March 2017


Why bother composting?

Webster’s dictionary defines compost in the following manner. "Decayed organic material (as of leaves and grass) used to improve soil especially for growing crops." Composting is the activity of turning left over plant matter back into nutrition that can be added to soil in order to help plants grow. Besides the benefits of a better garden, composting is a very green and easy way of reusing old vegetable matter that comes with a few great rewards:

⦁ Prevention: Composting keeps food waste out of the garbage bin and won't stink up the house if it sits to long or attract animals or insects inside the house.

⦁ Reduce waste: 25-40% of food in the USA goes to waste each year. By composting you will reduce landfill use and have a better garden!

⦁ Chemical free food: When composting materials are used on a garden you no longer need chemical fertilizers and will have wonderful organic food.

⦁ Reduce personal costs: Composting materials help to retain moisture in a garden thus reducing your water bill and it suppresses plant based diseases and pests due to the bacteria it cultivates in the soil.

To get started with your own composting follow these easy steps.

1. Gather all grass clippings and green yard waste but be sure to mix with the "brown" materials like leaves and shredded paper to add carbon. You will need both, but if you only add grass clippings your pile will compact and start to stink.

2. Do not compost meats or pet droppings. Stick with food scraps and yard waste only.

3. Avoid all pesticides and/or herbicide treated material.

4. If you add weeds to your pile make sure your pile is good and hot. It should be steaming hot, not just warm otherwise it may not kill the seeds.

5. Turn your pile as often as you can. Each time you turn it will speed up the process. For this step putting your compost in a bucket is a big help.

6. Keep your compost damp but not wet. As you add material to your pile make sure that each layer is moist as it is added. During the summer your pile will dry out and the composting process will slow down.

7. Got too much material to compost? Make a second or third pile. Stop adding material to a pile that is underway and start a new pile. This will insure you get a chance to use the compost this season.

8. Add compost to your garden a few weeks before you plant. Let the compost have a chance to work into the soil. Try to mix it in and let it sit before you plant.

9. Worms and most bugs are ok. No need to go crazy trying to keep bugs out of your compost.

10. Since the compost process works best at temperature between 120 and 150 degrees composting in the warmer months is easier to do, for your first attempt at composting, try in the summer.1

All in all composting is a simple and straight forward method that will help clean up the planet, give you a better home, reduce your personal costs and improve your garden!

____________________
By Derek Ames


Sources:
1. "Top 10 Composting Tips." Howtocompost.org. 2013. Accessed January 30, 2017. http://www.howtocompost.org/info/info_Top-10-Composting-Tips.asp.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 2019

Is the modern (post-1800’s) conservation movement consistent with Christian and/or Seventh-day Adventist principals and theology? We will explore this over the next few issues.  Protection of God’s creatures has been a part of the Seventh-day Adventist movement since it’s inception. Cpt. Joseph Bates, one of the four principle founders of the denomination advocated compassion for living creatures. In 1848 he published a tract about the Sabbath truth. In it he pointed out that the Sabbath rest was not only for man, but also a protection for animals and all of creation. It is our duty to let our animals rest on the Sabbath because they cannot speak for themselves. “He has also given this day of rest to the beasts of burden, and makes man accountable for causing them to violate his day.”1 Bates took his beliefs of protecting animals further by becoming vegetarian.  Elliot J. Waggoner was another renowned evangelist early in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He wrote several
Read more

January 2019

Is the modern (since mid-1800’s) conservation movement consistent with Christian and/or Seventh-day Adventist principals and theology? We will explore this over the next few issues. To begin let’s look at some prominent Christians who influenced the conservation movement either indirectly or directly. Charles H. Spurgeon was a powerhouse evangelist and writer in the 19th century who is still read widely today. He frequently used nature imagery and metaphor in his teaching with the astuteness of an accomplished artist. This resonated with his city audiences who were enthralled with the outdoors during the back-to-nature movement of the later 19th century. He encouraged his hearers to see God’s lessons in nature just as Jesus did. Many at that time under the influence of manifest destiny saw nature as something to be completely conquered by man. The 19th century view that nature was simply a machine led people to regard it as solely for human use. For Spurgeon, nature was not there just
Read more

October 2018

Water is the essence of life. Imagery of water as a representation of our spiritual longing is all throughout scripture. Water is one of the most basic human necessities both physically and spiritually (John 4:14). It is necessary for nearly every aspect of life. Look around you right now. Water was used in the making of everything you see. Wood and cotton need water to grow. Water is used in the production of all plastic goods. The human body is 60% water. Water is the source of life, water is life. Yet we often treat it with disregard. Some places in the world seem to have an abundance of water and it’s easy to excuse wasting it. Only 2.5% of all the water on earth is fresh, the rest is saltwater. Of that 2.5% only 1% is easily accessible. And, most of that 1% is trapped too deep in the ground or permanently frozen. Only 0.007% of the water on earth is readily useable. Sadly, as pollution continues to contaminate our freshwater sources, filtering it becomes more expensive. As more pe
Read more