The best combination of browns and greens is about 4 parts of “browns” to one part “greens” by volume
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The Garden Of Oz - 7 views
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, if you want to give the mix a little boost, one excellent and free additive is simply a shovel full of good garden soil
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You’ll have much better success if you refrain from adding raw materials to your batch of working compost
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To increase the efficiency of the composting process, mix the heap to bring more of the raw materials from the outside to the core.
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You’ll need to build or buy a worm composting “farm” if you want to dispose of your kitchen scraps by vermicomposting.
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Compost tea is simply the result of soaking a bag full of compost in a bucket full of water for an hour or so. The water soluble nutrients and beneficial microorganisms leach out of the compost, resulting in a brown liquid that can be used to water houseplants, your lawn, or garden plants.
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Compost tea will give your plants a boost of needed nutrients and help to prevent a lot of plant diseases
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Screened compost (compost that has been sifted to collect the smaller particles) can be applied as a lawn fertilizer throughout the season
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Mulch is any material that is applied to the garden’s surface to prevent weed germination and to reduce water evaporation.
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Compost can be used to create a very good seed starting mix, or it can be added to potting soil to create a nutrient-rich mixture
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Because the composting process takes at least several weeks under the best conditions, you cannot add additional materials to the heap without “resetting the clock” to day one
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The organic material can be plant material or animal matter
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Disadvantages of Open Bin Composting
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It’s great for the garden, and it’s environmentally responsible.
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Kitchen Waste Composting: Love it or Hate it? - 6 views
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Kitchen scraps are very wet and as they start to decompose, they produce even more water. This water can overwhelm a barrel or worm bin system, or any pile that is not set up to drain well
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The small pests like fruit flies and flies are best deterred by making sure that all the scraps are buried completely in whatever system you use. Since your pile needs air to decompose, know that insects will have no problem finding your morsels.
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When your kitchen waste composting attracts larger pests like rats, dogs and raccoons, this can make your neighbors decide that your green living has got to stop.
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Winter, summer, snow or rain, every day you produce kitchen scraps. But while you produce kitchen scraps rain or shine, the organisms which drive decomposition take the winter off. So all winter long, you add to the compost pile, and you have no garden debris to add carbon, and the temperatures slow decomposition to a halt.
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5 Reasons to Compost | Easy Composting - 10 views
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What an incentive to compost? You don’t have to pay for anything. The ingredients are all around you everyday and ready to be used in the creation of healthy compost for your garden or plants. These ingredients are food scraps, paper, leaves, grass, plants, flowers, and more. These ingredients are all around your home and in your life everyday. Put them to use by composting.
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It is estimated that 50% of all the waste in landfills could be composted, put to use, and diverted away from the landfills in the first place. This would significantly reduce the burden this growing waste puts on cities, municipalities, and governments that have to tend, maintain, and secure it.
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It is a proven fact that quality compost can improve the soil composition in your garden. Some of the benefits are reduced weeds, insects, reduced run off and erosion, while increasing the over biological activity in the soil improving nutrients and plant health.
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By taking these natural products and allowing them to breakdown into your fertilizer, you reduce the need for chemicals treatments that are harmful to your food, plants, and ultimately your health.
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Returning these waste products to the soil creates the need nutrients and condition necessary to produce quality crops and plants.
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Benefits of compost - 5 views
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Compost is an inexpensive alternative to chemical fertilizers, and it is less likely to harm sensitive roots.
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Cheaper than chemical fertilizer Gradually releases nutrients Reduces disposal fees Diverts waste from the landfill Less stressful on roots Loosens soil Allows roots to spread out widely, preventing erosion Retains water like mulch Accelerates nutrient cycling Reduces oil dependence Sustainable improvement to the soil Reduced run-off and water pollution Reduced irrigation bill
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untitled - 4 views
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Depending on where you live, youmay have a problem with rodents if vegetative food wastes are combined with yard wastes. If so, an enclosed space or bin is advisable.
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Vermicomposting or worm composting is the easiest way to recycle food wastes and is ideal for people who do not have an outdoor compost pile
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. Composting with worms avoids the needless disposal of vegetative food wastes and enjoy the benefits of a high quality compost.
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It is done with "redworms" (Eisenia foetida) who are happiest at temperatures between 50= and 70= F and can be kept indoors at home, school, or the office. As with outdoor composting, it is best to avoid putting bones, meats, fish, or oily fats in the worm box as they emit odors and may attract mice and rat
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The redworms are placed in a box or bin which can be built or purchased, along with "bedding" of shredded cardboard and/or paper moistened to about 75% water content. The container should be wide enough so that food scraps can be buried in a different location each time. The dimensions of the container and the amount of worms required initially will depend on how much organic food waste will need to be composted each week.
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The worms will gradually reproduce or die according to the amount of food they receive. A sudden addition of a large amount of food waste may attract fruit flies, so increases should be made gradually.
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About four to six months after the box has been started, the worms will have converted all of the bedding and most of the food waste into "castings" which will need to be harvested so the process can begin again.