Composting

Vermicomposting: How To Make Worm Castings

2009-10-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

We have all heard of composting. Composting is simply the decomposition of organic waste like yard waste and kitchen waste into a very rich and nutritional dirt-like substance. Vermicomposting is very similar to composting, but vermicomposting uses worms to help speed up the composting process, resulting in a final product of a soil-like amendment which is literally loaded with nutrients for plants.

The first thing to know point out is that the worms about which we are talking are not your everyday backyard worms. Those little guys would die in a minute in a compost pile. The worms needed for vermicomposting are called Red Wrigglers. These Red Wrigglers love to spend their time in piles of manure and love eating organic waste, which is why they are so perfect for the job of vermicomposting. The worms that you find in your backyard garden are usually regular field worms which would not be able to survive in a pile of kitchen waste.

When considering what size bin you want to use, the container should be on the shallow side rather than really deep. It should also be wider than it is tall. The surface of the container should be about one square foot for every pound of waste you wish to place in it each week. There should be about 500 red wrigglers equaling about a half-pound for every cubic foot of the container. The container should have plenty of air holes, since air is necessary not only for the composting process, but for the worms' survival as well. There should also be holes on the bottom of the container to allow drainage. There should be a screen covering each air hole and drainage hole to guarantee that the holes do not become worm holes or compost holes as well as air holes and/or drainage holes. If you produce too much organic waste for one normal sized container, it is much easier to maintain several small worm containers than one really big one.

To keep your worms happy, it is important to make sure that they are in an environment with the proper temperature, ventilation, and moisture. The air holes should be able to provide the necessary ventilation. There should be enough moisture to give the compost pile the feel of a wrung out sponge - not too wet, but not too dry. The temperature should be room temperature. Although worms can survive in a wide range of temperatures, anywhere from forty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit, they will be the happiest and therefore do their best work if they are at a comfortable room temperature.

There should be bedding on the surface of the container. This bedding should consist of shredded paper if the container will remain indoors. If the container will be kept outdoors, the bedding can consist of shredded paper or organic yard waste, such as dried grass clippings, sawdust, mulched dried leaves, etc. Yard waste should NOT be placed in an indoor container, because they can cause the compost pile to heat-up significantly which may kill your worms.

You can feed your worms a large variety of foods. Red Wrigglers will eat just about any organic kitchen waste you may produce, including carrots lettuce, cabbage, celery, banana peels, and tea bags. Tomatoes, coffee grounds, and citrus peels can be added into the container but only in moderation, since the acid could kill the worms. They also like to eat small amounts of bread, pancakes, grains, and noodles. Chopping up the food before you put it in the container will help it decompose.

You should harvest the vermicompost every two months or so. You will know that it is ready to be harvested when you can no longer make out the waste or the bedding, since they will have already decomposed. A good way to harvest the vermicompost without taking out the worms is to shine a light over the pile. This will chase the worms deeper into the pile in about ten minutes. You can then scrape up the top layer of vermicompost. Keep the light on to chase the worms even deeper into the pile, and then take out the next layer of vermicompost, and so on. It is very important to not take out any worm eggs that may be in the pile. They will hatch and turn into more worms which could make your vermicompost pile better, or enable you to use them to start another vermicompost container.

Once you have the vermicompost out of the container, you can use it to help just about anything grow. You can add some into your houseplants; you can sprinkle it on your flowerbeds; you can add it into the soil in which you want to plant seeds; and you can even sprinkle it around your lawn to help your lawn grow.

Article Source: http://www.bigfreearticles.com

About the Author:
1800TopSoilThe top choice in topsoil and top soil. Nationwide provider of topsoil and top soil in your local area for all your landscape supply. Years of experience in the topsoil and top soil industry to help you with topsoil and top soil for landscape supplies.

Worm Farm Composting-going Green In A Worm Way

2009-10-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Worms are one of Nature's key components in the composting process. Composting is the process where biodegradable waste material is broken down and converted into a soil like substance called compost. Worms actually eat theseorganic wastes and food scraps. After they've digested and broken them down, the "poo" that comes out, a soil like substance called worm castings, can be gathered and used for fertilizer for flower and vegetable gardens, fruits, and lawns as well. Sort of a Mother Nature "Garbage In, Gold Out" can be the result.

Throughout history back to the time of ancient Egypt, savy farmers realized and used these little helpers to enrich soils and get better harvests. Flowers have been known to actually bloom before their regular seasons when worm compost has been mixed with the soil.Vegitable and fruit harvests are known to yield up to a twenty percent increase, with better flavor and crispness. And the soil benefits as well with plants having a higher resistance to diseases and pests, reducing the need for herbicides and pesticides.

Entrepreneurs caught on to this as well over the the years. Worm farming has long been known as a successful "niche business" in several ways. Many garden supply shops carry bags or boxes ofworm farm compost or castings as fertilizers. And, with the increase in home gardening due to our current tough economic times, the demand should go up. And while the "night-crawler" reigns as king for fishing bait, what school-boy fisherman hasn't dug a can of worms from out back and taken his bike fishing. Sporting goods stores do quite a seasonal business of the little wigglers. In recent years, a thriving online industry has developed as well for both the castings and the worms and accessories as well.

One of the biggest benefits of worm farm composting to consider is the portability and adaptability of the process. A home scale worm farm can be crafted with a container as small as several inches deep and wide by say 18 inches to a couple feet long. Worms are sensitive to light, heat, and vibration, so take these factors into account. Yourworm farm can be started on a back porch or patio, or in the back yard or garden, so it's adaptable to urban settings as well. Just side towards cool, quiet, and shaded, and you should see success. Add some moist paper, leaves, or cardboard and some soil, then add worms. Feeding your worms is easy. Toss, stir, or mix in your food scraps, yard clippings, or plant waste, and let them go to work for you. They consume up to their own weight per day. There are some things you wan to avoid like meats, salts, andacidy items like onions and citrus, but this information can be found on the web and in a variety of books on the topic.

These simple steps scaled to your needs or goals, will get you started on the path of organic gardening in a very simple but effective way. As noted earlier, we are seeing and should continue to see a rise in interest of home gardening as an offshoot of the economy. Our grandparents and generations before learned to work with Nature to survive, and as a society we face a return to some of this nearly lost knowledge. So just "being Green" could be the fashionable term today, but from a practical point of view, there's plenty of benefits to having your ownorganic garden today, and some simple worm farm composting can be a big help in many ways.

Author Resource:

Organic gardening, going green, recycling, and being self-sufficient are just a few of the reasons our society is seeking and rediscovering forgotten skills and knowledge. Find out more aboutworm farm compost and worm farms at Worm Farm Compost or at A Worm Farm.

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Odour Free Composting In 3 Steps

2009-10-31T13:32:00.001-07:00

One of the biggest complaints people have about composting is that it smells. And in some cases, this is true. When organic materials are heaped up in a pile and left to sit, they essentially rot, and we all know that rotting food and plants are going to smell. But did you know that composting doesn't have to stink? It's true! In this article we'll explain the 3 simple steps that anyone can follow to go from smelly to odor free composting.

The first step in odorless composting is to understand the two basic methods of composting: aerobic and anaerobic. As the name would suggest, aerobic composting requires air, specifically oxygen, to be successful. Anaerobic composting, on the other hand, is what occurs when the compost isn't exposed to the air.

The primary differences between aerobic and anaerobic composting are speed of decomposition and odor created. Aerobic bacteria work very quickly and efficiently. Compost that's properly aerated can decompose to a finished product within a month or two, under the right conditions. Anaerobic bacteria, on the other hand are very inefficient, sometimes taking as long as a couple years to produce finished compost. Anaerobic bacteria also product methane and sulfate gasses as a byproduct of the composting process. These gasses are bad for the environment; they are greenhouse gasses that deplete our ozone. Furthermore, these are the gasses that smell offensive to humans. When we think of a smelly compost heap, what we're really thinking of is anaerobic composting. Aerobic bacteria, on the other hand, do not produce these gasses, thus the reason that aerobic composting results in little to no odor.

One of the best ways to ensure that your compost is aerobic is to use a compost tumbler. These drum-shaped devices are usually mounted on an axel so they can spin or rotate freely. The action of the compost turning and tumbling inside the bin aerates the material, providing the necessary oxygen for the aerobic bacteria to do their job.

