Environment Talk - Composting in Your Own Backyard

If you love the environment, then you ought to think about composting. Composting is the process of turning waste into organic fertilizer. While wide range composting is done in industries, it can also be done on a small scale. In fact, there are those who make their own natural compost in their own gardens, yards, and small farms. Any type of small space on your property can serve well for your composting area. You need not be an expert since making compost on your own is very easy and very beneficial not only to the environment but also to you.

With the help of compost bins, you can make your very own organic fertilizer. Whether you have a small farm, a humble garden or backyard, or even just a very small lot, you can have your very own composting corner. Instead of throwing away all the scrap that you collect from your home every single day, you can segregate your trash and waste and choose the ones, which can be turned to compost. While most people in the past years would just settle with the home-made compost bins, you can now maximize a ready made compost tumbler which can be easily bought online or offline. The big advantage of using a compost tumbler over compost bins is that you need not have difficulty in turning the compost manually using a pitchfork.

With the use of a compost bin or tumbler, you can turn your very ordinary kitchen scrap, fallen leaves and branches and even used paper and cartons into high nutrient fertilizer which you can use in your own garden or farm. If you do not have any personal use for such fertilizer, then you can easily make money out of it as organic fertilizer can be sold easily as they are preferred over chemical fertilizers.

In making your own natural fertilizer, you can always settle for home-made compost bins or you can just buy one. Remember, though, to invest in a sturdy compost tumbler that can last you for many years. It would also be wise to have a tumbler that lets the process of turning and aeration easier. Search online and offline for the best deals in compost tumblers and bins so you can start right off to taking care of the environment by making your own home compost. Not only will you be assured of cheaper and healthier fertilizer but also a home that is free from too much unused waste.

If you want to learn more about composting visit our site [http://www.composttumblerguide.com/] or if you need more information about compost tumblers [http://www.composttumblerguide.com/loving-the-environment-creating-your-own-organic-fertilizer/].

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Worm Factory DS5GT 5-Tray Worm Composter - Green

The Worm Factory® is easy to set up and use. Place bedding and scraps in the bottom tray then add your worms. Place the lid inside the top tray to provide light cover with proper ventilation. As the worms finish digesting, they will migrate upward into the tray above, leaving rich castings behind. The concentrated liquid created from the worm castings, also known as worm tea, can be effortlessly drained as liquid fertilizer from the spigot at the bottom of The Worm Factory®. It couldn't be easier or cleaner. The lid also provides proper ventilation so there are no unpleasant odors. Because its clean, mess free, and odor free, composting with The Worm Factory® makes it possible to be placed indoors or outdoors for home owners and apartment dwellers alike and produce compost year round. In full operation, the Worm Factory® houses 10,000 to 12,000 worms, consumes 5 to 8 pounds of food a week, allowing you to harvest a full tray of nutrient rich castings every month. You will also have an ample supply of worms for fishing.

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A Garden Perpetually Bursting With Life

This article will show you how you can start to have such a garden full of edible plants with only 8 to 10 hours of work per YEAR, no digging, fertilizers or pesticides.

Now is just the right time of the year for people living in the northern hemisphere to start preparing to have their own organic vegetables on the table coming spring. That is a start to becoming self-sufficient, which by the way, is the only way to weather an economic slump; and it's common knowledge that organic food improves overall health. When you are healthy, you don't have medical bills to pay. That's another big saving, apart from saving on your food expenses.

The secret for a nonstop growing vegetable garden like this is first of all the soil. If you inspect the soil in natural woodlands, you'll see it's moist, loose and crumbly. You want to have this kind of soil for your garden to have it perpetually bursting with life. If you cannot collect it straight from the woods, you somehow need to produce it yourself. This actually is very easy and real cheap. You need to have constant supply of compost, which doesn't take much effort or a big investment to produce yourself.

You can start right now with composting.

Compost is the best and cheapest soil conditioner you can get. You don't have to buy compost unless you want to start your ecologically sustainable vegetable garden immediately.

First get two composting bins at a hardware store, preferably those you turn, or take any old containers with a lid and poke some drainage holes into them.

Use one for the breaking down of the materials, the other to fill with the broken down material. Also buy some manure if you don't have access to stables, dairies or chicken farms

Then start collecting all organic material that you normally throw into the waste. Organic material is anything that is or was once living or came from a living thing such as: fresh and dry grass clippings, kitchen scraps, shredded newspaper and leaves. Even meat that's gone bad, can be composted, although it takes longer to decay.

