Posts Tagged ‘garden’

Teach Composting to Kids

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Hello! I hope you enjoy the article.

Composting education drive is another way to ensure that you are able to pass on the legacy to younger generations. But packaging the teaching method is another aspect that the composting enthusiast must not overlook. There are various ways of teaching composting to adults, but children have different needs and may require more than the expertise of monitoring your heap’s temperature. Here are different techniques for teaching composting methods to children. It can really be fun and rewarding to pass on the baton to younger kids once you have gotten the hang of composting, and it will really help bring about awareness to their parents and other members of the community. Use Visuals Nothing beats the boring feeling a kid gets from pure text. Unless the kid is inclined to enjoy pure words, visuals are your best bet into inculcating a love for composting. Make use of pictures, Powerpoint presentations and other technological devices you can use. If you are on an impromptu teaching class, use your words to help the kids visualize the scenario of composting. In any case, encourage the children to imagine the entire process. Do a complete demo The demonstration will be able to teach volumes to the children, way more than any discussion can. With a demonstration, you not only show them how it’s done, you also show them that you are well capable of doing what you are teaching them. Seeing the actions in real time will also eliminate the need for them to ask questions should their turn for trying it comes since they will be able to present their questions as you do your demo. Track for feedback Kids can get opinionated about things that they like. Strike their fancy even further by getting feedbacks from them from time to time. Also, ask them and encourage them to ask their questions to you. Removing their inhibitions will help you teach them more concepts than when you are dealing with an uptight bunch, Entertain all questions and give ample time to answering each question. Kids can get easily discouraged. So make sure that you are able to reserve judgment and entertain questions, no matter how “stupid” or minor they may seem to you. Remember, you are dealing with children here. If at all possible, have an assistant teacher who is also a kid to help you gain a better perspective of teaching composting to children. Discuss benefits at the outset so they will know what composting is really for. If the children are oriented from the outset that what they are doing has great significance, they are more likely to cooperate and do the tasks cheerfully. Ensure that you are fully able to help them understand how composting helps the environment and how it will make a positive difference to a majority of people. Let them do it, and refuse to interfere if possible. The main purpose for educating them on composting is to have them equipped with the skills they need to be able to do composting themselves. So, seeing them do the composting, even on a small pit for beginners, may help you see where potential problems may lie. You can also easily praise them and correct them as necessary. In any case, encourage them for every form of progress made, no matter how small it is, so as to help build their confidence.

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Good luck!

Gargi Nath,a Professor in English in a reputed college in kolkata for the last 5 years having done masters and Phd.A keen creative author and have written many articles on numerous topics.Many of the articles are published regularly in newspapers and magazines..Please visit my blog http://organic-composting.blogspot.com for more information on Composting.
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The Environmental and Economic Benefits of Organic Composting

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Hello! I hope you enjoy the article.

Composting may literally be viewed as a dirty job. Depending on the type of composting process that you undergo, you may find yourself immersed with dirt and other external elements that other people normally wouldn’t want to get involved with.
However, the dirt has its own paybacks, and here are just some of the advantages of composting that you may want to tell your friends if you are to convince them that composting is worth their time as well as yours.
1.It agrees with nature.
The very first advantage of composting is that it agrees with nature. It is all-natural and you will not be able to clash with the forces of nature to be able to do it. In fact, you are actually contributing to the natural scheme of things if you are constantly taking care of your composting pit.
2.It helps the people involved to be more meticulous and mindful.
People who are involved with composting tend to be more meticulous and mindful because composting requires rigorous monitoring. The ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen, the temperature of the compost materials, and also the activity in the compost as it develops need to be closely monitored to ensure that it will not go passive and yield less than its maximum potential. Being able to take good care of your compost not only helps nature but it also helps you become more mindful and meticulous.
3.It allows you to use of organic materials which would have otherwise been thrown away.
Composting lessens the garbage in your home. since what you would otherwise put in your garbage bag may now be placed in the compost pit, it will also help you in your garbage management. On a larger scale, there will be less need for dumping site spaces and less probability for landslides on mounds of garbage being added to on a frequent basis.
4.It is flexible and you can add or subtract materials as you go along
The flexibility of composting materials lie in the fact that most of the materials are readily available anywhere. You can add or subtract materials at any time you please and in any conceivable quantity just as long as it doesn’t interfere with the ratios you are maintaining for your compost.
There are numerous resources and support groups online and offline for this purpose.
Support groups are readily available for composting enthusiasts on a global scale. especially with the emergence of global warming issues, the need for environmental solutions are on the forefront and are highly promoted these days. The good way to expand one’s network and establish ties that last with other like-minded individuals lie in getting support groups and engaging in activities that are universal. Composting is one such activity.
5.It brings in higher revenue.
Revenue can be obtained by farmers if they yield better crops from better soil. Better soil can be obtained by having a healthy compost to fertilize their land. This can actually increase their profits and keep the sources of the profits healthy and thriving for all seasons.
6.It costs virtually nothing.
Aside from the manual labor and the gathering of materials readily available virtually anywhere, composting costs nothing. The actual costs are inconsequential compared to the returns that composting can bring the people and Mother Nature.
The good thing is that it accelerates the positive processes beneficial for plants, animals and humans.