If you don't have a compost tumbler, or simply don't want to invest in one, you can encourage the growth of aerobic bacteria in a regular compost heap by simply turning the material on a regular basis. You may want to invest in a long handled tool such as a large shovel or pitchfork to make the turning process easier. Regardless of whether you have a compost tumbler or a basic compost heap, you should aim for turning the material every 2 to 3 days for best results.

The second step in odorless composting is to maintain the appropriate ratio of browns and greens in the bin. Examples of browns, or carbon rich materials, include dried leaves, shredded paper, sawdust, and dryer lint. Examples of greens, or nitrogen rich materials, include green grass clippings, vegetable or fruit peelings, cooked rice and pasta, and seaweed or other aquarium plants. If you get compost bin with too many greens, the material will begin to smell. This is easy to adjust by simply adding more browns. In addition to the items listed above, other browns might include peat moss, pencil shavings, shredded paper napkins, coffee grounds, chopped hay or straw, potting soil, nut shells, and tea bags. Finished compost will also act as a brown material.

The third and last step in avoiding a smelly compost bin is to keep out all meats, eggs, and dairy products. When the proteins in these items break down, they create an unpleasant odor. Also to be avoided are any fatty wastes including butter, shortening, cooking oils, lard, and other animal fats.

And that's all there is to it! With 3 simple steps, you can change your smelly and slow compost heap into a lean, mean, and odorless composting system that will turn out finished compost in a matter of weeks. So what are you waiting for? Begin your odorless composting system today!

About the author:
Ellen Bell works for Home Products 'n' More, a retail website offering composting tumblers and other compost bins, all with free shipping and handling! For more great gardening products, visit us at http://www.homeproductsnmore.com/Garden_Edging_s/144.htm

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

Odour Free Composting In 3 Steps

2009-10-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

Home Composting - Getting the Mix Right

2009-09-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

The concept of composting has been around for quite a long time in the forests. Leaves fall to the forest floor, decompose, and their nutrients will be absorbed back into the trees through the roots. Farmers and Gardeners have been taking advantage of the nutrient rich by product from this decomposition for thousands of years and you can too.

Composting is a great way to add nutrients to your garden or potting soil. Not only is it good for your garden and plants, it also is a good way for you to help reduce your overall garbage going to the dump There are no hard and fast rules in what you should do your composting in. In fact you could do it in a pile in the yard, although it will probably not be well accepted by the rest of your family. While you can go out and buy a commercially sold unit that will do well for all your composting needs, I prefer to save a few bucks and build one myself.

The real hero's in the world of composting are the fungi, bacteria, worms and other insects that will take your yard and kitchen waste and turn it into the black gold you want for your pots and garden. Now it is in your best interest to keep these guys in good conditions so they can digest the food you give them. Their basic requirements are just like you and I, they are food, water, and air. If you want to help these insects and microbes along, keep your compost in a nice cool corner of your yard.
To better understand these basic needs for your compost let's start with the food. Essentially there are two types of food. There are the brown foods that include straw, autumn leaves, wood chips/sawdust, and dead plant material. These materials mainly consist of long chains of sugar molecules that the microbes digest and use as a source of energy. There are also the greens such as green grass and weeds, kitchen fruit and vegetables, coffee grounds, and tea bags. These materials have a lot more nitrogen in them than the browns. This nitrogen in your compost pile acts as a source of protein to all those microbes for them to feed off of as well.

The next part is the air. It is very important to get good airflow into your pile. The microbes you want to decompose your pile cannot do this without air. If there is no air supply then other microbes will move in. They will also do the job but they work a lot slower and tend to make the compost smell like rotten garbage. So unless you want your backyard to smell like the city dump you will have it "fluff" your pile. "Fluffing" your pile is easily done with a spade or a garden fork. You will have to completely break it apart and then pile it back together leaving it in a "Fluffy" condition.

Some "food" like grass clippings or wet leaves will sit heavy on the pile and not allow good air flow through that portion of the pile. You should mix this sort of ingredient into the pile to avoid a spot that won't decompose very easily. Straw is a great ingredient to add to your compost because unlike grass they will not mat down into slimy layers and add to the airflow.

Water is the last important ingredient in your compost. This is where it gets a little tricky. You need to get the water just right to aid and not hinder the work of the microbes. Too wet and the pile gets too heavy and the airflow gets cut off to the middle of the pile. Too dry and the microbes will not be able to break down the waste as easily. Ideally you want to get every particle wet but not saturated. In wet climates you may need a lid or a tarp to avoid saturation.

Having a good mix of the greens and browns is a good thing for a few reasons. Not only does it supply all your little microbes with a good diet, but it also helps in airflow since the browns are dry and "light" and the greens are wet and "heavy".

Author:
Hi my name is Doug and I live in the Okanagan Valley in British Colombia BC. I have spent most of my life working my way through various different career paths that has helped me develop a diverse knowledge base to which I write on. For more on gardening and more for your home and health needs go to Home and Health MishMash

Tips On How To Manage Your Compost Heap

2009-08-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

There are many instances when homeowners choose not to get started with backyard composting because of the perception that it is hard to do correctly. In reality, you just need to collect the basic organic materials, find a place for the compost heap and then allow nature to take over the task. But, there are some basic guidelines to keep in mind that can help make the whole process move forward without a hitch.

There are a number of different types of compost bins on the market that you can use to help manage and contain your compost. But, a special bin is not a requirement that is needed to accomplish successful composting, but more of a convenience. It is easy enough to build your own bin for your pile and simply cover it over with a sheet of polythene or chunk of cardboard.

Some people, however, prefer to have their compost heap more contained and neat in appearance and to have it easier to manage as well. If that is the case, then compost bins can be a good solution.

These special bins are easy enough to find online or at local stores that sell organic gardening tools and supplies. Some local municipalities also have compost bins available at a reduced cost to encourage people to recycle their organic waste.

Making a compost is as simple as adding your organic items that are compostable on a regular basis. Any waste product that was at one time a living thing will compost, or decompose, but some items are not recommended to be thrown into your pile. Meats, dairy foods and cooked foods will end up attracting pests and vermin so these should not be used in your home composting efforts.

Dead and decaying leaves, lawn clippings, manure, and kitchen waste such as rinds, peelings, coffee grounds and even eggshells can be added to it. Older, thicker and tougher plant materials are slower to decompose but they benefit the compost by providing more substance, or body, to the finished product. These heavier materials usually comprise most of a compost pile.

Wood items take a long time to decompose. Whenever possible it is best to shred, chip or chop wood materials to help accelerate the rotting process. However, as long as they are mixed in with other materials that decompose faster they will still provide some benefit to the process overall.

In general it is best to have fairly equal amounts of what is called brown material and green material in it. Brown materials are the manures, dead leaves, small twigs and cardboard and newspapers. Green materials include hedge and grass clippings, coffee grounds, fruit rinds and uncooked vegetables.

You only need to have about one foot of organic material to get your compost heap started. In most instances, just mowing the yard and weeding your flowerbeds and vegetable garden will give you enough to begin. If needed, then you can also add organic kitchen waste and newspaper, and even a little straw if you are coming up short of the one foot level.

Once things get piled up, nature will take over and the decomposition process will start. It is good to turn the heap about every two weeks and within four to six months you will have a nice compost of waste materials that will give a boost to your soil.

About the Author

A free audio gift awaits you at our portal site, where you can enrich your knowldege further about the compost heap. Your comment is much appreciated at our recycling blog.

Compost Pit Replaced by Compost Bin

2009-08-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

Compost Bin is the perfect replacement of the compost pit. It has the capability to transform waste materials and biodegradable matters into compost. It is an ideally huge receptacle designed for storage of biodegradable matters. Biodegradable matters are any form of material which has the ability of decomposition such as food, papers, leaves, barks and other organic materials.

The end product coming out of the bin is an excellent plant food. Compost Bin manufactures the compost which is another form of organic fertilizer which is useful for the soil and plants. The products of the soil are the plants which come in different sizes and peculiar shapes according to their species. Our dietary needs are primary supplied by the food that we eat everyday which is produced by products of the soil.

The fruits or crops that the plants yield may grow underneath the soil like the root crops, or grown above the ground with edible leaves and flowers. All these edible living things are products dependent on the soil where they are rooted. Please take note that plants can grow and can either bear fruits or cannot but still offer edible produce.

The minerals and nutrients of the soil are also absorbed by these plants. They are also eating, thus making the soil unhealthy in the process. It is therefore important to add fertilizers to supplement and aid the soil for the sake of the growing elements on it to sustain and survive. Compost Bin can provide the soil with the desired substances and other elements needed by plants to survive.

