on a layer.
You do not want twenty-four" of grass clippings in the bin and you must alternate layers of green and brown material. If required, keep 1 or 2 bags of dry leaves around so that you can alternate layers of brown waste and green waste.
When we root cuttings we use coarse sand in the studios, so when it is time to pull the rooted cuttings out of the terraces, the old sand goes on the compost pile. In our small backyard nursery we also have some plants in boxes that don't survive. Instead of pulling the dead plant and the weeds out of the container, and then discarding the potting soil back on the soil pile, we just dump the entire container in the compost bin. This adds more brown material to the mix, and is far simpler than separating the soil and the weeds. Once the bin is full, the guidelines of composting say that you need to turn the material in the bin every couple of weeks. There's no way that I have enough time to do that, so this is what I do. I pack as much material in the bin as I will before I start filling the second bin. I pile the material as high as I probably can, and even let it spill out in front of the bin. Then I cover all of the fresh material with mulch or potting soil, whatever brown material I can find. Then when I am out working in the garden I set a little sprinkler on top of the pile and turn it on really low, so a little spray of water runs on the material. Since I have got a good water well, this does not cost anything, so I let it run for no less than 2 hours as frequently as I will. This keeps the material damp, and the moisture will cause the pile to warm up, which is what makes the composting action occur. After I have the 1st bin fully full, I begin to use the second bin. As the material in the 1st bin starts to break down, it'll settle and the bin is not heaped up, so I just keep digging the material that I piled in front of the bin, up on top of the pile, till all the material is either in the bin, or piled on top of the heap. Then I just leave it alone, except to water it sometimes. The watering isn't mandatory, it just speeds the method.
Because I do not turn the pile, I can not expect all the material to decay fully. The material in the middle is going to break down more than the material on the perimeters, but almost all of it does break down reasonably well. The very next step works well for me because I have got a small nursery, so I keep a bunch of potting soil on hand at all points. But you can really do the same by just purchasing 2 or 3 yards of shredded mulch to start, and piling it up near your compost bins. If you do this, you'll always have a supply of good compost to work with.
Shredded bark, left in a pile will at last break down and become great compost. The potting soil that I use is about eighty percent rotted bark. I make potting soil by buying fine textured and dark hardwood bark mulch, and I just put it in a pile and let it rot. The secret is to keep the pile low and flat, so it doesn't shed the rain water away.
You need the mulch to stay as wet as practicable this may lead it to break down reasonably fast.
So I keep a bunch of rotted bark mulch near my compost bins. When both bins are utterly full, I empty the bin containing the oldest material by piling it on top of my rotted bark mulch. I make certain the pile of rotted mulch is wide and flat on top so that when I put the material from the compost bin on top of the pile, the compost material is only five to ten inches deep. My mulch pile could be twelve ' wide, nonetheless it may only be twenty-four to thirty inches high. When I have all of the compost on top of the pile, then I am going around the fringe of the pile with a spade, and take some of the material from the perimeters of the pile and toss it up on top of the pile, covering the compost with at least six" of rotted bark. This will cause the compost material to rot the remainder of the way.
After you get this system started, you never need to use all the material in the pile. Always keep at least two to three cubic yards available so you have got something to mix with your compost. If you use a large amount of compost material like I do then you need to buy more material and add to your pile in the late summer or fall, when you are done using it for the season.
Around here lots of the supply corporations sell a compost material that's already broken down very well. This is what I buy to contribute to my stockpile. But I try to be certain that I have at least three yards of old material available, then I will add another three yards of fresh material to that.
Then in the spring I will empty one of the compost bins and add the compost to the head of the pile. The pile of usable compost will be layers of material, some more composted than others.
Sort of like a sandwich. So what I am doing is chip off a chunk of the pile from the edge, spread it out on the ground so it's only about eight" deep, then run over it with my tiny rototiller. This mixes it together completely, and I spade it onto the potting bench. Having a heap of rotted compost near your compost bins is brilliant because if you've got a lot of leaves or grass clippings, you can throw some rotted compost in the bin to maintain that layered effect that's necessary for the composting process to work fine.