Good luck!

Paul Hata is active in various community and social programs.Get the latest Gardening,Environment and Ecology information here – WorldGardenPages.com ,WorldEnvironmentPages.comand WorldEcologyPages.com
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Home Composting: 10 Ways to Make it Successful for You

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Hello! I hope you enjoy the article.

Gardening is a fun and invigorating activity. It keeps one busy and productive and brings the creativity and ingenuity in everyone. Gardening beautifies our homes but it also produces a good deal of yard waste. What better way to make this waste work out for you than to use it to enrich your garden through composting? You’d be making your soil more fertile for the health of your plants and at the same time, you’d be helping you community dispose of waste in the cleanest, cheapest and easiest manner. Here are some simple ways to make home composting successful for you:

1. Select the best compost material. Composting is simply simulating, if not imitatinag nature’s natural process of breaking down dead matter and using it to replenish the soils nutrients. The best source would obviously be your own yard waste such as the dried leaves, straw and wood chips from your own vegetation. Experts recommend using browns and greens. Browns are rich in carbon while greens are rich in nitrogen.

2. Correct combination of compost materials. To make home composting successful, it is better to combine different compost materials that to use just one type. Combine some of the materials mentioned in the above tip and shred them into small pieces to make them easier to store in case you might want to pile them later.

3. Use of manure can also mean successful home composting. Manure is also a rich source of organic materials and may come from a variety of animals such as chicken, ducks, pigs, sheep, cow and goats. They are rich sources of nitrogen which plants need in building up their tissues. It is best to layer this manure with dried leaves and to not simply add it into the pile s that it is effectively decomposed and incorporated into the compost.

4. Cold composting. Cold composting is easy enough to do which involves piling all the materials you have chosen as compost materials. Put them up in a pile and give them time to decompose, after months or a year, you’d have a rich compost from the decomposition of these materials.

5. Hot composting is more systematic and laborious than cold composting but it works. The pile should be at least 3- feet deep and is made up of alternating materials. Water is sprinkled regularly on the pile keep it most for microbial growth and action. Once in a while, you may mix the pile to expose the lower layers to oxygen and promote further decomposition of organic matter. This should generate some heat in the compost as gases are produced with the breakdown of organic matter.

6. Stink management is also a key to successful home composting. If the pile is not aerated enough, it begins to give off a bad odor. To resolve this problem, turn and mix the pile once in a while. Do not allow your compost pile to simply stink up.

7. Keep moisture level up but not too much. Adding too much water will waterlog your microorganisms which will not be good for them too and will inhibit their decomposing activities.

8. If the pile is dry and is not heating up, one has to do the entire pile all over again and this time cut the materials into smaller pieces. Add enough water also to make the entire pile moist to stimulate microbial activity.

9. No matter how you are promoting the decomposition of organic waste, you compost should not be a breeding ground for flies and ants that can be sources of diseases and may hard your plants in the long run. Another key to successful home composting is management of these insects by covering the pile with dirt. It does not do if these insects would proliferate in your compost because they may do more harm than your compost may do you good.

10. For a successful home composting, keep your compost pile within your yard. It should be contained within a particular space so it does not look like a dumpsite of some sort. Building a simple fence may do the trick. Your enclosure should also allow some air to get in through the sides.