Compost Bin produces the organic plant food that is very vital to soil and plants alike. It must be noted that the toxic substances absorbed by the plants that we eat are harmful to human and other animals. In other words, we are also eating the toxic elements that are derived from the plants being transmitted to them from the soil. The compost is very healthy plant food for they do not contain any toxin that the soil and plants can absorb. This is the process of symbiotic relationship.

About the Author

Picture your garden benefiting from these organic fertilizers called Compost Bin. These help nurture your plants by keeping the soil healthy. Proper nutrients enter the plants and in this way, you see a beautiful flora growing in your surrounding area. To know more about this fertilizer, simply visit this site at http://www.ourcrazydeals.com.

The Neat and Clean Way to Make Compost

2009-08-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

Most people who choose to garden are aware of the benefits of composting and know the basics of creating good compost, but often are unsure if any special equipment, if any, is actually required.

The most basic form of a compost pile is exactly that, a pile of vegetation, garbage and scrap items such as leaves and grass, which then may be surrounded by a fence or a cage. This system works very well, but requires a fairly long period of time and a certain amount of maintenance to ensure a good final product.

Finished compost should appear like fine loam with a sweet earthy aroma and should not be a wet glob of muck. An in order to achieve this quality. the pile needs to be turned over quite often in order to mix and aerate it and let oxygen enter in to create aerobes, which are the microbes which hasten the breaking down of your pile into good compost.

The disadvantages of a pile are obvious. They are rather unsightly, they will attract vermin and small animals such as raccoons, dogs and rats, they may have an unpleasant odor, and they will also probably irritate your neighbors if you live in a fairly well populated area. As a matter of interest, many towns and cities now ban open compost piles because of the above reasons. One great advantage of a pile is that it is fairly easy to turn with a pitchfork it in order aerate the raw compost, plus larger amounts of compost can be processed at any one particular time.

Compost bins are much more suitable to the home gardener. They should be vermin and child proof, be odor free (that is if you provide the correct proportions of carbon and nitrogen in loading the bin) and visually more pleasing. A bin can be problematic when you aerate the compost because it is usually difficult to turn the compost over efficiently without special tools. Another drawback is the emptying of the bin if it does not have an access door at the bottom. Consider if the bin is designed as a ball which has to be rolled in order along to mix the contents,and it sits directly on rough, sloped or uneven ground,that system mixing operation could be extremely difficult. Aerating need to be done regularly, so the easier, the better.

A compost tumbler is probably the best system. Tumbling the contents provides aeration without the use of tools and also speed up the decomposition time. Do not believe the claims of "compost in just a couple of weeks'. This sounds good but Mother Nature works at her own pace and we can speed her up just so much. The great advantage of a tumbler is the ease of turning and aerating the compost, which should provide a finished product in about 10 weeks.

Features to look for:

Sturdy dark colored containers which will not reflect the suns heat, especially important in cooler climes.

Solidly built stands or legs, a full composter can weigh over 150 pounds or more.

Can you easily relocate the unit if necessary, in order to be closer to the garden area worked currently being worked on.

There should be a method of collecting the compost tea which collects at the bottom and if utilized, is a fantastic product to pour on your planting beds or directly on the plants as a fertilizer

Other items to consider:

If you need a large amount of compost, will one composter be enough? New material can always be added to your composter, but the process is quicker if one load is processed at a time.

Stash a kitchen composter pail in a handy location to toss your daily scraps into.

About the Author

Dick Murray is a retired urbanite who has kept his love ofgardening alive with the creation of informational web sites such as backyard compost tumbler More and more households are beginning to grow their own fruits and vegetables due to their increased concern regarding the quality, price and safety of our food supplies.

Worm Compost - Why Worm Composting Works

2009-07-21T09:33:00.001-07:00

Perhaps you have heard the age old adage that you can't get anything for free. This is true for most things in life with the exception of Irma composting or what many call worm composting. Basically, worms will take your organic garbage and transform it almost magically into a type of compost that is rich and ready to be planted with your garden plants to enhance their growth and make your food that much more rich. There are a few things you should know about worm compost that will show you clearly why it works so well.

Regardless of the affordability factor, worm compost is one of the richest forms of fertilizer that you can use in your garden today. Though this is a very simplified idea, it simply has to do with you taking a handful of worms, dumping them in a pile of dirt with some newspaper, a little water, and your every day organic trash such as leftover vegetables and in a few weeks you will have your worms producing the richest fertilizer that you may every news for your indoor or outdoor garden.

The reason why this is possible is that worms are ultimately natures greatest recyclers because they can take your organic garbage and turn it into expensive gardening real estate. Red worms are typically used in any worm composting bin which can be as small as a Tupperware container with holes or as large as a rain barrel depending upon how much compost you actually want to produce.

Be careful how much food that you give the worms because over time they will begin to overcrowd themselves and you may need to expand your operation which can only be good for you especially if your garden is in need of extra compost from time to time. Some people will actually use buckets and harvest the compost in as short as two to three weeks. Often times 50 to 60 days is necessary in order to keep a proper balance of happiness with your worms as well as moisture content and cocoon productivity.

Probably the most expensive thing that you will have to invest in is in the worms themselves which run about $25 to $35 a pound, which is about a thousand worms. Also remember that the container that you keep them in should be relatively warm as red worms do not produce well or create compost well in colder climates.

As far as a worm bin goes for your worm compost, you can usually pick one up for $20-$30 for a medium-sized one or if you are interested in a barrel, it would be a good idea to get a plastic one. Typically water barrels are made from Oak because Oakwood is used in wine barrels that are commonly seen in many landscaping schemes. Oak wood has an acid which is detrimental to your worm population so you would be better served to spend her money on a sturdy plastic container.

The average worm compost harvesting will net you a round 50 to 55 gallons a year. Make sure that the bottom of the barrel or the container that you are using has drainage holes for the excess water and if you have a lid on top it needs to be aerated with holes on the sides as well as on top of the container itself. Worms can be very finicky and you will have to get to know how the dirt fields with your hands in order to make sure that it is moist enough for the worms to continue breeding and creating compost area

Once you have your worms supply, and you have your bedding and dirt ready in your worm container, simply put the worms on the top about six to 8 inches beneath the soil and add the food scraps on a regular basis on the top making sure to close the lid because worms despite the fact they do not have eyes are photophobic and will not come to the food if there is too much light.

That is it! You are now on your way to creating worm compost for your garden. By following the simple steps provided, you should have enough compost to add to your small garden and create and enough food for your family on a regular basis all year long.

Author Resource:- Chris Dailey is the owner of Super Organic Gardening Secrets, a free online service that provides valuable information on organic gardening and worm compost. To download his free organic gardening reports, go
to http://www.superorganicgardeningsecrets.com

Article From New Ezine Articles

How to Build Your Very Own Compost Bin

2009-07-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

Composting can be achieved in a simple compost pile. However, building a compost bin is an effective way to contain garden and kitchen waste. A Compost Bin also provides easy access to waste material for frequent turning. Further, Compost Bins help control heat and moisture content to speed up the composting process.

They come in various designs and can be commercially bought or assembled at home. Usually Compost Bins are made of plastic, metal, wood and wire.

Types:
There is a plethora of designs available. There are as many designs as your imagination allows. However, four main types of Bins are outlined below.

1. Worm Composting Bin: This bin relies on vermiculture to produce compost. This Wood Worm Composting Bin can be used year round to recycle kitchen wastes. It has the added advantage of working indoors.

2. Wires mesh Composting Bin: These are the least expensive to construct. Simply bend wire in a circle or square and dump yard waste in it. Turning waste is easy, and finished compost may be obtained within 6 months.

3. Portable Wood and Wire Composting Bin: This portable bin, where wire is tacked to a wooden frame is ideal for moderate volumes of compost. Turning waste is easy. Finished compost is available within 6 months to 2 years.

4. Wood and Wire Stationary 3 Bin System: This bin processes large amounts of waste in the shortest time period. It also doubles as a storage unit. But constructing this bin requires extensive carpentry skills

Obviously then there are many Compost Bin designs from the elementary one bin system to multi-compartment bins. The latter allow large amounts of material to be processed in batches. A multi-compartment bin holds piles in various stages of breakdown while permitting turning of the pile as it is transferred from one bin to another.

