Plant Gardens 101

Our kitchens are the center of activity so when we are composting our kitchen scraps we want our kitchens to be odor free from our composting pail or crock. Many families today are recycling thier kitchen scraps to create organic compost for thier gardens.

Having a kitchen compost pail or crock in your kitchen makes composting much easier and convenient. No daily trips to the compost pile in the cold, snow or rain. And most importantly, no odors in your home. (more…)

The newest form of making compost has really taken off in terms of popularity. The compost bin tumbler is so quick at making compost and has so many other advantages to conventional compost heaps that it is now extremely popular. You should ensure that you buy the tumbler that is right for you.

There are a number of different designs available and each will make compost very fast. Some, however may be better suited to you and your lifestyle. There are dual chamber urban compost tumblers available which will be better suited to those who make a lot of compost.

The more standard models come in either a vertical or horizontal style. I normally recommend the horizontal models and here is why. (more…)

If you aren’t already making compost at home, you need to get started today! The soil in your yard and garden will thank you, your plants will thank you, and so will the environment. Compost is a finely divided, loose material consisting of decomposed organic matter.

Although many people associate compost production with small garden compost piles that are tended with a shovel, most compost is produced in large municipal, industrial, or agricultural facilities using mechanized equipment. Nature has been producing compost for millions of years as part of the cycle of life and death on Earth. Rain kept the piles wet and aided the decomposition process, producing a rich compost. The Greeks and Romans knew the value of compost to boost crop production and even used the warmth of decomposing compost to produce summer vegetables in winter. Today, most compost is processed in large facilities designed to handle a specific type of raw material. Agricultural compost is usually produced and used on the same farm that generated the raw materials. Industrial compost may be bagged and sold to individual buyers, or the raw materials may be sold in bulk to other (more…)

As more and more people decide to move away from a conventional compost heap and begin to use an urban compost tumbler it is important that they are used correctly. Knowing how to use the compost tumbler for maximum results will mean that you can produce compost in a matter of weeks.

Here is how to get the fastest results using a compost bin tumbler.

If you want to make compost in a few weeks then there are a few things you need to do to make it happen. Firstly you need to ensure that you only put very soft materials in the tumbler. Only add organic matter that will break down quickly. Don’t put hard stalks of cabbages or the like inside. Just use soft leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds and other materials that can be turned in to compost quickly. (more…)

Billions upon billions of pounds of food waste every year are thrown away with the regular garbage pick up. This puts a tremendous strain on not only our environment but our wallets to pay people to come pick it up and hail it off to a local landfill.

All is not lost though. You can do your part and solve this problem by recycling your food waste. By recycling your food waste you are create what is called compost. Compost is the end result of organic matter that decomposes.

Your food waste doesn’t simply sit in your kitchen and rot away, which wouldn’t be too pleasant, you actually do something with it and that is you bury it. I will get to more on that in a moment. (more…)

Composting can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. The best part about creating compost is that it can consist of any organic material and we all have access to plenty of that every single day because it is produced by the lawn, garden, and kitchen. Compost is what happens when leaves, grass clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps, woodchips, straw, and small twigs are combined, then allowed to break down into a soil-like texture. Compost introduces and feeds diverse life in the soil, including bacteria, insects, worms, and more which support vigorous plant growth.

Compost is multi-faceted but not intended as a fertilizer. It offers only a relatively low proportion of nutrients, yet what it does is close to magical. In its finished form as mulch, it reduces evaporation, reduces or prevents weed growth, and insulates the soil from extreme temperature changes. Mulch also keeps the upper inches of the soil cooler in daytime, warmer at night. (more…)

by Dave Tee

The rotating composter is by far the best way to make fast compost. The claims of being able to make compost in a few weeks are absolutely true and even without this distinct advantage the compost tumbler has a number of other very useful benefits.

The fact that they are a sealed unit apart from the ventilation holes makes for almost no smell. This means that they will not attract vermin and other animals like a normal compost bin would. Because there is no smell it also makes it much more pleasant to have in the garden. (more…)

Composting is the process of organic material breaking down. The process of breaking down is more commonly known as decomposing. There is an entire ecosystem of earthly creatures, some you can see like worms, and many you can not like bacteria, that are working hard for you to give you great compost.

With that said there are still some things you can do to either speed up the process or make it more efficient. I have listed some of my tips below that have helped me with my gardening adventures and I am sure they will help you as well.