Good luck!

Organic Composting

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Hello! I hope you enjoy the article.

Making compost from garden and household waste is one of the best things any gardener can do. Its easy and costs very little in time or effort.
Making compost will help you reduce pollution and cut down that landfill! Your plants will grow healthier and look happier for it and it will save you money on fertilisers too. Our local council in Manchester has now given us brown bins for us to add leaves, grass and other compost matter into, which is then emptied every two weeks once it has reduced to less than half its size.
What is compost?
Garden guides often describe composting as natures way of recycling.
Composting is indeed a natural way of recycling, harnessing natural processes rather than machinery and man-made chemicals, but it takes people to do it.
Soil maintenance is at the heart of organic growing: dont feed the plants, feed the soil — the plants will look after themselves. The extremely complex subject of soil maintenance can happily be summed up in one word: composting.
A smelly hole at the far end of the garden filled with putrefying kitchen wastes and flies buzzing round. Thats what compost isnt. No stinks, no flies, though kitchen waste is welcome.
Compost is not just decayed organic matter. Composting is applied microbiology at its most complex, involving the interactions of thousands upon thousands of different species of micro organisms in a highly complex ecosystem.
What can I compost?
If it can rot it will compost, but some items are best avoided. Some things, like grass mowings and soft young weeds, rot quickly. They work as activators or hotter rotters, getting the composting started, but on their own will decay to a smelly mess. Recycle your plant-based, kitchen and garden waste by making it into compost.
Older and tougher plant material is slower to rot but gives body to the finished compost – and usually makes up the bulk of a compost heap. Woody items decay very slowly; they are best chopped or shredded first, where appropriate.
A container or brown bin is not an absolute necessity as you can make perfectly good compost in a free standing heap as long as it is large enough. You will see later why this may be a drawback. Assuming then that we need to make a container we are faced with many choices.
Why not make or buy a compost bin? Theyre usually cheap to buy, and are available in wood or recycled plastic (that might otherwise be in your local landfill site). If youre keen you could combine it with a wormery or use a shredder which increases the amount of compostable waste. Do not compost foods such as dairy produce, meat, bread etc as these attract flies and vermin.
How do I know when its done?
That depends. What was a pile of plant material will gradually, from the bottom up, turn into a pile of dark stuff that looks like brown dirt. Eventually, none of the items you put in there will be recognizable. If youre using it out in the garden, a few small recognizable bits wont hurt – theyll finish composting in the garden. If youre using it for houseplants or to start seeds, its better to wait until its well finished so you dont have microbes attacking the fine rootlets of new plants.
Dig it in to have a healthy, fertile garden and your fruit and vegetables can be organic. Dont assume the waste is harmless and bin it. Putting it in landfill costs money and it will produce methane (a global warming gas); also it may pollute the groundwater.
Compost waste often comprises about 20-30% of your total household waste and the impact on recycling is significant.

Good luck!

reservatol

A Simple Guide to Organic Composting

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Hello! I hope you enjoy the article.

There’s a lot of materials out there about composting and compost and the last thing you need is another one that explains the technical aspect of the process and the scientific basis behind the importance of using composts.
Although, I’m not denying the fact that technical explanations such as those are necessary as well, but it would be nice to hear or read something more of layman’s approach on the subject. Well that’s something that this article would like to do, anyhow.
Compost is an organic substance that is added to the soil which functions more than just being a fertilizer. It is a mulch, a soil conditioner, and something that will help the soil give the best nutrients and minerals your plants need. With compost, the soil also is able to hold more water, which is also beneficial to your plants.
There are several composting methods which you can employ or use. The so called no-turn composting method seems to be the easiest. Like what the title of the method indicates, you don’t need to turn the pile of compost at least once every week to quicken the process of decomposition. In this no-turn technique, all you need to do is add a lot of coarse materials to your compost.
Adding a lot of straw would do just fine. What the straw does is to create air pockets and allow the pile to be aerated. You can expect your compost to be developed at the same rate as when you employ the traditional turn-over composting technique. When you use this composting technique, be sure to get your compost from the bottom of the pile. Just add new organic materials on the top keeping in mind adding coarse materials as well.
If the only available composting materials in your yard are piles and piles of leaves, then don’t worry. Creating composts from leaves alone can be done. You just need a couple of things, and some very simple techniques. Select a place where you will make your compost pile. For the leaves, the place ideal would be a well shaded area which will help keep the pile damp or moist. Also keep in mind that the pile should not be packed tightly. Keep it loose to allow the air to circulate.
In four or six months, the compost from leaves should be finished and ready to be applied to the soil. Take a mental note, however, that the compost created from the leaves does not contain enough nutrients and microorganism to function as a fertilizer. The finished compost, however, is great as soil conditioner.
When composting, you will need materials rich in carbon and nitrogen namely fruits and vegetable scraps and other table scraps except left over bones because they attract a number of pests and animals. Other products include eggshells, grass or shrub clippings, pine needles, seaweed and kelp, coffee grounds, wood ash, tea leaves, cardboard and shredded paper, corn stalks, wood chips, and sawdust.
To discourage fruit flies and other pests from grouping together on your pile, it would be best to cover the pile or add lime or calcium over the top or whenever you add new materials to your compost. The lime and calcium also help neutralize the odors from your pile.
I hope you were able to have a simplified view of the composting and got some useful and simple tips from the article. Just remember that composting is difficult only if you want it to be.