What Compost Bin design you prefer depends on your garden size, your waste output and your budget. The simple Wire Mesh Composting Bin is highly affordable and requires no skill sets to construct; therefore it is easily replicated in an average garden. Complex bins require more input in terms of labor and material. What you ultimately choose depends on your personal preferences.

Building a Compost Bin - A Simple Guide

A compost heap should be a mandatory feature in every garden. What the compost heap does is turn everyday household and garden waste into organic fertilizer. This is achieved through the action of bacteria and fungi which decompose waste. Commercial Compost Bins can be purchased at any Garden store and they are usually made of stout gauge wire or have a wooden framework.

Most commercial Compost Bins have a removable side or hinges so that the heap can be filled or removed easily. If you don't want to spend money simply opt for a compost heap or build a Compost Bin from inexpensive household products.

How to Make a Compost Bin:

Ideally a compost heap should be unobtrusively located. It should not be more than 3 ft. high and 3 ft. wide. It is also necessary that it be placed where it is not damp or shaded so that the organic material rots into a dark friable mass. If you want to make your own price-conscious Compost Bin, you can use old sheets of corrugated iron or timber.

Use 4 corner posts, 4 ft long to be inserted in the ground. The sides are made of 3 ft lengths of timber, 3 inches wide and at least 1 inch thick. Six will be required for each side making a total of 24 pieces. They are spaced approximately 4 inches apart and screwed into the corner posts.

To provide for removable side, one set of side pieces 3 cm less in length than the others are screwed to two separate corner rails 2-5 inches wide and 1 inch thick. The complete unit slides into two of the fixed corner posts in a groove or channel made from two 3 ft pieces of timber spaced from the two fixed corner posts by two thin strips of wood 1one and quarter inch thick and 1 inch wide. All timber must be treated against rot.

To reiterate, it is easier to make a compost heap. Even though it may look ugly or untidy, a compost heap is the least expensive and the least labor-intensive option.

Article Source: http://www.articlenorth.com

For more information about compost bins and especially landscaping ideas please visit our website: www.trytheselandscapingideas.com

Home Composting: 10 Ways to Make it Successful for You

2009-07-21T09:25:00.001-07:00

Gardening is a fun and invigorating activity. It keeps one busy and productive and brings the creativity and ingenuity in everyone. Gardening beautifies our homes but it also produces a good deal of yard waste. What better way to make this waste work out for you than to use it to enrich your garden through composting? You'd be making your soil more fertile for the health of your plants and at the same time, you'd be helping you community dispose of waste in the cleanest, cheapest and easiest manner. Here are some simple ways to make home composting successful for you:

1. Select the best compost material. Composting is simply simulating, if not imitatinag nature's natural process of breaking down dead matter and using it to replenish the soils nutrients. The best source would obviously be your own yard waste such as the dried leaves, straw and wood chips from your own vegetation. Experts recommend using browns and greens. Browns are rich in carbon while greens are rich in nitrogen.

2. Correct combination of compost materials. To make home composting successful, it is better to combine different compost materials that to use just one type. Combine some of the materials mentioned in the above tip and shred them into small pieces to make them easier to store in case you might want to pile them later.

3. Use of manure can also mean successful home composting. Manure is also a rich source of organic materials and may come from a variety of animals such as chicken, ducks, pigs, sheep, cow and goats. They are rich sources of nitrogen which plants need in building up their tissues. It is best to layer this manure with dried leaves and to not simply add it into the pile s that it is effectively decomposed and incorporated into the compost.

4. Cold composting. Cold composting is easy enough to do which involves piling all the materials you have chosen as compost materials. Put them up in a pile and give them time to decompose, after months or a year, you'd have a rich compost from the decomposition of these materials.

5. Hot composting is more systematic and laborious than cold composting but it works. The pile should be at least 3- feet deep and is made up of alternating materials. Water is sprinkled regularly on the pile keep it most for microbial growth and action. Once in a while, you may mix the pile to expose the lower layers to oxygen and promote further decomposition of organic matter. This should generate some heat in the compost as gases are produced with the breakdown of organic matter.

6. Stink management is also a key to successful home composting. If the pile is not aerated enough, it begins to give off a bad odor. To resolve this problem, turn and mix the pile once in a while. Do not allow your compost pile to simply stink up.

7. Keep moisture level up but not too much. Adding too much water will waterlog your microorganisms which will not be good for them too and will inhibit their decomposing activities.

8. If the pile is dry and is not heating up, one has to do the entire pile all over again and this time cut the materials into smaller pieces. Add enough water also to make the entire pile moist to stimulate microbial activity.

9. No matter how you are promoting the decomposition of organic waste, you compost should not be a breeding ground for flies and ants that can be sources of diseases and may hard your plants in the long run. Another key to successful home composting is management of these insects by covering the pile with dirt. It does not do if these insects would proliferate in your compost because they may do more harm than your compost may do you good.

10. For a successful home composting, keep your compost pile within your yard. It should be contained within a particular space so it does not look like a dumpsite of some sort. Building a simple fence may do the trick. Your enclosure should also allow some air to get in through the sides.

Author Resource:- Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.backyard-garden-and-patio.com where you can learn what you need to know about gardening and landscaping from growing beautiful flowers to patio decor.

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Waste Management for a Modern World

2009-06-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

Waste Management refers to the process of (i) collection of waste matter generated mainly by human consumption and activity, (ii) transport and shipment of the collected waste matter to a waste treatment facility and (iii) processing/recycling this waste material for further use or disposing it for good.

Waste Management is required for three reasons. One, you can't be having waste lying around in any area as it will make the area look awful and the waste will raise a stink. Two, if waste is unattended to, it will attract pests and termites and the chances of a disease spreading will increase. Three, Man has realized that, if he allows waste to pile up or even burned, such an act would be disastrous for our environment. It is a mans duty to control waste and recycle it back into use by recovering resources from it.

History Of Waste Management
Once upon a time, when the density of population was low, the exploitation of the world's natural resources was minimal and manageable. Plus, there was not much of industrialization and the wastes generated by humans were mostly biodegradable and thus their impact on the environment, minimal. This coupled with the fact that not much waste was generated, man did not feel the necessity to manage it.

Time flew, population grew and before humans knew it, the industrial revolution set in (18th Century). People from rural areas migrated to cities and industrial towns en masse. Human consumption began to get concentrated and waste began multiplying. The proliferation of waste led to many diseases such as bubonic plague, cholera and typhoid, which led to suffering and death.

From this event on, the industrialized nations realized the importance of waste management.

Recovering Resources From Waste
As the world population increases and waste grows in volume, the world's scientists and planners have evolved technologies to recover resources from waste, which can be used again. For example, the developed nations have sophisticated facilities that convert the calorific content present in waste into electricity. In developing nations, manual laborers sift through the waste and extract recyclable material from it, thereby reducing the volume of waste that needs to be disposed.

Recycling Waste
The term recycling is universally associated with waste management. When we say recycle, we mean that our everyday waste will be collected, processed and then reused in another form. For example, products made out of paper, aluminum, plastic are collected and converted back into paper, aluminum and plastic respectively. Recycling of waste items made up of one material is an easy task.

Electronic waste is sent to developing nations where recycling plants extract gold and copper from the e-waste. Used automobiles are scrapped and their metal is sold to scrap lots, which then sell the metal back to factories for re-conversion. And so on.

Waste Management Techniques
Nations employ many techniques to deal with their waste. Here is a brief roundup of these techniques:

1. Landfill: This is the most traditional way of managing waste, by dumping it in a landfill. Countries such as Australia that have vast expanses of land, normally dispose their waste in abandoned quarries or mines. A landfill is an inexpensive way to get rid of waste. However, care should be taken to ensure that only waste that does not harm the environment is dumped in landfills. Populous countries or small countries, such as Japan, have to resort to other means to manage their waste.

2. Incineration: Incineration is the disposal of waste by burning it. However, incineration is not an effective tool for waste management as the burning of waste consumes resources and energy, destroys the recyclable material present in the waste and emits many harmful pollutants.

3. Composting: Composting is a technique in which organic waste materials (food, plants, paper) are decomposed and then recycled as compost for use in agriculture and landscaping applications.

4. Mechanical Biological treatment: In this technique, a variety of waste (plastic, paper, glass, etc.) are fed in bulk into the waste treatment plant. The MBT process extracts the recyclable content in the waste and converts it to calorific fuel that can be used by cement/power plants.

