Posts Tagged ‘Lawn’

All About Compost Tea

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Hello! I hope you enjoy the article.

Organic gardeners all know compost is fantastic stuff. But now, there’s something even better and that’s compost tea. If you start with a good compost you’ll have a versatile elixir for all your garden needs. Compost tea helps prevent foliage diseases and at the same time increase the nutrients to the plant and shutdown the toxins hurting the plants. It will improve the taste/flavor of your vegetables. So why not give this tea a try either by buying it or brewing it yourself. You won’t believe the results! Four ways that good bacteria work: Help compete for the nutrients Dine on the bad varmits Help produce antibiotics to use against the varmits. They shove the bad varmits out. Compost tea that is correctly brewed has a wealth of microorganisms that will benefit your plants’ growth and health as well as the soil that they live in. Compost tea can be considered yogurt for the soil. The microorganisms living there are both good and bad. What the tea does is make sure the good guys win by introducing helpful bacteria, fungi, protozoa and beneficial nematodes. Harmful bacteria lives best in soil that does not have good air circulation. Good bacteria lives best and will thrive in soil that is well ventilated with oxygen. This is where a good compost tea, made the right way, comes in. When you have well oxygenated compost you automatically get rid of 3/4 of the bad varmits. Also by using harmful insecticides or chemical fertilizers we reduce the number of beneficial microorganisms in the soil. Plants produce their own energy and food and half of that goes to the roots and some of that goes into the surrounding soil and guess who gets that? Correct, the good guys, and then it turns into a beneficial cycle. The following is taken from the internet and shows compost tea is becoming a force in gardening. National Organic Standards Board Compost Tea Task Force Report April 6, 2004 Introduction In 2003, the National Organic Standards Board convened a Compost Tea Task Force to review the relevant scientific data and report their recommendations on ‘What constitutes a reasonable use of compost tea?’ The Task Force was composed of 13 individuals with knowledge and expertise in organic farming practices, organic certification, EPA pathogen regulations, compost, compost tea production and analysis, plant pathology, food safety and environmental microbiology. Throughout their discussions, members consistently acknowledged the growing interest among certified organic and conventional growers to use compost teas, and the need to develop effective biologically-based tools to manage plant fertility, pests, and diseases. A primary reason for producing compost tea is to transfer microbial biomass, fine particulate organic matter, and soluble chemical components of compost into an aqueous phase that can be applied to plant surfaces and soils in ways not possible or economically feasible with solid compost.

Good luck!

Learn about lawn weeds and lawn aeration at the Lawn Tips site.
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How To Build a Compost Bin

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Hello! I hope you enjoy the article.

Compost can act as a great fertilizer, enriching the soil with organic materials rather than making use of chemicals that can do more harm than good if used badly. Composting is a great way to save money as well. Using compost requires that you completely mix it into the soil, reducing compaction and providing oxygenation to the soil. Compost can help plants stay healthier, and that contributes to their ability to repel diseases and survive insect attacks. A healthy landscape can be achieved with a little help from composting.

It is critical to note that composting does require a little extra work. The mound needs to be turned, and you need to make certain that you have adequate break down of the items in your compost pile. You need to be selective in what you put in your compost: it ought only be items that will break down naturally. Plant matter (including pulled weeds) and various foods are excellent in compost and will add to the health of your soil, and so to your landscape over all. There is no reason, though, that your compost pile needs to be a true pile. A bin can help you better hold your compost and preserve it from being spread across your compound in a smelly mess by animals or a really ferocious downpour.

The first thing you need to do before you set up a compost bin is decide what your needs are. Numerous people in reality use a three-bin combination. The bins may be connected, or they may be individually lined up. Some people use the bins for distinct types of compost (regular compost, slow compost like woody plants, and leaves collected in the fall). Others like to have a three-bin system for the turning purposes. Move the compost from one bin into the next, allowing it to turn. Then you can start a pile in the newly vacated bin. By the time the compost makes it into the third bin, it is ready for use. Others find that a single bin is adequate for their needs, and just go out to stir it throughout now and then.

Next you need to decide what materials you will use to construct your bin. It is vital to note that some exposure to the elements is essential for more productive and quicker composting. Chicken wire is not especially good for compost bins as it can extend out of shape extremely readily and does not wear well. Materials like 16-guage plastic-coated wire mesh and hardware cloth are better choices, as is hog wire. Wood makes an interesting choice, but it is critical to note that it will eventually compost itself and will need to be replaced. Do not used pressure-treated wood, as it has poisonous levels of copper and chromium, and there is evidence that arsenic can leach into your compost. Different materials that are acceptable for building compost bins are spoiled hay bales, old cinder blocks or bricks, wooden pallets, snow fencing, and a discarded rabbit hutch. The hutch is desirable because there is very little that needs to be done to make it ready.

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to build a compost bin is to build it from wooden pallets. Most warehouses, grocery, and hardware stores are more than happy to give these away for free, or for very inexpensive, as it saves them the trouble of having to discard them. You can use plastic ties to hold four of them together in a box shape. Joining another bin to make a system is easy: just attach three more pallets using one side of the already made bin to complete another box. Be warned: after about two years you will need a new bin, as this bin will be composting itself.

Good luck!

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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!