Ventilation & Aeration Oxygen is required by all living organisms. For humans we need it to breathe and stay alive. The ecosystem in your compost pile is the same way. They need oxygen to live, throve and prosper. So when you build your compost bin, whether it is a wooden box or a store bought one, make sure there is plenty of ventilation holes in it so oxygen can get in. (more…)

I have grown my own vegetables for years. This means making compost to ensure I get maximum yields. Making compost can be a messy affair and can also attract unwanted pests. Not with a rotating composter. These low priced compost tumblers are amazing. For anyone wanted to make compost fast you simply cannot get better that one of these machines.

They can make compost in as little as two weeks. It sounds unbelievable but if you ask anyone who owns a compost tumbler they will tell you the same thing. If you use them as directed you can have quality compost in as little as a few short weeks. They are nothing short of miraculous. (more…)

Vermicompost is the end result of organic material such as food waste after it has been digested by some species of earth worm. Commonly referred to as worm castings, vermicompost contains water soluble nutrients and bacteria that make a great organic fertilizer for your garden.

The process in which you feed a worm organic material and turn it into vermicompost has an actual name called vermicomposting.

Although every worm produces worm castings, the worm best for the job to produce quality vermicompost for your garden’s soil is called Eisenia foetida or the red wiggler earthworm. Most of North America will use this species of worm, but if you live in a tropical part of the world, look towards Perionyx excavatus (Blue worms) and if you have a more acidic soil then use Eisenia hortensis (night crawlers). (more…)

Since gaining notoriety as an overnight Harrods success, the beehive compost bin has grown in popularity in the United Kingdom. Now, gardening suppliers in the United States are starting to offer beehive compost bins too. But, what are they?

The thinking behind these garden composters is that while garden composting is a worthy pass-time, it is often not very aesthetically pleasing to look at. That is one of the main reason not more gardeners make their own compost. They just have no desire to site a huge plastic eyesore in the garden. For those with huge gardens any type of garden compost bin is easy to hide, either by siting it behind an existing structure, or with imaginative planting.

For those with less space to play with, the ugliness of most commercial and home-made garden compost bins has made finding something suitable really difficult. The beehive compost bins play into our love of an imagined ideal of rural English life. All, church spires, cricket lawns and beehives. There is something just really comforting about the traditional beehive shape. (more…)

There are now any number of different methods of making compost, but what is the best composter and how does it work. In this best composter reviews article we will take a look at what is now one of the best selling composters of all time. It may surprise a few of you.

The Best Composter Is……….

The Achla CMP-05 Horizontal Spinning Composter. Did you know that the compost tumbler is now THE best selling composter? You may not even have heard of it but the compost tumbler work so efficiently and creates compost so quickly that they are being used by more and more people wishing to make quality compost in a matter of weeks, yes weeks! (more…)

Recycling is now a mainstream activity and hopefully the types and volume of items being recycled will continue to increase even during the current weak economic times. There have been a lot of old, dead cars recycled in the past year because of the value of the metal. It wasn’t uncommon to get $300 to $500 per car. Demand has slackened due to the global recession but it is a good example of the benefits of recycling.

Paper, cardboard, glass, cans and metals of all kinds are now recycled. Less and less waste is going to the landfill these days. Families who religiously recycle and compost their organic materials are reducing their trash collection by up to 75%.

The recycling of organic materials by making compost is the most exciting type of recycling for many people. That compost bin on the kitchen counter gets filled up fast by families who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables which most do today.
There are certain items in your kitchen that you shouldn’t put in the compost bin because they can create odor problems and attract rodents and flies. Don’t put meat or fish bones or scraps, any dairy products and any fats grease, lard or oil in your compost bin. (more…)

If you do not have the room to start garden composting, but want all the green kudos from making your own compost have you heard of a kitchen composter? If you would like to know how you could possibly recycle kitchen scraps into compost without your kitchen smelling like the municipal dump, read on.

A kitchen composter ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’ so to speak. With it, you recycle all your kitchen scraps and organic household waste into lovely friable hummus. Because it works through fermentation rather than aerobic decomposition, you can actually site your compost bin indoors.

I admit, I was very sceptical at first. But, it really does make sense. If you seal air out from organic waste, rather than rot, it will ferment. If you introduce helpful yeasts and bacteria into the mix it will start fermenting even quicker. (more…)

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Mulching beds has become extremely popular these days, and mulch can be really beneficial to your plants and the soil in your planting beds, but there are things you need to watch for.

Here in Ohio the most popular type of mulch that people use is shredded hardwood bark mulch, which is a byproduct of the timber industry. When they haul the logs into the sawmill the first thing they do is debark them. Years ago the bark was a huge problem for the mills because there didn’t seem to be a useful purpose for it, until people realized the hidden benefits that it held. Still to this day, the bark is a headache for the saw mills, and they don’t always understand how to properly handle it.

