Organic Gardening 101

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Home Composting – Composting 101

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:36:47 +0000

Home composting is something that tends to intimidate people, especially the new gardener, but it shouldn’t. Once you have the basic principles down you’ll find composting just makes sense. And in an odd way, it’s actually fun to watch the whole process. There’s something large and powerful in watching the cycle of life unfold right before your eyes.

What is Composting?

Simply put, composting is the process of breaking down organic matter into a rich, soil-like substance filled with essential nutrients.

This process of decomposition can be broken down into four components:

Organic matter – Moisture – Oxygen – Bacteria.

Organic Matter

Organic matter consists of plant materials mixed with some animal manure. For organic purposes the manure should come from plant-eating animals such as cows and horses, who have been allowed to graze naturally and have not been fed fertilized (read: poisonous) corn products.

To keep things simple think of this equation: Brown + Green = A Fertile Machine. Brown organic materials: dead leaves and twigs and manure. Green organic material: lawn clippings, fruit rinds, vegetable peels etc.. Green organic materials supply nitrogen while brown materials supply carbon.

Moisture

Probably the most important component of the composting process is moisture. Getting the wetness right is crucial.

If your compost pile is too wet, it will decompose too quickly and become a smelly, slimy mess. You may get quite a few complaints from the neighbors. Too dry and the climate won’t be right for the bacteria that decomposes the organic material.

To be safe, compost should be about the same wetness as a wrung-out sponge.

Oxygen

Oxygen is needed to support the breakdown of plant material by bacteria. To supply oxygen, you will need to turn the compost pile.

Turning your pile not only helps to aerate it, it controls odors as well.

Bacteria

Bacteria are the real stars of this composting show and should be treated like celebrities. Actually, they should be treated much better.

Always supply them with the right amount of water, organic material and oxygen, and they’ll happily break it all down into what gardeners refer to as “black gold.”

Storing Your Compost

Where you store your compost will depend on how much space you have available to you.

There are three general types of bins. They are:

Garden Compost Bin

Kitchen Compost Bin

Worm Compost Bin

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Garden Compost Bin – 3 Things to Look For

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:00:14 +0000

A garden compost bin is a good choice for the gardener who has a bit of space and an ample budget. Within this category of bins you’ll find a few options.

Enclosed Bins

(Note: For the gardener who has no budget, an enclosed compost bin can be made by drilling air holes into a large, plastic garbage can.)

At the lower end of the price range is a basic enclosed bin. A no-fuss no-muss choice for the gardener who has limited space and a tight budget. When selecting an enclosed been, look for:

A simple, streamlined appearance. In tighter spaces these understated bins can easily blend into the surroundings so as not to announce, “Look at me, I’m a compost bin!”

A tight fitting lid. Make sure the lid closes enough to keep the rain and critters out. One thing to mention is that the smell of decomposition naturally attracts all kinds of critters. We want to be sure to have a way to keep them out.

Low Maintenance. We’re not looking for anything fancy, no turning cranks or wheels to attend to.

While price is nice with this option, it should be noted that compost can take a bit longer to mature in this basic bin. Remember, frequent oxygenation speeds the decomposition process.

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Rolling Bins

For those gardeners who want their compost to ripen quicker and who have a bit more money to spend, a good option would be a rolling compost bin.

Like the name implies, this bin is shaped to be rolled around. This makes it easy to mix it up every day and aerate it. It can also be rolled to the house, loaded up with organic material, then rolled around to the backyard.

It’s a convenient choice, although when fully loaded may become too heavy and a bit hard for some to roll.

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Compost Tumblers

These units are a popular choice among many gardeners because the compost tumblers address three common problems many gardeners have with making their own compost.

Lack of space – Most units are suspended on their own support bars so they are turned in place. Think of a rotisserie. And this rotisserie is usually on wheels making the whole thing very portable and easy to move around the yard and garden.

Too hard to turn – Unlike turning compost with a pitchfork or rolling around a large compost rolling bin, these tumblers are easy to turn by a crank. Even the young and not-so-young find it easy to turn this kind of compost bin, making it a smart choice for a family garden project.

Decomposition is too slow – Because of the ease of turning your compost, sufficient aeration ensures bacteria receives enough oxygen to break down the organic material.

On the down side, Tumblers can be a bit pricey so they may not be the right choice for everyone.

KITCHEN COMPOST BIN

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Kitchen Compost Bin – Please Don’t Try To Make One

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:35:05 +0000

A kitchen compost bin is a great idea if you live in states that experience colder, harsher winters, like here in upstate NY.

Here’s why kitchen composts bins are such a great idea and a necessity – composting is kind of like being on a diet. It’s not always convenient; not always fun to do but in order to be successful at it, you have to get into the habit of doing it every day.

Now, when you live in a colder climate where the winters are harsh enough to make a grown man weep, you don’t always feel like taking your daily “organic material” out to the garden compost bin.

That’s why having a compost bin in your kitchen, usually one that sits on the counter somewhere, is a smart idea. These kitchen bins are usually large enough to hold 2 – 3 days worth of fruit peels, egg shells, coffee grinds etc., depending on how much material you and your family produce.

Now, some people will tell you that it’s perfectly alright to make your own kitchen compost bin, but I must wholeheartedly disagree with them.

When decomposing things in your kitchen, it is wise to leave it to the professionals. Homemade kitchen compost bins don’t have the filters that commercial units have, making for a very smelly kitchen.