5. Pyrolysis and Gasification: These are thermal techniques, using these, waste is treated at high temperatures and at a very high pressure. In Pyrolysis, the waste material is converted to solid or liquid. The solid material can be further refined into a carbon form while the liquid extract can be used as energy-giving oil. In gasification, the waste material is converted into a synthetic gas, which can be burned to produce more energy.

In conclusion, waste management has become part of our survival strategy. If we have to live, we will produce waste. If we do not treat waste, it will choke us. Waste is a problem, waste Management is the solution.

Article Source: http://www.articlenorth.com

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Recycling Yard Waste Is A Great Composting Solution

2009-06-28T10:08:00.001-07:00

Many towns and cities of all sizes are encouraging people to bring their yard debris and green waste in to central recycling centers so that the yard waste can be composted. The main purpose of these efforts is to reduce the burden on the landfills, while at the same time providing recycling composting fertilizer for public parks and facilities. In some municipalities, people can "trade in" their yard debris for compost that they can use on their own property.

This use of yard waste on a municipal level has helped to reduce the burden on the landfills, while making people more aware of the importance of organic waste recycling and of the benefits of composting. At the same time, the parks and recreational departments are able to cut their budgets for fertilizer and soil treatments by utilizing the compost to treat and improve the soil in the parks. Some cities also use the compost to support the community vegetable garden projects as well.

In most cases the largest portion of raw materials comes from the local yard waste which is a combination of leaves, lawn and grass clipping, shrub and hedge trimmings, and very small, pruned branches from trees. In addition, the larger branches and even small trees can be ground up and the mulch can go on the compost heap as well as the crop of Christmas trees that are shredded each year.

Of course, individual households can easily compost their yard debris as well, without needing to either wait for the pick-up schedule or for their municipality to institute such a program. Backyard composting is quite simple to start and there are compost bins available on the market for those with small or large backyards. Even those who live in apartments can enjoy the benefits of recycling their organic kitchen waste.

In fact, home composting can be a better solution. This is because most municipalities exclude certain organic waste products from the public composting piles that can readily be added to your composting project.

For instance, at home you can include newspaper, coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, fruit rinds and vegetable peels. Most of the time you cannot include any of these items with your yard waste for curbside pickup.

With backyard composting, you can include all of these items right alongside of your yard waste and debris and throw it all right on your compost heap. However, you should never include animal meat, bones, pet feces, or any dairy products. These waste items will simply attract vermin and pests to your backyard and interfere with the decomposition process.

Some municipalities have enjoyed a 20% decrease in the volume of material going into their landfills by recycling yard waste. This small action is extending the capacity of the landfills and giving the decision makers a chance to come up with additional solutions to their landfill problems. Homeowners can do their part in helping by either separating their green waste for pickup or by starting their own compost heap.

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Composting Made Easy Means All Benefit And Minimum Work

2009-06-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

For avid gardeners, having an ample supply of rich compost is a dream. The use of compost will result in nicer plants, but producing the material can be time consuming and hard work. The more you can reduce that effort, investing the saved time in other gardening tasks, the better.

One way to start the process is by building composting bins that at least semi-automate the productopn of compost. A bin should be five feet wide, five feet deep, and four feet high. Start by sinking 4 by 4 posts in the ground for the corners, and then nail 2 by 4s and 1 by 4s, alternating on the sides, leaving 2" gaps between the boards for air circulation. The 2 by 4s are rigid enough to keep the sides from bowing out, and in between each 2 by 4 you can use 1 by 4s to save a little money. The bins are three-sided, with the front open so they can be filled and emptied easily.

Fill one of the bins with grass clippings, dried leaves, and shrub clippings, trying not to put more than 6" of each material on a layer and alternating layers of green and brown material. Keep a few bags of dry leaves around to help with the alternating.

When you root cuttings use coarse sand in the flats and put the old sand on the compost pile. It's a good idea to take plants that do not survive and dump the entire container in the compost bin, which adds more brown material to the mix.

After the bin is full, one option is to turn the material in the bin every few weeks. Another option, however, is to pack as much material in the bin as possible, then start filling the second bin, piling the material as high as possible, even to the point where it spills out in front of the bin and covering the fresh material with mulch or potting soil.

Setting a small sprinkler on top of the pile and turning it on at a very low level will let a small spray of water run on the material. By keeping the material damp, the moisture will cause the pile to heat up, which is what makes the composting action take place.

Once the first bin is full, the second bin is used. As the material in the first bin starts to break down, it settles, which means you can keep shoveling the material piled in front of the bin, up on top of the pile. Continue to do this until all the material is either in the bin or piled on top of the heap. Then leave it alone, except for the occasional watering, which speeds up the process.

Not all of the material will rot completely, a result of not turning the pile. But the material in the center will break down more than the material on the edges, most of it breaking down quite well. Keeping a pile of potting soil on hand at all times or buying two or three yards of shredded mulch to get started, will mean always having a supply of good compost.

Left in a pile, shredded bark will eventually break down and become great compost, and some potting soil is about 80% rotted bark. Some buy fine textured and dark hardwood bark mulch, and put it in a pile to rot, keeping the pile low and flat so it does not shed the rain water away. The idea is to keep the mulch to stay as wet as possible to allow the mulch to break down quickly.

Keep a pile of rotted bark mulch near the compost bins and empty the bin containing the oldest material by piling it on top of the rotted bark mulch. The pile of rotted mulch should be wide and flat on top so the compost material is only 5 to 10 inches thick when it is spread.

The mulch pile might be 12" wide, but only be 24 to 30 inches high. Once the compost is on top of the pile, go around the edge of the pile with a shovel, and take some of the material from the edges of the pile, tossing it up on top of the pile, covering the compost with at least 6" of rotted bark. In this way the compost material will fully decompose.

Once the system is started, don't use all of the material in the pile. Keep at least 2 to 3 cubic yards on hand so there will be something to mix with the compost. If necessary, buy more material and add to e pile in the late summer or fall.

Some supply companies sell a compost material that is already broken down, but try to keep at least 3 yards of old material on hand, adding another 3 yards of fresh material. In the spring you can empty one of the compost bins and add the compost to the top of the pile.

The pile of usable compost will be layers of material, some of which can be chipped off and spread on the ground. You can then mix it together with a tiller and shovel it onto a potting bench.

Having a pile of rotted compost near the compost bins will allow you to throw some rotted compost in the bin, maintaining the layered effect necessary for composting to work well.

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Avoiding Composting Dangers

2009-05-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

If you are engaged in any composting activity of sorts, you might find yourself encountering certain dangers. Composting is an activity that leads one closer to nature. But then, disasters can happen even on the road paved with good intentions. There are imminent dangers However, these dangers can be avoided by a few techniques from the pros.

Read up
The best way to prepare for composting dangers is to read up. That's right. You need to read up on concepts and techniques and all the other factors pertaining to composting. Like in learning a new language, immersing yourself with available information on composting prior to the composting activity will ensure that you are to get the best deal of the composting activity. Also, it will show you how to do things the right way and keep you from doing things that can be detrimental to your safety.

Wash your hands frequently
After composting, you need to wash your hands. This may seem like a no-brainer, but mos enthusiasts who get too absorbed with their activities forget the dangers of poisoning. This may not concern you directly, but children and siblings who are not oriented to the dangers of composting chemicals may not really be privy to washing their hands after contact. This is also a good motivation for you to secure a close lid for your composting heap.

Inspect your active compost frequently
Frequent inspection will ensure that there are no weeds or unwelcome creatures inhabiting in your compost pile. Make sure that your compost pile remains a compost pile and not a breeding ground for harmful animals that can endanger you in your backyard. The active compost is quite dynamic in nature, so you can be ensured that you will not be bored to death or forced to watch a dull pile of manure.

Orient your friends and family about your composting activities.
Getting your family and friends involved or at least amply oriented will help you be able to relay your activities to them effectively. It will also help them become aware of certain things or objects you are using in the backyard (in cases where you do your compost heaps in the backyard), and will not be inclined to hit themselves with it while taking a leisure stroll.

Keep the compost aerated
The danger to compost is when it loses air and becomes more poisonous to the soil than helpful. Make sure that even when your compost heap is in a closed bin, there is still more than enough air for it to continue circulating. The aeration process helps enhance the composting process, and then it also prevents the organic materials from turning into an amorphous poisonous blob that you would not want to get your hands at.