Good luck!

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Compost Tumbler Bin Patio Garden Wheel Barrel Composter

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Here is a compost tumbler for you to consider. I hope this is what you are looking for! Good luck!

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Tumbleweed Compost Bin Maker Tumbler Composter Garden

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Here is a compost tumbler for you to consider. I hope this is what you are looking for! Good luck!

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What Makes Composting Worthwhile

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Hello! I hope you enjoy the article.

If you’re into organic gardening you probably know by know about compost and how it works wonders to your garden patch. But for the first timers, creating a compost pile is not really on the top of their to-do-list. The question of is composting worthwhile usually comes up and not knowing enough they usually arrive at the easiest answer and course of action. And that’s a nope, I don’t have time for making my own compost. I will settle with the commercially available organic fertilizers and stuff.
First things first, composting is the process of decomposing organic wastes, which can be household wastes or plant remains or a mixture of both, and making them into a dark, earthy, and loose or crumbly substance. Because compost is rich in minerals which most plants need, compost can be made to replace your garden soil.
Most often, however, gardeners use compost to enrich their garden soil. When compost is added the soil, the overall structure of the soil improved allowing it to hold more water and letting air circulate within the soil.
Contrary to some of your perceptions, compost is quite easy to make and is especially easy to use. There are several methods that could be used when creating compost. The following guide shows how easy it is to create it on your own backyard.
I would suggest making your own compost bin to make everything confined to one place. You will avoid making a mess in your backyard if you do so. Plus, temperature and moisture can also be regulated if you construct a compost bin but allow the organic materials to be composted touch the soil. You need to allow your earthworm buddies and other organic microbes help out in the decomposing process.
Although, almost all organic materials could go into your compost pile, a good combination of greens and browns would be better. The greens refer to nitrogen-rich organic matter like fresh grass, leaves, and your scraps in your kitchen. The browns on the other hand refer to organic matter that contains a lot of carbon such as those dried leaves on your backyard, straw and, of course, wood chips or shavings.
A good combination of greens and browns can dictate how fast you will have a finished compost. Admittedly, you will have an edge in this area if you have piled up your experience in compost making. Why? Well, for starters you would probably have timed how fast the final compost is created from the different proportions of greens and browns.
Some, however, would suggest that the best proportion would be 25 percent of your compost pile is made of browns and 1 percent is made of greens.Take note that if you have a large part made up of browns the compost pile will decompose rather slowly. On the other hand, having too much greens on the pile could cause some serious smell.
Other elements that you should always consider when making compost are the air and the amount of water your pile will need. It is best to keep your compost pile damp. This will help in the decomposing process. Air is also needed so make sure your pile is properly aerated. If you do observe that no air is coming in, just turn over your pile. Observe and continuously aerate your pile every until you can already harvest the fruits of your labor.
It takes some effort in creating compost, that part I have to agree. But the results of composting are really worthwhile.

Good luck!

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Envirocycle Composter Tumbler Compost Tea Garden New

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

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Compost Tumbler Original Garden Composter Sale

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

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