Thirdly: put the organic material into the compost bin in about 6 inches thick layers, varying the different materials. During dry spells you may have to moisten your breaking down materials, otherwise you just leave it to break down for 4 to 6 weeks, turning everything once or twice. That's it, real easy to make your own compost. Once it's ready, use it as top layer in your vegetable garden; don't dig it in.

Summing up this article:

Once you have soil like in natural woodlands, organic vegetables and fruit can be grown perpetually right through the year without any digging or weeding, since weeds don't like compost. A rich soil also does not need to be watered as much as poor soil. Composting is the start for ecologically sustainable gardening.

By implementing your own vegetable garden you not only advance your health, but can save a bucket full of cash on a monthly basis.
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Ecologically Sustainable Gardening

Hanne-L du Plessis has implemented her organic vegetable garden successfully in Namibia, a semi-desert country, to improve her own health and supply a balanced, organic diet to 35 exotic parrots. Her vision is self-sufficiency and living in harmony with nature. She was actively involved in Nature Conservation before retirement. Now she does her little part to save endangered species from extinction, provide a safe home for unwanted pets and teach the poor to become self-sufficient.

Changing Seasons – Fall

Fall is certainly a bitter sweet season for me. I see all the flowers of summer fading away. As the last of the garden crop is picked and canned my thought drift towards the dull dreary days of the upcoming winter months. In just a few weeks though the leaves of the trees will change into a technicolor explosion in the last blaze of glory for this year. Walking on a cool brisk afternoon enjoying that amazing display of nature is one of the things that lifts my spirits as I taken the colorful fall leaves. While certainly in the back of my mind I know that I will shortly be raking all those leaves, it is still amazing in how much color the fading year is painted with as it moves towards it’s winter slumber.

I realize of course that winter is a very important part of the garden life cycle. The plants all need a rest so that they can repair themselves and build up for next years display I just wish that winter was not so black and white. Fortunately there are still amazing color combination’s in the winter time that would not come about if it were not for the fall leaf drop. Red and yellow twig dogwood shrubs are a striking site after a new layer of fresh fallen snow. The branches of the yellow cork screw willow or the papery peeling bark of a paper bark elm shows a whole new dimension to the trees that can not be seen at their best until they have shed their summer coats. Yet I still long for the days of spring and summer when winter does finally take over.

The fall garden harvest is a great reminder when a jar of zesty home made salsa is opened on a cold winter day to enjoy with friends and family that might stop by. When that savory tomatoes sauce you canned is used for a nice spaghetti dinner that warms your body from the winters cold it seems like fall is not all in vain. Yes it is true that fall feels like the end of your gardening experiences for another year. But is just the beginning of a new time in the garden.

As I ponder the end of the gardening season for me there are still many ways that the garden in winter will bring you a sense of well being and give you quiet tranquility. Even though the flowers are gone along with the leaves the garden is still home to the birds , squirrels, and rabbits that could use a hand with some food. You will be rewarded as you watch these garden visitors gathering up the goodies that you leave out for them. Their antics can be quit amusing and draw you in for a little quiet time in the winter garden. The trees and shrubs in their bare bones appearance can also be an interesting feature and maybe make you think about other interesting things that can be planted next year to complement your garden in winter.

Yes while fall brings a lot of work and a bit of melancholy over the fading garden it does bring you time to recharge as well during those winter days. Most important if there were no winter days when would you ever find time to look through all those garden catalogs?

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Enjoy Better Flowers, Ferns and Veggies With Organic Gardening Compost

Lawns luxuriant in greenery, abounding with flowers and ferns of immense beauty, need no more be only a picture in that gardening journal, which you subscribe to every month. Nor are they limited to the prerogative of the rich and the famous, if you take the initiative of switching over to organic gardening compost to feed that green gold growing in your backyard.

Do you want your roses and dahlias to be as plush and healthy as those growing in the garden of the celebrities? Do you want your kitchen garden to produce nothing but healthy eatables free of chemicals and pesticides? You most certainly do. Then treat your plants with organic compost.

With environmental concerns gaining precedence with each passing day, the health of your plants has become as important as your own well-being. Just like you, your plants too require a good diet of nutrients to help them stay fit and last long. This can only be supplied by administering a good dose of organically prepared compost.

Compost is, in other words, the complete planned food for plants as it carries all the nutrients that the plants need in just the right measure. Phosphorous, Potassium and Nitrogen are the key nutrients that plants derive from it. It is free from those harmful chemicals that may cause damage to the health of your plants and at some point of time to your own health if you eat veggies laced with chemicals.

