...even though our ground has been pretty frozen. Not sure if this is the right thing to do or not, but I've been placing the compost on top of the frozen heap, and then covering that with whatever I can find (leaves, twigs, etc.)
How about you - do you (and if so how) compost during the cold of winter?
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Showing posts with label compost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label compost. Show all posts
Using My Compost
So I have TWO piles of compost now... the first pile that I started a couple of seasons ago, and the "current pile" where I now put all the fresh kitchen veggie scraps. I've been focusing on simply turning the soil of the old compost pile, without adding any new scraps to it (with the hopes of using it soon).
Today I actually did that - I dug through the original pile with a shovel, filled a bucket with the compost, and deposited it in my garden. I'm optimistic that it was ready - it was a nice dark colour, with an even consistency (i.e. no visible scraps left) and a beautiful, rich earthy fragrance. I scoured the Internet for advice as to when and how to use compost, and found quite a bit of reading that supported the use of compost as a mulch for existing plants, as long as the compost doesn't actually touch the plants, but simply lays on the top of the soil around them. So that's what I did!
I'll let you know if I see any difference in my garden :)
Return to Fine Grind
Today I actually did that - I dug through the original pile with a shovel, filled a bucket with the compost, and deposited it in my garden. I'm optimistic that it was ready - it was a nice dark colour, with an even consistency (i.e. no visible scraps left) and a beautiful, rich earthy fragrance. I scoured the Internet for advice as to when and how to use compost, and found quite a bit of reading that supported the use of compost as a mulch for existing plants, as long as the compost doesn't actually touch the plants, but simply lays on the top of the soil around them. So that's what I did!
I'll let you know if I see any difference in my garden :)
Return to Fine Grind
Green Halloween
Mwah ha ha ha... (eeeek!!!)
I consider myself to be more green than average, but for a one day a year event I'm willing to let my green standards slide a bit. Life is about balance, after all.
Then it occurred to me that we're already pretty green in our approach to Halloween. Check it out:
1) Our kids carry the same pumpkin shaped buckets every year.
2) They're wearing the same costumes as last year (their choice).
3) We use tea light candles in our pumpkins instead of flashlights.
4) We roast and eat the pumpkin seeds, and compost the rest of the pumpkin.
5) We keep most of the interior lights in the house off to make it more spooky (leaving enough light outside for trick or treaters to see, of course).
6) My kids have been trained to not litter, or walk through people's gardens.
I'm sure there are more, but the time has come to get the kids up for school. Maybe I'll continue this, after the event, if I notice anything else noteworthy.
Happy Halloween, everyone!!
I consider myself to be more green than average, but for a one day a year event I'm willing to let my green standards slide a bit. Life is about balance, after all.
Then it occurred to me that we're already pretty green in our approach to Halloween. Check it out:
1) Our kids carry the same pumpkin shaped buckets every year.
2) They're wearing the same costumes as last year (their choice).
3) We use tea light candles in our pumpkins instead of flashlights.
4) We roast and eat the pumpkin seeds, and compost the rest of the pumpkin.
5) We keep most of the interior lights in the house off to make it more spooky (leaving enough light outside for trick or treaters to see, of course).
6) My kids have been trained to not litter, or walk through people's gardens.
I'm sure there are more, but the time has come to get the kids up for school. Maybe I'll continue this, after the event, if I notice anything else noteworthy.
Happy Halloween, everyone!!
5 Ways To Reduce Food Waste
I love my dog - he helps me go green:
1) Let your dog clean your plates (literally, or scrape the food into his dog dish). Some restraint is necessary here because a dog that is overfed table scraps can become unhealthy pretty quickly.
2) Cook, and buy, less. I know, I know... this is really hard: "better to have too much than to run out." Hmmm. Maybe, as a society, we eat too much anyway? Dunno. Just puttin' it out there...
3) Compost (this is tricky if you live in an apartment, unless you're really really into plants).
4) Use leftovers. My hubby shakes his head at me for keeping odds and ends in the fridge, but sometimes the next day the kids will eat them. Once they're a few days old then I either let pooch or the trash can have 'em. At least this way they've had a shot at being used, rather than just being discarded.
5) Freeze what you can. I was habitually buying too much fruit and seeing some of it spoil until it occurred to me that I could freeze some to use in smoothies.
(My dog is shaking his head at me... he thinks items 2 through 5 are silly...)
1) Let your dog clean your plates (literally, or scrape the food into his dog dish). Some restraint is necessary here because a dog that is overfed table scraps can become unhealthy pretty quickly.
2) Cook, and buy, less. I know, I know... this is really hard: "better to have too much than to run out." Hmmm. Maybe, as a society, we eat too much anyway? Dunno. Just puttin' it out there...
3) Compost (this is tricky if you live in an apartment, unless you're really really into plants).
4) Use leftovers. My hubby shakes his head at me for keeping odds and ends in the fridge, but sometimes the next day the kids will eat them. Once they're a few days old then I either let pooch or the trash can have 'em. At least this way they've had a shot at being used, rather than just being discarded.
5) Freeze what you can. I was habitually buying too much fruit and seeing some of it spoil until it occurred to me that I could freeze some to use in smoothies.
(My dog is shaking his head at me... he thinks items 2 through 5 are silly...)
There Aren`t That Many Plastic Bottles In Landfills...
Ha! I knew that banning water from vending machines was a, um, "less than perfect" solution (don't get me started on that one again ;-)
According to a Global TV news story tonight, plastic water bottles don't take up much of our landfills at all, and most are already reused in British Columbia.