Sure this process is a little work, but it sure is nice to have a place to get rid of organic waste anytime I like. Then down the road when I have beautiful compost to add to my potting soil, I am grateful to have done the right thing earlier, and I know that I have wasted nothing.
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Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter.
Have you wondered about what the secret of how to make compost is? Knowing the significance of compost is a start - compost is crucial for improving soil quality and growing healthy plants. Composting is a way of doing your bit for the environment by utilizing waste kitchen and garden materials that may instead go to dump to make something valuable.
The secret - well it's all in the preparation - as usual! Right method proper materials right mix avoid pests inspire compost making organisms right moisture level time selection of the right technique is vital, whether to utilise a compost pile or heap or a correct composting bin. It is simpler to make good garden compost in an enclosed composting can. But with concern for detail either technique can work fine.
If you selected to go for a compost can, while you should purchase them, building a composting can is much more gratifying and you can use recycled wood or brick / stone etc materials. So come on - find out how to make a compost can as well as the way to make compost. What-ever strategy you ultimately select you want a mix of the proper components, some 'green ' and some 'brown ' when making compost.
Too much green material ends in a slimy pungent heap that doesn't break down well. Too much brown material ends up in a dry heap that nothing or little changes in for ages. So the balance needs to be right. Many folks think making compost pulls pests like rats, while it can ; this is only though adding the incorrect ingredients.
Avoid pests by never adding beef / fish waste to your compost. Inspire the natural 'compost maker ' organisms like worms, woodlice, small fruit flies, fungi, bacteria that flourish on a good compost pile helping to swiftly produce good garden compost. Many of those organisms are the same as make leaf mildew and incorporate organic material into the soil in nature. To start the method you might need to prime your compost can with some partially broken down compost from a chum, or make sure the heap / bin has contact with good soil beneath.
The organisms have to come from somewhere - no organisms = no compost! Then keep 'feeding ' them material to destroy down into compost and their numbers will grow. Mix your heap / bin constantly to keep an aerated clammy mix that suits fast composting. Now you have boned up on the fundamentals, dig deeper and learn the best materials to utilize and the best techniques to make compost.
Then start a second composting bin / heap next to the first. Leave first to break down and add new material to the second. Once the 1st is ready, take out the good compost and put any somewhat composted material on the second heap. Now add new material to make the first heap again permitting the second heap to smash down. See how planning and preparation helps! You'll have serviceable compost in anywhere between eight and 52 weeks dependent on your conditions and methodology, so make certain you learn all of the best methods to making good garden compost.
Remember - good compost should be crumbly, dark brown in color, fresh smelling and moist.
I hope you enjoy your gardening like I do.
Happy gardening - fun, great exercise, satisfying and wonderful to eat!
Colin is a keen vegetable gardener and garden compost maker with many years experience, with a compost heap and 3 compost bins.
To find out the details of compost making follow the link on how to make compost you can also learn how to make a compost bin and the best ways to make good garden compost.
'Mature ' organic compost is a natural and easy choice for untangling those issues.
An application of 'mature ' compost, together with continual applications of compost tea, will improve the general health & energy of your landscape. It'll also lower your general upkeep & water prerequisites for the summer & afterward. Compost is just good for your folks, grass, & gardens. Every day afterward as the soil becomes more alive. Even bigger improvement will be spotted with further compost and compost tea applications. It's simply the most natural choice available. Mature compost is safe for you and also your family. It contains nothing bizarre or lethal. Your garden & grass will be safe for you, your kids and your pets to use during and straight after application.
Compost improves your grass & gardens ' drought tolerance and decreases watering needs by enhancing the plant's root systems and the soils ' capability to keep water. Mature compost can safely be applied around pools and applied straight into pools, streams and brooks without a degree of risk to the environment. It also promotes & creates an environment in which birds & butterflies prosper. Your grass & garden will have less weeds, insect pests or sicknesses. Compost permits the soil to gain strength naturally and the plants grown it'll naturally flourish. Compost gives you more fit and more enticing soil, grass, trees & plants. You'll need no artificial chemical manure or poisons. Co Can using compost save me time, cash & work? Yes! You won't need to bag the grass clippings or to get rid of thatch as compost aids in their quick absorption. The compost will also cut the amount of water required.