It comprises organic matter which decomposes gradually, thereby imparting nourishment and health to the soil. Organically produced compost replenishes the soil with all the vital nutrients that may be missing, but which a plant requires to grow in a healthy manner, preparing it for good gardening.

Next, it helps the soil lock in adequate moisture, which again, is quite important for good growth of the plants. It gives the soil nutrients that plants can ingest with great ease. If you are an environment buff, it is advisable for you to prepare compost on your own. This can be done easily by collecting materials at hand.

Organic Gardening Compost can be prepared with anything that has the capacity to decompose organically including left over food, decaying veggies and animal droppings (excluding that of cats and dogs as it can spread diseases), but care should be taken to avoid those elements that have the capacity to germinate again. The material should be put into a composting bin in layers and kept covered to protect it from rain, mixing it regularly to see that the layers decompose properly and completely.

Clint Sidney is a gardening enthusiast and recommends this excellent Organic Gardening Compost. You can learn more about gardening at GreatGardener.eHelpshome.com.

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For a Healthy Garden Start a Composter Program

Composting is really just a way of giving back to the soil or mother nature as it were what it has given you. There is a cycle that things go through in order to grow. Making sure that the soil is healthy is the beginning of a good garden.

A compost program is good for the planet because it cuts down on the amount of waste that is sent off to the landfill. It is amazing to watch things that were once considered refuse to be recycled and put to good use.

Compost has many other functions besides just being good fertilizer for the earth. It also acts as a soil conditioner, a mulching agent Soil that has the proper amount of compost retains moisture better and that is beneficial for the plants.

Composting is a very old strategy and is practiced all over the globe. It is used on a large scale for farms but backyard gardeners can benefit from the effects also.

Every day materials that you gather together from your home and parts of your yard will be converted into a black substance, somewhat fragrant, and crumbly. This will become the compost material.

The materials in soil bacteria and fungi can survive and multiply as they break down. The bacteria is the key to a good compost. The bacteria will act as a converter for all the other materials so they need to be in a proper environment.

To begin a compost program gather as much of the green and dry elements as you can from around your garden. Collect grass clippings and green weeds, they have a lot of sugar elements and protein and will decompose rapidly.

Leaves should be added to the greens when they are decomposing. This type of material takes a long time to break down as they have little nitrogen.

You do not need to be a pro to start a compost program. All you really need is a love of nature and a desire to learn.

S W Allen
Kitchen Composter Blog
http://www.kitchencomposterblog.com/

Living Off The Land

Back in the late 60's and early 70's there was lots of talk about homesteading and living off the land. Many people where learning homesteading skills and planning to move to the country to practice this lifestyle. There where books and magazine articles and of course the homesteaders bible The Mother Earth News. People were wanting to get back to the land.

Last night on the news I watched a story about people all across the country that where starting to raise chickens in their back yards. I am not talking about out in the country, I am talking about suburban and urban towns and cities here. People are worried about the source of their foods especially in light of the massive egg recall and the condition that some of these egg producers allowed to exist in their facilities. People are concerned they want to know where the food they eat is coming from and how it was produced. They are getting involved. There are city councils and local town governments that are starting to think about changing laws that prevent people from raising chickens in their backyards. I would think that this type of awareness is a good thing.

I don’t know that raising chickens is the answer for everyone although I know for a fact that only a couple of blocks from the Urban Garden in the City Of Chicago I have seen chickens running around in a back yard complete with a coop. This tells you something!

With the cost of food going up and the questionable wide spread out breaks of contaminated food in the supply chain a lot of people are concerned enough to do something , anything on their own to ensure fresh healthy foods on the family table. There has been a marked increase in the number of people growing vegetable gardens in the last couple of years. There are a number of restaurants in Chicago that have taken to growing their on produce in gardens next to the restaurants as well as roof top gardens. Not only are the customers receiving the freshest products but the restaurants are saving money as well.

Along with the above social services associations, not for profit groups, as well as church’s have started sponsoring community garden programs to help community members as well as food pantries. What I think is really great is that children are being exposed to gardening at an early age. Not only is this an important life skill it is a ways to keep them out of harms way and to get them involved in a learning experience that is not only educational but fun.

I think anyone can grow some of their own food be it potted tomatoes or cucumbers on a trellis sitting on a patio or a little plot in the back or front yard with beans and peppers. If you Google community gardens I bet you would find a lot of groups in your area where you could volunteer, attend classes , or get some help.

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Compost - Building the Pile Big - Collection for Gold

Organic gardeners consider compost to be black gold, the ingredient above all for healthy soil and healthy soil means healthy plants. It is fairly simple to acquire the materials for a good sized backyard composting system, but what if you are preparing a new, large garden in poor to nominal soil? In such cases a layer of compost 3"" thick is desired and in some cases 4".

