The Best Place for your Composting Bin

When choosing a location for your compost, the most common location for a compost pile or bin is in close proximity to your kitchen and/or garden.  You want it in a convenient location to make it easy and second nature to bring your food scraps or garden waste to the composter.  And if you have a large yard, the yard waste can get quite heavy and you don’t want transporting the heavy material to be a deterrent to composting.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are other considerations that need to be taken into account when choosing a composting site.  Keeping all the below suggestions in mind, you also want to make sure that it is in an area that children or animals will not disturb or get into the compost bin.

The ground should be level and not prone to collecting excessive water (it needs good drainage).  Your compost pile needs to stay moist but you do not want too much water or it will not work properly.  In addition to level ground, make sure you can easily access the area with a wheelbarrow to transport your finished compost.

A shady location is best, as if the compost pile gets too much sunlight it will get too hot and dry out.  Again, the pile needs to stay moist and overheating it with external sources will not help.

A water source should be close by – you can reach the area with your garden hose or easily carry enough water to moisten the pile if it becomes too dry.  Remember you just want to moisten the pile with a spray of water not drench it.

If you are beginning with a one bin system, you may want to leave enough room for a second bin down the road.  By having two bins side-by-side, you can easily rotate or turn the pile by moving material from one bin to the next.

Who Can Benefit From Composting?

As there are many uses for compost, you will find people with different interests and occupations utilizing this environmentally friendly resource.

A homeowner can create a compost bin or pile to reduce the amount of trash they are throwing away.  As an added benefit they are creating a fertilizer for their house plants or garden plot.  Since compost bins require green food (kitchen scraps, grass clippings) and brown food (leaves, straw, shredded brown paper, etc.) you can collect your grass clippings and add them to your bin too.

Home-made compost pile. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On a farm, crops can produce a lot of waste.  A farmer can use crops that are not consumable (ground cover, etc.) and add them to a compost bin along with manure from any livestock they may keep.  Once the compost matures and is ready, the farmer can use the material for added nutrients in the soil, to build up low spots in his field, and to keep the soil healthy. You can even use mature compost as mulch to help the soil retain water and prevent weeds.

A professional landscaper can create compost material for clients that want only natural or organic materials used on their lawn or flower beds.  This can be a low-cost material for a landscaper to utilize providing his clients with Earth-friendly options with a low overhead cost.

If you like the idea of composting but do not have the space or time to create a compost pile of your own, check with your city or municipality’s recycling center.  Some will accept your yard waste and clippings for a city compost heap.  This material will then be used throughout the city’s parks and gardens.  In certain centers they may let the residents utilize the mature compost for their own needs too.

Schools may also utilize compost to teach the students the process of decomposition and to teach children what we can do to help our planet.  This is in addition to the cost savings for the school in up keeping the grounds and gardens. Some schools also plant community gardens as a learning tool for the students, and also to create green spaces and support the local community.

What Is Composting?

Composting is a topic that many new gardeners have questions about, and often may shy away from as they are worried about smells or other common misconceptions about compost. But composting is actually an easy way to make your gardening efforts more sustainable, so this month we're starting a short series on composting. This week we're starting off with a basic introduction to composting - what it is, and how it works.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In basic terms, composting is recycling your kitchen waste and lawn trimmings and turning them into a valuable resource for your garden or houseplants.  This is done by speeding up the process that the materials you use to compost would naturally go through on their own – decomposition.

Compost is not soil.  It is a common misconception that the end-result of composting is the dirt that you find in the ground.  It is actually a richer substance that acts as a fertilizer (enriching the soil) to grow hardier and healthier plants.

Before you begin composting there are choices to be made – what type of container and style suits your project, what you will be putting into your compost bin, and the location of your bin.  But regardless of these decisions, how you convert your waste into compost happens the same way.  It is a breakdown of waste materials as they are digested by microbes (bacteria and fungi).

The microbes are the workers of the composting equation.  They need air, water, and food to do their job and it is up to you to supply it to them in the right amounts.  If you have heard that having a compost bin or pile creates a foul odor it is most likely the result of not enough air circulating throughout the waste material.  Without air, the material will still break down but it will be done by anaerobic microbes (organisms that do not need oxygen) as opposed to aerobic (ones that need oxygen).  So if you do have an unpleasant smell coming from your compost bin or pile, you can rotate the material to let in more air, or add a substance to create more room for the air to circulate.  Wood chips or hay and straw are good for this.

Composting is good for both the environment and for your garden – it eliminates the amount of waste you throw away and enriches the soil your plants grow in.

Be sure to check back next week when we'll cover the next topic in our composting series!

Winter Veggies for the Cold Weather Gardener

What kind of images do the word winter conjure up in your mind? Of course there's Christmas and the holidays, filled with snow and good cheer, as well as the leaves falling from the trees leaving bare branches all around, but did you know that the winter can also be a season of bounty? You always hear about planting your gardens in the spring and harvesting in the fall but you shouldn't count winter out just yet! There are plenty of great and hardy vegetables that can grow all through winter, meaning your garden will be productive all year round! Here are several vegetables that can grow throughout the winter - depending on your climate.

Looseleaf lettuce. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Winter Lettuce – The name really says it all. There are several varieties of hardy lettuces that are great for growing and picking right through the winter. Depending on how harsh or mild the season ends up being you can decide whether to leave them unprotected or cover them, but in any case you'll never be wanting for a crisp, tasty addition to your meals or salads.

Broccoli – Broccoli is perfect for growing in cold climates or through the winter months. In fact it can even be harder to grow in more tropical climates than it is elsewhere. You can plant and transplant certain varieties of broccoli in the late summer, leaving them primed and ready for picking all throughout autumn and well into the winter months. Eat it solo or on a veggie platter for best effect! 

Asparagus – Perfect for planting in the fall, asparagus takes a bit of work to prepare for and maintain but believe me the work and wait is worth it! Unlike weaker, more frail vegetables, asparagus will keep on trucking right through winter and even the other three seasons for that matter. The asparagus is a champion among vegetables and it will grow underground in the winter, and pop up fresh and tasty spears in the early spring so you can enjoy it freshly cut from your own garden. 

Leeks – Not always on the top of every vegetable gardener's list, leeks are a tasty addition to any winter gardener's menu. They have a wide variety of ways that they can be enjoyed, making them a great choice if you're looking to put something a little different on your plate. Plant leeks and you'll have a vegetable you can pull and enjoy roasted or in soups and stews throughout the winter. 

Kale (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kale - Kale and other cool-weather greens like mustard and turnip greens may grow well throughout the winter, although you may need to cover them on very cold nights. Cold weather actually makes these greens sweeter, and they are not plagued by pests as they can be during warmer parts of the year.

Kohlrabi – Last but not least is the tasty and rambunctious kohlrabi. Many winter and cold weather vegetables grow will often slowly but kohlrabi kicks that idea to the curb, flourishing in colder temperatures. They grow quickly and taste great, often compared to broccoli or turnips. If you want to try something a little different, kohlrabi is sure to be a perfect addition to round out your winter garden! 

Don't be left out in the cold - make sure your garden is stocked with plenty of these delicious wintery vegetables that you can enjoy all through the cold months while other gardeners are resting on their laurels dreaming of a warm spring!