Compost improves the heat and drought toleration of your grass & garden thus decreasing loss and replacement costs.
Healthy plants simply need less upkeep. These facts alone save you much time, money and work. Does compost improve the heat and drought toleration of my plants? Yes! The organic materials in compost, in association with the rhizobacteria and rhizofungi, naturally loosen and aerate the soil. This permits bigger water & root penetration. The same combo works together to encompass and hold moisture in the soil by making soil aggregates. Soil aggregates are a commonly occurring microcosmic system that rhizobacteria & rhizofungi produces in order to keep themselves from drying up and dying.
The plant roots grow into these aggregates and are supplied a natural reserve of nutriments and water that otherwise would have diffused from the soil. What's compost? According to Webster's compendium "a blend that consists mostly of rotten organic material and is utilized for fertilizing and conditioning land." Correctly composted material is heated by the decomposition process and doesn't have any weed seeds, nor, will it burn your plants as chemical fertilizers do.
Does compost smell bad? No! Not if it is completely 'matured '. We counsel that you only use absolutely composted material. Entirely composted, organic material smells similar to rich ecological garden soil. If it smells like everything else, don't use it, as it is not mature and could cause harm to your grass & garden.
Not all composts are made similarly and we suggest that you absolutely research the source of the provider. Truly mature, "organic", compost is totally safe & harmless to your folks and the soil in which the plants grow. What is Compost Tea? A straightforward definition of compost tea is it's a water extraction of organic compost that's brewed in a corresponding way that your morning tea is made. It includes natural soluble nutrient elements and a great variety of constructive, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. It's a completely organic, living, synergistic miniature that introduces replenished life to the soil and plants. From our many years of expertise we've found that compost tea supercharges new compost applications. How does compost / tea help to suppress illness causing bacteria and fungi? The rhizobacteria ( good bacteria ) controls the expansion of the "bad" bacteria by keeping the soil aerobic so the 'bad ' bacteria can't live & flourish. Similarly the "good" fungi battle with the "bad" fungi and keep them in hand also. Healthy soil makes for healthy plants in a rather similar way that quality food makes for healthy folk and animals. What do favorable bacteria do for plants? Constructive bacteria make necessary soil mineral elements available to the plant by decomposing organic material and making improvements to the properties of the soil. Trees, flowers and gardens that have a sufficiency of rhizobacteria live for longer, need little or no chemical treatment, as they suffer with only a few illness issues.
How does compost / tea reduce thatch? "Thatch" is just a layer of dead un-decayed plant material. The rhizobacteria breaks down the thatch into organic humus that's then reintroduced naturally into the soil to feed the grass. Why don't you use chemical manure? Manmade chemicals sterilise the soil and make more applications of chemicals positively required.
This is like putting your plants on continuing life support. They may stay hardly alive, but they can never prosper. Your lawn & garden will suffer from continual issues which may need more water, anti-fungal agents, herbicides, pesticides & ever larger amounts of manure.
It is extremely crucial that you do not use man-made chemicals on your grass or garden. What about weeds? Long-term use of compost and compost tea while avoiding chemical manure can forestall weeds naturally. According to Dr. Ingham of Soil Foodweb Inc. : "Weeds all require heavy levels of nitrates, so nitrogen manure basically selects for weeds, If you drop your nitrates to less than ten ppm, the weeds leave. When you have mycorrhizal fungi without delay feeding plants, you can drop soil nitrate levels below that threshold level and thistle, johnson grass, and nightshade all vanish. If you have got good calcium levels, you lower the composites, because they can not endure calcium. Next time you need to get shot of crabgrass, mix egg shells into the ground." Reprinted from the Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener. Dr. Ingham Puts Soil Life to Work - Maine Organic Farmer '99 ' We also endorse regular Corn Gluten meal applications. Corn gluten meal is a helpful, natural, pre-emergent insecticide that works well in controlling weeds and seriously compliments the use of compost and compost tea. What about insects? Any naturally healthy environment has a great need of bio-diversity. Chemically treated gardens create a bizarre and imbalanced state. Using compost and compost tea rather than chemicals promotes natural bio-diversity and a successive expansion of favorable insect populations. The advantageous insects live upon the damaging pests & naturally keep them from overpowering the garden ecology.