Here's a breakdown they gave for some of the local landfill contents:
wood waste - 22 %
paper and cardboard - 14 %
food waste - 13 %
plastic bags - 1%
plastic water bottles - less than 1 %
I find the paper and cardboard stat a little frustrating. I know there are people who don`t have the space to compost, but anyone can keep a box or bin in the corner to stash paper products for recycling. Why there isn`t more of a spotlight on that 14% landfill content is beyond me.
Leave our healthy bottled water alone!!!
According to a Global TV news story tonight, plastic water bottles don't take up much of our landfills at all, and most are already reused in British Columbia.
Here's a breakdown they gave for some of the local landfill contents:
wood waste - 22 %
paper and cardboard - 14 %
food waste - 13 %
plastic bags - 1%
plastic water bottles - less than 1 %
I find the paper and cardboard stat a little frustrating. I know there are people who don`t have the space to compost, but anyone can keep a box or bin in the corner to stash paper products for recycling. Why there isn`t more of a spotlight on that 14% landfill content is beyond me.
Leave our healthy bottled water alone!!!
A Down Side To Compost, And Getting Rid Of Fruit Flies
Somehow or another the lid to my balcony compost tub got sealed shut (I know who did it, but I'm not naming names ;-)
This is NOT cool. Ordinarily I leave it cracked open, which allows the flies to come and go without accumulating (the practice of leaving things sealed so that fruit flies don't get in never seems to work for me - I guess they sneak in when I open the lid to add compost?)
Anyway, I should have know better when I took some compost out to the balcony yesterday, and found the balcony tub stuck shut. That should have been my cue to take the sealed tub down to the garden and away from the house before opening it. But nooooo...
Instead, (WHOOSH!!) I was nearly knocked off my feet by the cloud of fruit flies that erupted from the tub when I opened it. Not a big deal, except the kitchen door behind me was open.
(sigh)
Since then I've had a gang of about 30 or so flying around in my kitchen, which prompted my Google search of today: "how to get rid of fruit flies".
The beer with dish soap strategy appears to be working (I have beer in a wine glass, with a bit of dish soap around the rim). I got a big kick out of reading the oven idea as well. Hilarious.
Oh yeah, and I've discovered that moving slowly also helps if you're trying to swat them. Inch your way ever so carefully as close as you can get, and then WHAM!!!!
heh heh
This is NOT cool. Ordinarily I leave it cracked open, which allows the flies to come and go without accumulating (the practice of leaving things sealed so that fruit flies don't get in never seems to work for me - I guess they sneak in when I open the lid to add compost?)
Anyway, I should have know better when I took some compost out to the balcony yesterday, and found the balcony tub stuck shut. That should have been my cue to take the sealed tub down to the garden and away from the house before opening it. But nooooo...
Instead, (WHOOSH!!) I was nearly knocked off my feet by the cloud of fruit flies that erupted from the tub when I opened it. Not a big deal, except the kitchen door behind me was open.
(sigh)
Since then I've had a gang of about 30 or so flying around in my kitchen, which prompted my Google search of today: "how to get rid of fruit flies".
The beer with dish soap strategy appears to be working (I have beer in a wine glass, with a bit of dish soap around the rim). I got a big kick out of reading the oven idea as well. Hilarious.
Oh yeah, and I've discovered that moving slowly also helps if you're trying to swat them. Inch your way ever so carefully as close as you can get, and then WHAM!!!!
heh heh
Happy Worms
So far so good! This time I just used a lot more dirt at the bottom, and moved my tub out of the sunny corner.
I'm not sure what my objective is... the compost only stays in the balcony tub for a few days before it ends up in the garden pile. I guess I thought maybe the worms could get the compost party started.
We'll see! At this point I'm just happy that they're still alive ;-)
Oops I killed My Worms
I didn't mean to. I thought I was setting them up in worm paradise - you know, in the tub where all the food scraps are. This was yesterday, and when I checked them today they were no longer, um, wiggly.
I put them in my plastic tub on the balcony, which is the "second stop" for my scraps. The last time I emptied this tub, just for fun I thought I'd put a scoop of soil at the bottom and fish out some worms from the garden heap and add them to this soil at the bottom of the balcony tub.
My guess, now that I've done some reading (should have done that first - sorry little guys!!) is that the tub was too wet and hot. It's plastic, with a lid, and sits in a sunny corner of the balcony. Mind you, as we're discovering this season, sun does not necessarily mean heat!!! (sigh) It's also usually quite wet as well, since one of the things that I routinely dump in there is the last dregs of cold coffee leftover in my pot.
I think I'm going to try again (the worms are shaking in their boots!), only this time with some kind of bedding. I'll update you on how it turns out.
I put them in my plastic tub on the balcony, which is the "second stop" for my scraps. The last time I emptied this tub, just for fun I thought I'd put a scoop of soil at the bottom and fish out some worms from the garden heap and add them to this soil at the bottom of the balcony tub.
My guess, now that I've done some reading (should have done that first - sorry little guys!!) is that the tub was too wet and hot. It's plastic, with a lid, and sits in a sunny corner of the balcony. Mind you, as we're discovering this season, sun does not necessarily mean heat!!! (sigh) It's also usually quite wet as well, since one of the things that I routinely dump in there is the last dregs of cold coffee leftover in my pot.
I think I'm going to try again (the worms are shaking in their boots!), only this time with some kind of bedding. I'll update you on how it turns out.
Compost
Wow - I'm impressed with those busy little worms (OK, big fat wiggly worms with attitude). I was not expecting my kitchen scraps to be ready for the garden so soon, because I'm doing what's sometimes referred to as "cold composting" - in other words, here's a pile, worms, dig in!!
Today I thought I'd start setting up the garden for planting next month, so I got the shovel and started re-arranging the worms' hang-out. I was happy to find that the compost was ready for use on the garden beds. I'm really interested to see the difference in this year's crop from last year, when I wasn't composting. I'll keep you posted!
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