Familiarize yourself with the machinery (for industrial scale compost heaps)

If you are dealing with composting on a larger scale and it may require some machineries, you must really exercise caution in using the machinery. Also, make sure that you are familiar with all commands, well-versed with worst-case scenarios and troubleshooting techniques for the equipment you are using.

This is more dangerous, since you are talking of a composting heap on a larger scale. So make sure that you are familiarized, as well as the people around you who will be assigned to work with you on the industrial composting process.

Compost Smells: This and Other Composting Myths

2009-05-22T21:49:00.001-07:00

Composting is a natural and simple process and yet it has been complicated by machines, fallacies, misinformation, myths, and misunderstandings that came out due to erroneous publications and aggressive commercial marketing approaches. Some of these misinformed facts have been passed around so many times that the general perception has become truth. An example would be the seemingly accepted fact that all compost smells. But before we go into that, let’s discuss some other composting myths first.

Myth: Composting requires a lot of work

Truth: Composting is a natural process which involves basically the elements of nature doing the job for you. All you need is to gather all the materials, lay it on, and let nature do her job. Composting is a low maintenance activity as well. You only need to turn the compost file every once in a while to keep the air flowing to quicken the decomposition process and that’s it. You practically sit and wait for the the compost to finish.

Myth: Composting is limited to farms and wide open spaces
Truth: On the contrary, people living in urban areas who have no luxury for space can create their own composting bin from a trash can. How much space would that take up? Also, there is another technique which you can use, the so-called vermicomposting which involves the use of red worms in a contained bin where you feed them table scraps.

Myth: Composting needs precise measurements

Truth: Even though composting ideally would be best achieved with the right combination of greens and browns elements, having the exact measurements is not that necessary. Estimates work just fine. And those neatly piled up layers of composting piles you see in commercials, books, pamphlets and brochures of composting products, those are all for show. You don’t need to copy those, composting works the same way as you pile them up haphazardly.

Myth: You need specially formulated chemicals as starters or activators

Truth: Well, despite the claims of commercially available products that applying them to the compost pile will speed up the process of decomposition, buying them is not really necessary. It is often the practice to just throw in some finished compost into the newly formed compost pile and that itself will serve as the activator to get things started. There’s no need to buy those expensive stuff.

Myth: Adding yeast will boost the compost’s performance

Truth: This is not true at all. What you’re doing is just wasting your money by adding yeast to the compost pile. Yeast does not do anything to the compost pile and neither does it affect the performance quality of the compost.

Myth: Animals are attracted to composting piles

Truth: Yes, this to some degree is true. Composting piles do attract the occasional cat, dog or raccoon. Small critters will likely go for open compost piles and for piles that have kitchen scraps like meat, fat, dairy products, bones and pet manure to the pile.

Myth: Compost smells

Truth: Compost should not smell. If you find bad smelling compost, then the maker did a poor job picking the materials for the compost pile.

Other composting myths exist and it would be best to do your research first before accepting them as truth.

Wriggly Friends Help Make Compost

2009-05-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of worm composting? I know about composting. I have a small composting pile brewing in my backyard. However, the first time I’ve heard of worm composting, I have to ask (embarrassingly I might add) twice if the person was not joking. When I got home, I searched the web and found out that those wriggly friends do help make compost. The process is interestingly different from the regular composting procedure.

Work composting or vermiculture is easy, affordable, and low-maintenance way of creating compost. It has a lot of advantages. Definitely it requires less work, just let the worms eat up all your scraps and in two months you’ll have rich compost at your disposal.

The worms used in composting are the brown-nose worms or redworms. They work best in containers and on moistened bedding. Those night crawlers or large, soil-burrowing worms are not good for composting purposes. Just stick with the redworms and things will work out well. All you need to do is add food waste to the container and soon enough the worms will eat them up and convert compost together with the bedding.

Before placing your redworms inside containers, place a nice layer of paper to serve as bedding for the worms. Any kind of paper will do, but it has been observed that the worms will consume newspapers, cardboards, paper towels and other coarse papers faster. The worms will eat this layer of bedding together with the scraps of food to convert them in compost. You can also add a bit soil on top of the paper and a few pieces of leaves. If your redworm container is located outside the house, try considering adding livestock manure on it. Redworms love them.

Fruits, grain, or vegetables are great for worm composting. The redworms can even eat egg shells, coffee grounds, and even tea bags. Avoid giving them meat, fish, oil, and other animal products. Like the traditional composting, these materials only attract pests to the composting bin and also produce bad smell.

The proportion of worms to food scraps will be based on how much scrap you like to be composted in a week. For example, if you want 1 pound of food scrap to be composted a week, all you need is also a pound of redworms. You don’t need to add redworms into the container unless you want to increase the amount of food scraps you intend to compost in a weekly basis.

For containers, keep it well ventilated to let the air in and let the excess moisture out. You can use plastic bins, and even wooden boxes for worm composting.

The time to harvest would be when the container is full. Scoop out the undigested food scraps as well as the works which are usually on the top few inches of the material. The remaining material inside the container is your compost. To remove the remaining worms from compost, you can spread the compost under the sunlight.

Leave a few small mounds of compost. As the heat dries the compost, the worms will gather in the mounds. Just be careful not to leave the compost under the sun that long or the worms will die.

Afterwards, you can place the worms in the container again and repeat the process all over. You see, this is how our wriggly friends help make compost and for those who don not mind the feeling of worms in their hands, this might be a good and easy way to make compost.

Evaluating Commercially Available Composting Heaps

2009-04-27T08:55:00.004-07:00

In some cases, composting may be aided by commercially available alternatives. Like many other worthwhile endeavors, composting takes a huge chunk of time to develop and you really need to be able to balance all the elements. In this case, acquiring commercially available compost for urgent needs not met by your capacity may be entertained as an option. When this happens, you need to at least have a good working knowledge on how to evaluate commercially available composting heaps.

The data on commercial composting heaps consist of quality i the chemical, biological and physical aspect. Th characteristics of the compost will help you fare good judgment amidst the numerous brands of commercial compost heaps being promoted to the consumers.

Primarily, a good composting heap must have complete information in them when you need it. Obscurely written package descriptions may do the customers a lot of disservice. So narrow your search of the best commercial compost heap b choosing those with ample details in them prior to usage.

There are certain characteristics to check out for in any package of commercially available composting heap:

Trace Elements

The number of trace elements helps show you which elements to watch out for as you apply the compost heap on your soil.

Nutrient Content

The nutrient content will show you how well-nourished your soil will be after putting the heap in. Also, it will show you if the commercial heap is giving you your money's worth. A thorough knowledge on the composting process will help you evaluate this aspect more properly.

Soluble Salts

Stability

Amount of Organic Matter

Ultimately, we get the compost heap for the organic matter it contains. The higher the organic matter, the better it is for your soil.

Moisture Level

Moisture works hand in hand with air in helping keep the compost active. The moisture of the compost helps facilitate the transfer of nutrients from compost heap to soil to plants.

Size of Particles

The size of particles will tell you how well-mixed the heap is. You don't need a scientist to tell you, but you can actually see via visual inspection how well-mixed the heap is. This will also give you an idea as to how long or how mature the heap is.

Maturity

You acquire commercial compost heaps for this factor. The more mature a compost heap is, the more stable and rich in nutrients it is. The more mature heaps are also easier to manage and it is much better to add to them to keep them dynamic once you have placed them in your soil.

If you are presented with relatively “young” compost, it is better to administer the composting yourself and save the money you are to use for purchasing something that you can do well on your own.

Ability to destroy weeds and other destroyers of soil.

The resisting factor in commercial compost heaps will also contribute to the overall growth and fertilization of your soil. The presence of unpleasant elements in the compost heap need to be checked before buying so that you will be ensured that the addition of the heap on your soil will reap you all benefits and no problems whatsoever.

Aside from these basic characteristics, you also need to check the pH level and other compost parameters related to it.

Getting the Most Out of Your Compost

2009-04-27T08:55:00.001-07:00

After a couple of months taking care of your compost pile, turning over the pile every now and then, warding off insects and pests, and keeping the pile damp, it is only natural (and you should do so) to get the most out of your compost. And this means using the compost wisely and effectively.

You will know the right time to harvest the compost when you no longer recognize the original materials that you used to make the pile. The finished compost should look more soil-like or humus-like. It is dark, loose and smells earthy. When you harvest the compost from your pile, it would be best to spread it out and exposed it to the air. This will further dry the compost and will make is a easier to use.

