Composting

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 20% of all waste going into landfills is made up of yard clippings.  Close to another 20% is kitchen waste.  Reducing your waste and carbon footprint is only one reason to compost.  The result is the best part.  As Joe Lamp'l says in this book, "The Green Gardeners Guide," composting is "turning waste into gardening gold."  The organic matter can be reused in your gardens and provide all the nutrients your plants need, without having to use harmful chemicals.  So not only will it save landfill space, reduce chemicals getting into the water table, but it will also save you money.  You will not need to buy anymore composted soil or the fertilizers.

I have two compost bins on the go.  We just finish filling the second one and so it was time to use up the first bin.  We only started composting late last summer so you can see just how much waste is saved in the process.  My wife Suzanne is into the Raw Food Diet and drinks a lot of juices and "Green Smoothies."  The pulp that is produces in this process is great for composting.  Most of the breaking down process has already taken place, so it really speeds things up.

This is my composting centre, with Cillian getting ready to transfer some soil.

The Picture is not great.  Next to the green wheel barrow on the right is a large black container that I store some larger cutting that need to be broken down a little more before being composted.  On the left is my city issue garden waste can.  I do not ever put it out, instead I use it to store leaves and grass clippings.  Behind it is my first compost bin and next to that is my second that came from the city transfer station.  If you are looking to start composting, most cities have the bins for sale at very reasonable prices.  

The process is simple.  I put kitchen waste into the compost bin and then cover it with a layer of brown and/or green yard waste, like leaves and grass.  I do this until the bin is full and then I start with the next bin.  While I fill the second bin, I maintain the first.  I aerate it every time that I am out there.  This is to insure enough air is getting into the bin, crucial to the process.  If there is not enough moisture you may need to add water, so far I have had no need to but we shall see what the summer brings.

This is what the bin looked like in February, almost ready.

This is what we have a month later. This compost my not be 100% ready to be distributed, but I am not going to start a third bin and the second is full, so its time to take it out.  I opened the bottom door of the bin and pushed the compost out.  

Look at the colour of this soil!

Cillian and I then transfered the new soil into the wheel barrow,

and then distributed it into the rose bed against the house.  Ugly wall, but the sunniest place in my yard.

We applied it pretty think, being careful not to burry the rose stems too much.  Cillian thought the grass could use a little compost top dressing.

Some items that you add may need your help.  Like branches.  Anything branch bigger then a twig I cut up into smaller pieces about an inch long.  I do this with anything smaller in diameter than my thumb, its my, "Rule of Thumb."  Anything bigger than that could either be chipped and used as mulch, or burned and the ash used for potash.  

We use a lot of coconut and I have to break the shell up with a shovel, but they still haven't decomposed enough for the garden so back into the bin they go.

Joe Lamp'l also writes about shredding paper to compost as well as dryer lint.  I haven't done this yet, but I don't think that it is a good idea if you are growing eatable harvest.  I don't have any numbers to back up my theory, but I worry about the inks and dyes that will get into the soil.  Even without a food crop, these chemicals could effect the bacteria in the soil as well as leach into the water table.