In urban settings, it's often important to reintroduce advantageous insects into your grass & garden from outside sources. How long will it take to get results? You can get results inside 2 weeks after the 1st application of compost. Using a mixture of compost & compost tea, we have seen leads to as fast as 4 a week in the growing season. Your grass & garden may continue to improve.
If you like gardening and don't like using composts brought from stores, a spinning composter might be the very thing that you need. It saves you bunch of cash too. You can gain even from the materials which otherwise would ended up in a dump, It makes your job of composting at home as most simple as practicable. All you have got to do is add all of the obligatory ingredients to the composter and add air to it. Next what you do is spin the box with the handle provided and you get loaded manure for your plant and plant garden.
In comparison to the traditional composting strategies the spinning compost bin can cut back your work to a significant extent. In the normal composting you've got to fork over the lots of compost continually which can often be quite tiresome. But with the spinning composter you've just got to roll the drum on occasion and your composting will progress with that. Some of the spinning compost tumblers actually have a base which may be used to collect compost tea. The compost tea is essentially the juice of the compost which has been prepared. A spinning composter has a countless advantages . The 1st being it is easing out the entire task of composting in comparison to conventional techniques. That implies you are reducing the work load to less than half when you're bringing a spinning composter home. This device is great in preserving the moisture. With this device you wouldn't have to fret about your compost getting dry or getting exposed to the elements. The compost pile in a spinning compost bin is highly clean and straightforward to reach.
Because of the regular turning of the rubbish pile ants and rodents keep away from the compost which is a typical problem in the event of heap composting. You have to know how laborious the standard techniques of composting can be. The spinning composters get rid of this problem too. If each other thing is right then spinning composters can prepare compost in as less as 3 weeks. No longer have you got to attend for months to use your own compost. Spinning composters are generally available in the market. These devices are user-friendly, sturdy and simple to scrub. The spinning composters are compact and simple to maneuver. There are a number of brands and each has its own range of composters available. You can make a decision from the different sizes and design as agreed by your duty.
For a smaller garden which needs less compost you need a smaller sized composter. If you've a giant garden and need bigger quantity of compost, a massive sized composter is your duty. There are some good brands available. You can go thru an inventory of them online, go thru the reviews and select the one which suits your needs the most. Spinning composters are a genuine eco friendly way of gardening. You needn't spend money on costly manure now. All you need to do is get your own spinning composter.
Maybe more vital than what sort of garden composter you select is where you really put your garden compost can. You want it to be somewhere that's favorable to both the method of making garden compost AND, most vitally, to you. What to Put Your Garden Composter On?
The main reason is that any composting bin should be put on the ground ideally on bare soil. Your garden soil holds all of the micro organisms that'll be required to turn your garden waste into organic compost. The simplest way to guarantee they make their way into your heap of organic material is by letting it touch the soil. If you can face up to it clear the ground of weeds or grass before placing your compost bin. If you do not you might find weeds blooming within your bin in the early stages of filling. Do not be disturbed though they will shortly be smothered by the compost pile so this isn't an imperative job. Putting the rubbish pile on bare soil suggests that as it cools, and decomposition slows, the worms can find their way in. Never put worms on your compost pile yourself. If the heap is too hot they can perish and then you have taken away a garden mate from your soil, with no benefit to the composting bin in any way. Worms will find their own way in when the time is right. If you don't have any bare ground on which to place your garden composter you tin of course put it onto concrete or slabs.
This may slow things down a tiny so either utilise a compost activator or throw one or two spades full of soil into the bin at the beginning.
Again don't add worms to the compost bin. Even sited on concrete those worms will unbelievably make their way there when the time is right. Don't site your garden composter on wooden decking unless you actually don't mind it becoming damp, stained and sure to finally rot.