Consider a 25 foot by 50 foot garden plot. A 3" layer of compost can be considered one quarter foot and 25 times 50 times one quarter gives us a volume of 312.5cubic feet or 11.57 cubic yards of compost. Call it 12 for simplicity. Assuming we lose a third of the volume of compost material in its manufacture as carbon dioxide gas and moisture are released, that means we need 18 cubic yards of compost material or a pile 3 feet by 3 feet 54 feet long. Perhaps we would like to compost half the plot the first year and green manure the rest. Still we need 9 yards of compost material, half in green and half in brown matter.

Starting in the fall of the year before, begin to collect brown matter. The easiest to find is leaves in most areas. You may have a few oaks or maples and all those leaves are great. In fact, any leaves you rake up are good. Some may avoid walnut leaves because of the juglone in them which inhibits plant growth, but a hot compost pile should take care of that.

Your neighbors will likely help you in your quest for leaves. Just drive around on the evening before garbage pick up for compostable materials and you will likely see lots of bags of leaves waiting for you. Any of them on the curb are fair game. Leave them in the bags and stack them for the winter. They will start to break down for leaf mold. In fact, you can do yourself a favor and get lots extra to make leaf mold for the garden.

The next spring start to do the same thing on collection day for compostables by looking for bags of grass clippings. People actually gather clippings, some in bags on the mowers, and throw them away. This is lawn fertilizer at its best but these same folks will apply commercial fertilizers at a high cost after the work of collecting all those clippings for you. Ignore the strange looks and grab the bags. Try to avoid any from lawns that have applied chemical weed killers in the last couple of weeks but you should have seen the required warning signs on the lawns around you.

Build the pile by matching the number of bags. Lay down so many bags of leaves and put the same number of grass bags over them. Then repeat the layers until you run out of material. It should be three feet wide and high by as long as you can get. Immediately turn the pile, mixing it well. This is a lot of work but it will be worth it in the end. Turn every three to four days for two or three weeks. The pile should be finished and ready to use by then. Next year you will need a lot less and likely the home supply for compost material will be enough.

Darrell Feltmate is an avid gardener who has been composting and gardening for over 25 years with gardens up to 1/2 acre and compost piles for each. His composting site may be found at Compost Central. You can be a master composter in no time at all.

Much of his compost uses wood shavings from his wood turning hobby. The site for wood turning may be found at Around the Woods.

Organic Gardening and the Magic of Compost Tea

Imagine the taste of a fresh sugar snap pea right off the vine, cool and sweet. Or a fresh, ripe, sweet tomato or warm juicy strawberries that you know have not been treated with any chemicals. Yum! Every day, and sometimes several times a day, I stroll into my backyard garden and harvest something fresh and delicious to use in my breakfast, lunch or dinner. There is nothing like the taste of fresh wholesome fruits and vegetables that you grew yourself. It is amazing how much more flavor they have than most of what you can buy in the grocery store. And the feeling of having grown your produce yourself, knowing where it came from and providing food for yourself and your family is extremely rewarding. Surprisingly so. And fun!

If you want to have an organic garden, free of pesticides and chemical fertilizers one of the best things you can use in your garden is compost tea. Compost tea is exactly what it sounds like. A "tea" that has been "brewed" from compost. Composting is easy and a great way to recycle much of your kitchen waste and it is much easier on your plumbing than putting everything down the garbage disposal.

Using compost tea is a great way to utilize compost for several reasons:

1) It is a fabulous fertilizer and increases the amount of nutrients available to the plant.

2) Making compost into tea makes the benefits of using compost go farther.

3) When used as a spray, compost tea acts to help suppress foliar diseases.

4) Compost tea is a natural pesticide.

5) Compost tea has been shown to increase the nutritional quality and improve the flavor of fruits and vegetables.

If you want to use compost tea, find a detailed explanation of how to make it on the Internet. There are many fine sites that explain the process, but it is a bit complicated and has to be done correctly. Possibly an even better idea is to check around and see if any is available in your area. In my neighborhood the local hydroponic store gives it away every Saturday. What a great gift to the community! Call your local Master Gardener Hot line or County Extension. They should be able to let you know if anyone in your area gives away compost tea. But either way you should give it a try, your veggies your body and your taste buds will thank you for it!

I invite you to visit my websites today for more free information on natural and holistic health and everything you want to know about Aura Patch products.

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Kristine Clemenger, Holistic Health Practitioner

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