If you find some bigger chunks still not fully decomposed, throw it back to the next compost pile you’re going to make. One way to get the not fully decomposed material, you can use a screen or wire mesh large enough to let the compost through but small enough to screen the remaining big chunks.

As you probably know by know, compost has a lot of benefits that is why it is often encouraged among gardeners. For starter, compost helps improve the overall soil structure. This means the density and porosity of the soil is improved allowing plants’ roots to grab a hold on the soil better. The soil also becomes more resistant from erosion and runoff. Likewise, adding compost to the soil allows better water retention.

Aside from the soil structure, the macro and micronutrients compost contains provide plants with the needed minerals and nutrients to grow healthy. The soils holds in the nutrients better when compost is added to the soil. Not to mention, compost improves and stabilizes the soil’s acidity levels as well. These are but a few reasons why compost should be used by gardeners.

Let’s go back to your newly harvested compost. After removing those that did not fully decomposed and after curing the finished compost, the next steps would be using what you have been brewing these past few months.

Among the most common usage of compost is as soil amendment. What you do is add the compost to your soil and allow it to draw out the nutrients and other essential minerals for your plants to absorb. You can also spread the compost over the soil before the planting season. You can apply to selected plant surfaces if you have not enough to go around with.

You can also use your compost as mulch. Mulch is a protective layer spread over the soil to help counter the effects of the climate. You might need an ample supply of compost if you use it mulch though. To use it as mulch, you need two to six inches of compost covering the soil surfaces of plants, trees, shrubs, and exposed slopes. As mulch, the compost will help lessen weed growth, prevent erosion, attract earthworms, and help retain water.

Another usage of compost is as potting mix. Mix the compos with sand and soil and voila! You’ll have a great quality potting mix which you can use for your plants. A mix of 1 part sand, 2 parts compost, and 1 to 2 parts soil seems to be the general agreement for using compost as potting mix.

Getting the most out of your compost is only natural. You worked hard creating your compost and you should learn to reap the full benefits.

Helping Nature by Composting

2009-03-28T00:32:00.001-07:00

If you are still find it hard to understand the nature of composting, it can actually be simplified. It can actually be compared to recycling. Instead of throwing out all your waste and garbage, or at least what you consider as garbage, you can sort that out. In recycling, you need to pick the things that can still be transformed into other materials so that you can use them for different purposes.

The more popular things that are being utilized in recycling are the pins on soda cans. These are said to help out in making aluminum. Other containers can be used as pots or vases. Used clothes can be turned into mats or rugs. The idea here is that while there are things that can still be useful in your everyday lives, most of the recycled materials are being implemented as decorative elements.

With the products of compost, you will not pick things out of the garbage pile to be able to come up with other things that will be useful to you on your everyday life. No, the process will not come up with an exotic looking vase or a picture frame made out of shells or bottle caps. You can leave those thoughts to recycling.

Composting entails the recycling of the materials that can be found on nature. The popular samples of this would be dried leaves, grass clippings, vegetable or fruit peelings, animal manure, sawdust, among others. How would all these be useful? Unlike the practical applications of the product of recycling, this in turn will mostly be for gardening purposes.

This will be especially helpful if you are into organic gardening. This method requires the use of organic materials. That means that you cannot turn to synthetic products, especially for the purpose of fertilizers and pesticides. And it is possible. Your compost can make the soil for this type of gardening healthy and happy. As a result, it will produce healthy crops and chemical-free plants.

Organic gardening may sound complicated to the novice ears. But if you put your heart into it, you will find out that all the hard work that you will spend doing this will all be worth it. But this doesn't really mean that you have to do it especially if you can't afford to because of the time consideration and other factors.

But even if you don't have time to do organic gardening, you can still try your hand in making compost. This can also apply with people living on the urban zones. Even with such situation, you can still do a little gardening trick by having your plants in pots. No, you don't need to go organic all the way. Nobody's telling you to do so. But using the products of your compost as a fertilizer can actually engage you with the project and may start your curiosity towards the real organic gardening thing.

Besides, everything nowadays seems to be marketed as organic. Look at the grocery aisles. There are organic food, organic soap, organic tissue, cloth and everything. This seems to be trend. And nature is definitely not complaining.

By going out of your way to do composting, consider nature sending out her appreciation your way. And may this inspire you to do other things to help with the causes of Mother Earth.

Making Compost: Getting Your Hands Dirty

2009-03-28T00:31:00.001-07:00

If you’re a gardener then you should not mind getting y our hands dirty. In this line of work, you need to handle plants, soil, rocks, fertilizer, soil conditioners, etc. and not all times a pair of gardening gloves is handy. At times using glove can prevent you handling some delicate stuff. In this case, you have to get down on your knees and get your hands dirty. And nothing is dirtier that making compost.

Composting is a the process were biodegradable materials, usually manure and household wastes, are turned into soil-like output by combining them with a little air, water and nitrogen. Is that too technical for you? Well compost is a dark, crumbly, soil-like substance which functions as soil conditioner, mulch, and fertilizers. It feed your garden soil the microorganism that most plants need to grow healthy and strong.

When making your own compost pile, it would be ideal to find a place near your garden and yet it has enough concealment to not affect the overall look of your garden. Does that make sense? Just like one of the famous movies say “hiding in plain sight”. If such is the case, a cleverly painted compost bin would help make the area neater. A corral or a fenced area would do fine.

After setting up your composting area, you start composting by arranging a 3:1 ratio of brown and green organic materials. Green ingredients contain lots of nitrogen while the brown elements contain lots of carbon. Together, they form the basic foundations of a compost file. The green organic components of gardening include grass clipping while the brown components are the dry leaves and other wood products.

If you’re worried about the possible bad smell that would come out of your compost pile, then don’t. When the ratio of greens and browns is correct, you don’t have to worry of any bad smell from your compost pile. Compost should have this earthy smell and not smelling like rot. If you smell the later then there could have been some things that might have been included in the pile or the ratio of the greens and browns components is not correct.

One way to make certain that your compost pile has jus the right combination of greens and browns components, is to get a pile of green material and put it in you compost bin. Follow it up with two piles of brown materials. Keep this gong until you have a nice pile of leaves and grass that measures about three feet. At this high, you probably have a base measuring 3 feet also. One good thing of having this large a compost pile is that the greens and browns can easily and quickly break down.

If you want, you could add in a bucket of already finished compost to the newly formed pile. This will help start the process and begin the microbial activities in your compost pile.

Make sure that you add enough moisture to the pile as well. Keeping the compost pile damp will help quicken the breakdown of the organic materials. Add water to the pile and feel a sample. It should be damp, somewhat like a sponge. See, I told you your hands will have to get dirty.

There is a need to turn over your compost pile at least once a week to keep it loose allowing air into the pile and quickens the process of decomposition. After two months, you should have decent quality compost by now. The original materials you used should no longer be recognizable.

As you can see, making compost is quite easy and requires not too much of your time.

How to Succeed with Your Composting Venture

2009-03-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

Is this going to be your first time to try your hand and luck in composting? This should not be that hard. But it isn't that easy either. The sure thing about this is that it is going to take a lot of your time. But the end result will all be wroth it, especially if the next thing that you want to try your hand on is organic gardening.

The two actually go together. You will be able to utilize to its full potential your compost on your organic garden. If you think that you have a knack and you have the talent for it, you should really try gardening. It is not all work but no play. This can actually be just a hobby that you can use to relax while flexing those muscles out for a much needed exercise.

The main reason for gardening may be for beautification. But when you go the organic route, the reason behind this will be much bigger and much in tuned with nature. By making compost, you are also being one with nature. You are doing your part in preserving its beauty by gathering the waste elements that can be recycled to act as fertilizers to your garden.

For starters, it is only natural to worry if your project will be a success or not. But why worry if you can take the necessary actions for it to actually succeed. Here are some tips that you can follow.

1. Manage the stink. You don't want to get into trouble with your neighbors for the sake of nature. To achieve this, you must keep the pile oxygenated. You can turn the materials periodically to gain such effect. This way, the materials on your pile will decompose regularly.

2. Decide if you are going to do it hot or cold. If you've decided on cold, you just have to pile all the organic materials and let nature takes its course over them. But this will take months to even years for all the materials to be good enough for compost.

If you will choose hot, this is a more detailed process and more effort is required on your part. You have to place your materials on a compost bag. Place the leaves first then put soil into it. Add other kitchen wastes like scraps from vegetables and fruits. You must remember to moist this pile periodically for the bacteria to grow so they can aid in decomposing the materials faster.