Where to put the Garden composting bin? Obviously your garden is totally unique to you and so I will not tell you where your garden composter should be located. there are a couple of things to be aware of. * Will the Garden Composter be a blemish? * Will the Garden compost can be simple to utilise - both for filling and emptying? * Will the composting bin be enticing to kids or pets? * What about fruit flies and gnats? The opening choice is frequently to find a garden compost can as far distant as practical from the house. That way you do not see it ( they are frequently not the most beautiful things to have a look at ). But, are you the type of person who is ardent on traipsing thru a muddy field with a bowl of kitchen scraps? If you are all hunky dory. If however you are certain to lapse in your composting needs if the bin appears too far away, put it somewhere nearer to the house. A basic wooden fence obstructing your composting bin from view can be a perfect place for some pretty climbers so that even the most gruesome bin becomes a garden feature. Whether you selected to compost all of your organic home waste or simply your plant peelings, make sure you get yourself some way of storing that waste inside. A plastic bucket with a lid, under the sink makes a convenient holding ground for household organic waste which you don't have the time or wish to dump in the composting bin as yet.
There are even crocks designed particularly to hold kitchen scraps. These make composting kitchen waste a lot more tasty and many come with carbon filters which guarantee no nasty smells surround the Kitchen Worktop Composter regardless of how infrequently you make it to the end of the garden to clear. In warm climates fruit flies and gnats could be a bother, interested by the moisture and food in a compost can.
If you usually try and cover any new kitchen scraps with garden waste like grass clippings it'll help. But, when you lift the lid of your garden composting bin the chances are that you will get a face full of gnats in the summer months.
If this is a concern to you confirm your composting bin is away from kitchen windows and doors to deter any insects you annoy going to the within of your house. Though you want that composting can to be convenient to fill, do not forget about emptying it. If you're certain to wish to turn your compost pile ensure there is a ton of room near it, to make the job simple. If all of your composted material will be heading for a specific area of the garden ,eg the vegetable patch, site your bin there.
Any composting bin which is working well as it is chock-full of variety shouldn't be especially stinky to you and I. Some animals however have a way more advanced sense of smell, so are probably going to have an interest in your garden composting bins.
I have lived with varied cats and dogs, some of whom absolutely pay no attention to the compost heap and others fixate on that confusing bin repetitively. Most garden compost cans you should purchase are pet evidence. But if you have got an especially powerful dog with a compost fixation think about siting it somewhere the dog hasn't got access to. Open compost cans , for example those home-made from pallets or other wood scraps, should be secured to stop your pets getting access.
Chicken wire is inexpensive and simple to mend round the base, while the lid should be too heavy or better hinged and clasped to stop any pets getting in. The important thing is to guarantee your composting can isn't a 'hassle '. Make it convenient to use and you may use it more. The more that you use it, the more goodness will be returned to your garden and the less waste you may send to dump.
All to often, a poorly situated garden composter can become a neglected, expensive entity, ignored and forgotten. Composting your kitchen scraps and garden waste is a great thing to do, so do not give yourself any excuses not to continue doing it!
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With all of the talk about going green, reducing your carbon footprint and helping to reduce climate change these days, more and more people are looking at the possibility of using compost tumblers in their back yard. I am going to show you some of the benefits of composting here and then look at some of the best methods of creating compost from your kitchen scraps, yard waste, and many other sources.
The benefits from creating compost
One of the most prominent reasons to compost is that you are creating a natural fertilizer for your yard and garden. The nutrients from the food waste and yard waste is naturally turned back into the same plant nutrients that you get when you purchase commercial fertilizer from the hardware store, except that the compost form of these nutrients is completely natural and much less harmful to the environment. Why is it less harmful to the environment? Because commercial fertilizers are made from ingredients that require a vast expenditure of energy to produce them. The main nutrients in plant fertilizer are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Most nitrogen production uses natural gas as its base ingredient, and then nitrogen is forced to react with the gas at high temperatures and pressure, requiring lots of energy. Phosphorus and potassium are mined from big open pit mines using heavy machinery requiring massive amounts of diesel fuel for transporting and processing. The traditional end result, sadly, is that food waste and yard waste end up going to the landfill.