They like to pile it as high as they can so it takes up less space in their yard. The mulch really tends to back up during the winter months because there is little demand for it. In order for the mills to pile the mulch high, they literally have to drive the large front end loaders up onto the pile. Of course the weight of these large machines compacts the mulch in the pile, and this can become a huge problem for you or I if we happen to get some mulch that has been stacked too high, and compacted too tightly. (more…)

Have you heard of composting, but just aren’t sure what it means? Not sure why how compost can benefit you? If you haven’t started composting at home yet, now is the time! Home composting is more than just a growing trend among gardeners, it’s a great way to recycle your kitchen scraps and yard refuse into something you can use-compost!

So what is compost and why is it so beneficial? Compost is a fresh black material similar in appearance and texture to potting soil. It is produced naturally when organic material breaks down and decays (a process also known as composting). The resulting compost is rich in nutrients that plants love, making it one of the best types of fertilizer you can use. Compost, also known as black gold, can be tilled into the soil before trees, shrubs, or other plants are planted. It can also be applied to the soil around existing plants. Compost will help plants grow bigger, faster, and stronger than you ever thought possible.

Better yet, composting is a way to recycle! We all know that recycling is the right thing to do. The more items we can keep out of our landfills, the better. And after all, why throw away things that you can turn into valuable compost? Simple things like vegetable peelings, dead leaves from your trees, and plant clippings can all be turned into compost. It just makes sense to recycle these things into compost rather than throwing them away. (more…)

Many people who maintain gardens have a large amount of organic waste, from grass clippings to leaves and dead plants.

Unfortunately, many waste money and time having these wastes transported to a landfill. It isn’t just a waste of good compost; it’s a waste of everything that goes into the process of transporting it (the garbage man’s time, the money you pay for the removal, etc). It is truly a travesty. All this garbage that people are trying to get rid of can be a better supplement for your garden than any fertilizer or chemical. If you properly facilitate the decomposition of all of the garbage, it will alter chemically until it is in such a state that it can be nothing but beneficial nutrition for other plants. Therefore you can turn all the stuff you would have thrown away into top grade fertilizer for your garden.

Usually compost is maintained in a pile somewhere in your backyard. Usually the thought of a compost heap brings disturbing images to ones mind; heaps of rotten garbage emitting a horrid odor. However, if you maintain it correctly you’ll be able to produce great compost without producing an offensive odor. When I first began my compost pile in an effort to improve environmental health, I made several major errors. These included preventing the pile from the oxygen it truly needed, and keeping it to dry. It ended up decomposing in a very non-beneficial way, and producing an odor so foul that I had government agents knocking at my door. (more…)

Organic is now a word with so many ‘green’ and ‘Environmentally Friendly’ connotations. More people are growing their own food and creating their own garden compost. But It is often confusing as to what organic composting actually is and how we should be making it.

First of all, lets start with the basics. Garden composting is merely encouraging what nature is all to happy to do anyway. That is, decomposing any organic matter into its basic constituents. Hummus and minerals easily utilised by living plants. (more…)

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Having an ample supply of good rich compost is the gardeners dream. It has many uses, and all of those uses will result in nicer plants. However, composting can be time consuming and hard work. I place a reasonable value on my time, so spending hours and hours turning compost piles doesn’t qualify as a worthwhile exercise, at least in my book. Nonetheless, I do compost, but I do so on my terms. (more…)

I’m sure that if you are reading this, you have used some form of mulch during your gardening career. However, you probably didn’t know that there are many other options for organic mulching that you can explore. These days, many gardeners are discovering new sources of free mulch that has been there all along; an untapped resource. These include clippings from a lawn, or woody prunings from other plants in your yard. You will be surprised by how beneficial all these things can be, and how often the opportunity arises to use them.

Many gardeners have taken to spreading out their excess grass clippings across the rest of their yard. You may think this will look tacky, with big piles of grass just sitting in your yard as if you were too lazy to rake them up. However, if you spread them out enough then you won’t even be able to tell that there is an excess amount. Leaving the extra grass on the yard acts as a sort of mulch by preventing evaporation and weed growth. With this extra water, you won’t have to water nearly as much to keep your grass green. When I started leaving my grass clippings, I had to adjust the frequency of my sprinkler system because I was worried my yard was getting too much water!

If your garden is in more need of mulching than your yard, it is not unheard of to rake up all the grass and transport it to your garden. By making a small layer around the vicinity of the plant, you’ll apply all the same benefits from leaving it in your yard. My yard is rather green on its own, but I often have trouble with my plants staying green and healthy. So, rather than leave the grass clipping in my yard, I move them all around my plants. It is just a matter of choosing what your highest mulching priority is. (more…)