3. Watch out for the unnecessary visitors. You must be vigilant in a sense that if you are seeing flies and other pests inhabiting on your pile, take the proper actions to get rid of them. You want the pile to rot but not in a way that it won't be useful in the end.

4. Place the compost, whether it is being done through hot or cold way, a good distance from the household and nearby neighbors. This way, you can proceed with the steps without the probable intrusion and questioning by the people nearby who don't get what is that all about.

Composting can really eat up a lot of your time. So do it methodically. Make sure that you'll devote ample amount of time into the process if you really are serious about gaining positive results from this.

Making Compost: Getting Your Hands Dirty

2009-02-09T01:51:00.001-08:00

The Low-Down On Home Based Composting Processes

2009-02-09T01:49:00.000-08:00

Generally, there are two types of composting processes: residential or home-based and industrial composting processes. Each type of process has different techniques associated with it. Home-based composting is growing in popularity because it is easily implemented in homes; all it would take would be a willing mind and some manual labor on the part of the composting enthusiast.

A clear advantage of home-based composting is the minimal need for machineries and other equipment that industrial composting requires. However, it will not be able to be at par with the capacity of industrial composting systems. Here are some of the types of home-based composting processes that a potential composting expert can use in his quest.

Composting Toilet

The use of a composting toilet or pit is one of the most popular methods of small scale composting in both urban and rural residences. The composting toilet is convenient, easy to set up and quite simple to monitor and mix. The composting toilet is a bit tricky, however, since it will require you to orient your family members about it especially if your composting activities burgeon to larger proportions.

It may also be very difficult to distinguish the materials in cases where you need to monitor carbon to nitrogen ratio due to its simplicity. But it is is still widely used and accepted in most homes as a good method for small scale composting.

Open or Closed Bin Composting

The use of composting bins has been very useful for many people, especially those who are particularly drawn to compartmentalizing and organizing the composting activity. In some cases, a composting toilet or pit may not be easily cleaned; this is where the advantage of the compost bin comes in. the compost bin will ensure that the composting process will remain under your control.

Especially with closed bin composting techniques, you can more directly observe the variables affecting your compost pile, as it is not exactly exposed to external elements that can actually affect the compost greatly when accumulated over time.

German Mound

Also known as a Magic mound, the German method consists of forest elements such as wastes from wood-rich gardens, clippings from hedges, prunings, bashwood and brassica stems. These objects will then be placed in a circular trench, which is about 5 inches in width and an inch deep.

Another hole is dug at a center, an additional inch deeper than the outer circle, and this is where most of the rough materials are placed. From this, layers and layers of manure, wasted leaves and compost are added. Apparently, the results of the German mound is good for the soil in the next 4 or 5 years that it is installed in the land.

Ecuador Style of Composting

When you are involved in some composting that are comprised of tree trunk or banana stalks, then you are up for some Ecuadorian treat in composting. Embedding the whole pit with tree trunk or banana stalks, then placing the organic matter in an interspersed manner for each layer, helps segregate the compost materials more efficiently.

This will take up a lot of space, because it only gets watered after the pile gets to a height of a meter and a bit beyond that. But the good thing is that the high pile need not last forever. The people of Ecuador often wait for it to settle down, remove the top layer and aerate it and repeat the process for more humus production.

Composting! A Enviornmental Gold Mine In Your Back Yard

2009-01-27T22:14:00.000-08:00

Composting is not only one of the best things you can do for your garden, it is also one of the best things you can do for our environment. Knowing how to create and use compost is in our interest due to the tremendous problem of waste disposal. Landfills are becoming more and more difficult to find, so some municipalities are dealing with waste by refusing to pick up leaves and grass clippings.. About one-third of the space in our landfills is taken up with organic wastes from our yards and kitchens, which are ideal materials to be used in compost.

The end product from your compost bin it will be a wonderful pile of black, crumbly humus which makes an ideal soil conditioner. Compost added regularly to your soil will benefit the soil by improving it's texture such as loosening up clay soils and will create moisture holding capacity in sandy soils.

Composting, is the controlled decomposition of biodegradable organic matter. Instead of allowing nature to take its slow course, a compost pile or bin provides the optimal environment in which decomposition can thrive. To encourage the best results, the compost pile needs the correct mix of the following ingredients:

* Carbon
* Nitrogen
* Oxygen

With enough time, all biodegradable materials will eventually decompose, although some materials are not appropriate for backyard composting. Most backyard systems will not reach high enough temperatures to kill pathogens and vermin, so certain items such as meat scraps, dairy products and pet droppings are discouraged from use. A well balanced compost pile will not have an offensive smell

High carbon materials (browns), which convert to heat include:

* Dry straw and hay
* Autumn leaves
* Newspaper

High nitrogen materials (greens) which will allow the compost bacteria to thrive include:

* Green plant material such as garden residue, fresh hay, grass clippings, and weeds
* Animal manure; such as horse, cow, chicken, or guano
* Fruit and vegetable waste
* Seaweed (rinse well to remove salt)
* Coffee grounds and filters

A few leaf species such as live oak, southern magnolia and holly trees are too tough and leathery for easy composting, also avoid all parts of the black walnut tree as they contain a plant poison that survives composting. It is also common sense to avoid using poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac in your compost.

The proportions of these materials will make a difference in the rate of decomposition. The best ratio is about 25 or 30 parts of browns to one part of greens. Too much carbon slows the composting process and too much nitrogen will cause odors.

As a convenience, keep a small compost pail in the kitchen to bring your scraps to the pile every few days. Keep a lid on the container to discourage insects and odors.

A well chosen site will speed up the composting process. Find a level, well drained sunny area preferably over dirt or grass. If you plan to be using kitchen scraps, keep it close to the back door and also close to the garden so that it will be used on a regular basis and not forgotten.

Home composting uses a variety of techniques, running from passive composting (throw everything into a pile in the corner and leave it alone) to active, which consists of monitoring temperature, turning the pile on a regular basis and adjusting the materials on a regular schedule. A well managed system may produce a finished product in as little as three to four weeks, but this involves some participation, ranging from turning the pile on a regular basis to a major commitment of time and energy.

Is very helpful to have a compost bin enclosed in a structure either homemade or purchased. The bin should measure at least about 3 ft. by 3 ft. and should have air spaces so air circulation can occur. Materials such as used freight pallets, chicken wire, builders' hardware cloth or concrete blocks can all be utilized to create a three sided structure. You may find it desirable to have two bins, one for fresh material while the composting process is happening in the other bin. Leave one side open for access or create a gate that can be opened for access. A tarpaulin may be used to cover the top of the bin in rainy weather to prevent the compost from getting too wet.

Start your compost pile with a 3 in. layer of course plant material such as small twigs or straw. Next place your first layer of plant and kitchen refuse. The next layer should be a nitrogen rich material such as fresh manure if it is available, fresh grass clippings, fresh hay, or succulent green weeds. If the waste materials are fairly free of soil, a small amount of soil, a compost starter, a layer of old compost or good gardening soil added to each layer will introduce necessary microorganisms.

Water the pile just enough to keep the contents moist but not soaking wet. In a week or two, the pile should heat up to approximately to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature many of the weed seeds and harmful organisms will be killed. Approximately a month after this point the pile should be forked over to thoroughly mix the materials in the pile. Repeat this step in another five to six weeks. If the pile is decreasing in size after this time, you will know that it is composting properly.

The finished compost will be black and crumbly, like good loam, with a pleasant, earthy smell. The compost is now ready to use.

Another system of composting is called sheet composting. A layer of organic material, about 3 to 4 in thick is spread over your garden, and then covered with a 2 in. layer of soil. The organic material is allowed to decay at least three months prior to cultivating. This can be done over the winter when your garden is fallow and will provide you with a good start for your spring crops.

A different concept of composting that is rapidly gaining in popularity is worm farming, or vermiculture. Small scale vermin-composting is well-suited to turn kitchen waste into high-quality soil, where space is limited. There are suppliers of worm-farming equipment on the internet to help you get started.
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Dick Murray is a retired urbanite who has kept his passion for gardening alive with the creation of an informational web site dedicated to vegetable gardening basics. More and more families are beginning to grow their own fruits and vegetables due to their increased concern regarding the quality, price and safety of our food supply. http://www.vegetable-gardening-basics.com
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