How it can save the planet
Imagine for a moment if every household in the United States returned every shred of organic household and yard waste into compost on the spot. Actually this is a little unrealistic because logistics, such as lack of area in around apartment buildings, for example, make it an unlikely prospect. But just imagine if three quarters of all households did this. The benefits would be three fold:
1. Tremendous savings in fuel by not having garbage trucks transport tons of organic matter to the landfill. 2. Tremendous savings in energy by greatly reducing the amount of industrial fertilizers used. 3. Reductions in fuel used for mining, processing and transporting industrial fertilizers.
By composting, you are putting an end to the wasteful one-way stream of energy use and putting nutrients directly back into the soil, for your yard and garden to naturally thrive on. By doing so, you are also saving money on expensive store bought fertilizer. You are moving one more step toward self sufficiency by not needing to go to the store and buy something that can be produced in your back yard. And you are indirectly reducing carbon emissions. The traditional and most common method of composting is to simply pile the material up, say, in a corner of your yard. This will work, but there are many disadvantages, such as odors, a messy looking yard, and unwanted vermin feeding or nesting in the pile. There is a much better, quicker, and cleaner way to create compost. That is with a device known as a compost tumbler. The compost tumbler makes it super easy to create the conditions needed to create compost in quick order. Organic matter such as food waste, fruit peels and grass clippings need air and a modest amount of moisture to decompose properly. The composting process also creates heat, and this heat needs to be distributed evenly for the best results. By turning every few days, the heat is dispersed evenly, and air is introduced into the compost, and the process proceeds much more rapidly. In addition, the compost tumbler saves the back-breaking work of shoveling and turning the compost pile.
Buy or Build your own compost tumbler
There are many forms and sizes of compost tumblers on the market, if you want to get one all set and ready to use. Alternatively, if you are on a limited budget, there are also plans available that show you how to build your own compost tumbler. The key features are a container capable of holding a large enough quantity of material to make it worth your while, a method of turning the container, the ability to keep any openings closed off when the turning takes place, and vents or holes to allow air to circulate through the mass. Aerating the compost mass creates optimal conditions for the efficient breakdown of organic matter into fine particles.
Once you get started with using a compost tumbler, you will probably find that two units will work much better than one because once you have a batch started you will want to allow it to complete its process before adding any more raw material to it. By having two units, you have the option of adding raw material to the second one while the first one is finishing its cycle. It will also allow you to make compost in a shorter time as little as two weeks under some conditions! Some of the compost tumblers on the market have two sides, which is basically two in one, that allow you to do this.
It's a lot less work
It's a lot less work than turning compost piles with a pitchfork, I can tell you from experience. Compost tumblers are way ahead of compost bins or piles, in terms of efficiency. The most important ingredient for creating good compost is oxygen, and when you have a stagnant pile you can't easily get oxygen into the middle of it. Sure you can turn it, maybe using a pitchfork, maybe using a compost turning gizmo, but quite frankly it can be really hard. When I compost I compost kitchen scraps, leaves, weeds, spent flower stalks, and bush clippings. Some of those things can be a little rigid and deep inside the pile they end up tangled together and they do not want to budge.
It's becoming mandatory!
No kidding, there are some cities that are now issuing fines for households that don't compost their kitchen and yard waste. In October 2009 a new city ordinance in San Francisco took affect that mandated people either compost at home using a compost bin or compost tumbler, separate their compostables out of their trash into a separate recycling bin, or face fines. Fines for individuals start at $100, fines for businesses start at $500.
