Composting

All of us are interested in projects we can accomplish for free. One of the best things you can do for your family is to begin composting. Instead of throwing out vegetable peels and scraps, add them to your compost pile. Over time, these scraps will break down and provide lovely organic fertilizer for your gardens. It will cost you nothing, as opposed to store-bought fertilizer, and will decrease trash going to the landfill.

What can you compost? No meat and no dairy. But any vegetable or fruit scraps and egg shells can all go in your pile. Think potato, squash, and carrot peels, onion skins, the ends of your celery bunches, pineapple cores, crown (spiky parts on top), and rind, apple cores (unless you save them to make vinegar), orange and grapefruit peels, old salad, and nearly anything you’re putting down the disposal or throwing in the trash except . . . meat and dairy. You can also add grass clippings, leaves, and anything that will decay over time.

I started composting a long time ago. My first attempt was a compost bin that I bought. It had a lid, four vented sides, and little covers over openings at the bottom on each side that could be lifted out or replaced on runners. You removed the lid, dropped your composting in the top, reattached the lid, and let time do its thing. When you wanted to remove some compost, you would pull up one of the little side slides, scoop out the amount of compost you needed, and put the slide back in place. It was money wasted! Weeds LOVED my compost bin. With no bottom, and that rich decaying matter, weeds grew up into the bin. I also found it impossible after awhile to raise the side slides. Fail Blog. I finally gave up and it was several years before I tried again.

After watching a video one day, I came up with the bright idea of using cinder blocks to delineate my compost pile. I carefully cleared an area behind my duck pens at the back of the yard (compost doesn’t smell really lovely during the decaying process, so you probably don’t want to put your pile near a yard thoroughfare), outlined it with cinder blocks I had on hand, 2 high, and began dumping my organic waste. Every now and then, I’ll add a shovel full or two of regular soil on top of the decaying matter. It gets air, sunlight, and rain. It’s easy to add to and just as easy to use. I now have a working compost pile that gives me beautiful, loamy organic fertilizer.

I’ve heard of large barrels with a door on the front for composting. They sit on a stand that allows them to roll. You just open up the door on the front, toss in your organic matter, close the door, and give the barrel a spin. Supposedly, these work extraordinarily well, but I didn’t want to spend money on something I could do for free.

If you get a chance, periodically turn the soil with a shovel or pitchfork in your compost bin. It needs rotating periodically. And don’t forget to add pine straw, leaves, and grass clippings. They form an excellent foundation for your compost pile. When planting your garden, add a few shovels of this compost to the soil where you’re planting. Your seeds or seedlings will pay you back for the effort in growth.

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