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WORM COMPOST BIN

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Worm Compost Bin – Worms Are Cool

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:15:12 +0000

A worm compost bin is a really neat thing. I think anyway. This is really getting back to nature and being a part of the cycle.

Using red worms is a very convenient way to make compost. For one these bins don’t require much space, that is the worms don’t require much space to do their job: eat organic material and turn it into rich, nutrient-dense worm castings. Not much space means they are great for people who live in apartments.

The other very convenient thing about worm compost bins is that they can be used indoors or out , so they can be used year-round. Having said that, the bins must be kept between, generally, 50-80 degrees F, so if you live in very cold climates you may need to bring them inside some days, and if you live in climates that tend to get very hot, well, you may need to bring those inside as well.

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HOW TO USE COMPOST

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How To Use Compost – No Digging Involved

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:00:49 +0000

So you’ve made your compost now you’re wondering how to use compost? Compost can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used as a mulch, spreading it around trees and shrubs. It can be used as a lawn top dressing. This is where you would apply 1 or 2 inches to the top of your lawn. Rake it and water it and eventually after a week or so, it will settle down in and make its way to the soil, providing nutrients. Your lawn will be the envy of the neighborhood.

You can also make something called compost tea. Compost tea refers to the liquid matter released by the compost. Sometimes, compost produces the tea naturally, but you can also produce your own compost tea by steeping a shovel full of compost in a 5 gallon bucket for a few days.

When it is ready to go, simply pour it on the flowers or plants you wish to fertilize. If you want to keep the compost separate from the liquid, put the compost into a burlap sack when you dunk it into the water.

Lastly, and the most common use of compost is to enrich the soil of your organic vegetable garden. And this is where there are differing schools of thought.

Some people believe you must dig your garden bed up, at least 4 inches and then incorporate the compost into the soil and turn it until it has been completely mixed into the soil. This is one way of doing it, but there is a much easier way.

One that requires no digging.

Naturally repels pests, and…

Your garden will virtually have no weeds.

It’s not a new method, it is basically the way Mother Nature grows food. But we as humans have to make things much harder and more complicated than they need to be. Here is a simple truth —> real organic gardening is actually very simple.

Everything I learned about organic gardening I’ve pretty much learned from Jonathan White, one of the most genuinely enthusiastic Australian men you’re likely to meet. As an environmental scientist and horticulturalist, he’s taken organic gardening to a whole new level.

At his website Food4Wealth.com you can grab a copy of his refreshing step-by-step instruction manual and video series. I highly recommend this guide for the beginner as well as the advanced organic gardener.

Organic Tips – 5 Tips For A Successful Organic Garden

Organic Gardening Products – Gardening Nature’s Way

ORGANIC GARDENING PRODUCTS

Organic Tips – 5 Tips for A Successful Organic Garden

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:44:49 +0000

Looking for some organic tips to help you on your gardening journey? Here are five seemingly simple ideas that will ensure you grow a very successful organic vegetable garden:

1. Reuse Rainwater

Continuing the theme of self-sufficiency and everything becoming part of the great cycle, one organic tip would be to collect rainwater and use it to water your vegetable garden. Placed underneath your home’s drainspout, a rain barrel can help conserve water (and money) by capturing rain runoff from the roof. You’ll find a variety of rain barrels available online. Look for ones that have a spigot for a hose attachment. Or make your own from large plastic trash containers.

2. Make a Raised Bed

Gardening on a raised bed allows for ultimate control in soil nourishment. You are basically able to start from scratch and able to create optimum growing conditions.

3. Keep A Gardener’s Journal

Like any other project you take on or goal you set for yourself, taking notes along the way helps to make better decisions and choices. In a gardener’s journal you can log details such as when you planted, the conditions of the soil, time of year, composting materials, or anything else you can think of.

4. Grow Companion Plants

Knowing what to grow next to each other is a powerful gardening concept. Certain companion plants attract bugs, keeping them from your precious food supply. Other plants completely deter bugs from coming any closer.

5. Be Patient

This is the hardest one for most people. It is for me. The older I get the more sure I’m getting closer to becoming a patient human being only to find out that I haven’t learned patience at all. If there’s one thing that is going to imprint patience on my brain it’s gardening. Gardening is a big waiting game. You wait for your compost to be ready, you wait for your crops to come up, you wait for them to ripen. I am trying not to think of waiting as waiting. I am trying to recognize that waiting is a type of meditation

Organic Gardening Products – Gardening Nature’s Way

Organic Gardening Products – Gardening Nature’s Way

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:48:59 +0000

Recommended organic gardening products to help your garden thrive the way nature intended.

Organic Gardening Guide

Food 4 Wealth is a refreshing take on organic gardening. This course, which consists of a step-by-step manual, free project plan and over 60 minutes of video tutorials was conceived by Jonathan White, an Australian born ecological scientist and horticulturist.

Having a real love of nature and all things natural, Jonathan learned early on that organic gardening – the way nature does it – is very easy. It is we human’s that make it so difficult. This guide will open your eyes to a whole new way – a simpler, more natural way – of gardening. Food4Wealth.com

Organic Gardening Books

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Organic Gardening Soil

Kitchen Compost Bin -Please Don’t Try To Make One

Organic Tips – 5 Tips For A Successful Organic Garden