Doing our part
By composting, we are setting a good example, for sure. While it may still seem odd to some people, once it becomes commonplace, more people will be inclined to begin a composting program for their household or business. By actually visualizing the amount of carbon dioxide saved from entering our atmosphere, and doing the math for what it would be like to have 300 million people doing this, we can see just how worthwhile it is for everyone to do their part in reducing energy use and reducing greenhouse gas production. Imagine 6000 garbage trucks, all billowing black smoke into the air, hauling our organic waste to the landfill, while we go and purchase yet another bag of industrially produced lawn fertilizer. Now imagine no garbage trucks, and no black smoke billowing into the air, and the compost tumbler quietly doing its part in making our yard and garden lush and green. See the difference?
Worm composting - I am sure you have heard of it, but what the heck is it? Worm composting is a wonderfully efficient way to convert kitchen scraps and other organic materials, cardboard and junk mail into nutrient-rich compost for your garden. Did you know that these wiggly composters can eat their body weight in garbage in a day? That's a lot of composting going on.
Earthworms are very efficient little composters leaving behind some of the richest and most productive compost known. These worm castings or worm compost contain 5 to 11 times the amount of available of N-P-K (N - nitrogen, P - phosphorus and K - potassium) as the soil the worms ate to produce those castings. So how do these wiggly composters do their magical work? The worm's intestinal tract secretions act to chemically liberate plant nutrients with the aid of the microorganisms present in the soil. These wonderful earthworms tunnel through your soil day and night liberating plant nutrients wherever they go.
To be successful at worm composting, it is important to understand the needs of your little composters. If you were to buy 1,000 worms and thrust them into your compost pile, you would likely end up with many causalities. Most earthworms cannot tolerate the heat of an active compost heap. Composting worms prefer a much cooler climate.
Essentially, there are two different methods of composting-hot and cold. Earthworms definitely prefer the cool composting method, also known as the Indore composting method. Composting worms are naturally attracted to the Indore method attacking the compost heap from the bottom. The worms will reproduce quickly, increasing their population several times over. The earthworms mix the nutrients within the compost heap and stabilize them for growing plants.
There are many kinds of earth worms. Red worms and brandling worms are the species usually sold by earthworm breeders. Brandling worms and red worms work very well in a compost heap or manure heap. Field worms and night crawlers are larger worms and will attack compost heaps from the bottom but prefer to retreat into the soil after having done so. Night crawlers and field worms do not like the heat of an active compost pile.
To start worm composting, create a no-heat compost pile using a modified Indore method. Begin by making a normal-sized compost heap-say 4' in diameter, but only make the heap 15"-18" high. Shred all organic material as finely as possible and immediately introduce manure type worms into the heap. The worms will start working right away. This way the heap will never really heat up because the core of the heap will remain exposed to the cooler outside temperatures. There are a few disadvantages to this method. It is time consuming to shred the organic materials for the compost heap, and any grass or weed seeds present will not be killed off by the heat generated by a normal compost heap.
When removing finished worm compost from your compost heap, make sure to leave a sufficient number of earthworms behind for the new organic matter that will be added to the pile. There are a couple of ways to accomplish this. One way is to harvest half of the compost pile leaving the rest behind to start another heap. If, however, your composting worm population is in a fledgling state, you can use the "scalping method." Begin by removing several inches of compost from the heap and wait 30 minutes before removing another layer. The remaining earthworms will be driven back into the compost heap by the sunlight. Repeat this process several more times until you have harvested the finished compost.
Compost piles and heaps are great for attracting worms; however, there are also a number of manufactured worm bins that are great for worm composting. These manufactured worm bins make it possible to compost your organic materials indoors. This type of worm composting is called Vermicomposting. One such manufactured bin is the Worm Factory 360. This worm bin has an improved design, which allows for better air flow resulting in faster composting of organic materials.
Hopefully, you have come to see that worm composting is not as mysterious as you may have thought. If you have not started composting at home, worm composting is a wonderfully efficient and easy way to begin. Also, worm composting is a great way to teach your children about the positive aspects of composting. What child doesn't like a worm?
To learn more about the Worm Factory 360 mentioned in this article, you may want to check out our review of The Worm Factory 360. Remember, "Don't throw it away, compost it."
GoodCompost.com is your source for composters and composting equipment, as well as composting know-how. We are here to help you get started composting at home today. Come by for a visit. http://www.goodcompost.com/
