Aerobin Insulated Composter. Hungry Bin Worm Composter. With compost, you are creating rich humus for your lawn and garden. This adds nutrients to your plants and helps retain soil moisture. Instead, it creates harmful methane gas as it breaks down, increasing the rate of global warming and climate change. Microscopic organisms in compost help aerate the soil, break down organic materials for plant use, and ward off plant disease.
Composting offers a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers when applied to lawns and garden beds. Most landfills in North America are quickly filling up; many have already closed down.
One-third of landfill waste is made up of compostable materials. Diverting this waste from the landfill means that our landfills will last longer and so will our wild spaces.
What you can put into your compost will depend somewhat on what kind of composter you have, but some general rules do apply. All compostable materials are either carbon or nitrogen-based, to varying degrees. The secret to a healthy compost pile is to maintain a working balance between these two elements. Carbon Carbon-rich matter like branches, stems, dried leaves, peels, bits of wood, bark dust or sawdust pellets, shredded brown paper bags, corn stalks, coffee filters, coffee grounds, conifer needles, egg shells, straw, peat moss, wood ash gives compost its light, fluffy body.
Nitrogen Nitrogen or protein-rich matter manures, food scraps, green lawn clippings, kitchen waste, and green leaves provides raw materials for making enzymes. A healthy compost pile should have much more carbon than nitrogen. A simple rule of thumb is to use one-third green and two-thirds brown materials. The bulkiness of the brown materials allows oxygen to penetrate and nourish the organisms that reside there. Too much nitrogen makes for a dense, smelly, slowly decomposing anaerobic mass.
Good composting hygiene means covering fresh nitrogen-rich material, which can release odors if exposed to open air, with carbon-rich material, which often exudes a fresh, wonderful smell. If in doubt, add more carbon! A stainless steel compost pail with an carbon filter or a ceramic model will cut down on odors. Chop up any large chunks before you toss them in. With yard and garden wastes, different composting materials will decompose at different rates, but they will all break down eventually.
If you want to speed up the composting process, chop the larger material into smaller pieces. Leaves and grass clippings are also excellent for compost but should be sprinkled into the bin with other materials, or dug in to the center of the pile and mixed.
Avoid putting them on in thick layers — they will mat together and reduce aeration, which slows the composting process. Adding garden soil to your compost will help to mask any odors, and microorganisms in the soil will accelerate the composting process. If you have too many leaves to incorporate into the compost bin, you can simply compost the pile of leaves by itself.
Locate the pile where drainage is adequate; a shaded area will help keep the pile from drying out. Include a layer of dirt between each foot of leaves. The pile should be damp enough that when a sample taken from the interior is squeezed by hand, a few drops of moisture will appear. The pile should not be packed too tightly. The pile will compost in 4 — 6 months, with the material being dark and crumbly. Leaf compost is best used as an organic soil amendment and conditioner; it is not normally used as a fertilizer because it is low in nutrients.
Simply wrap a small pile of leaves in burlap and immerse in a garbage can or large bucket of water. Scoop out the enriched water with a smaller bucket and use to water your plants and shrubs. Related: How to Use Finished Compost. Read on to learn more about each of these compost systems and other composting tips. Related: Worm Composting Basics for Beginners. The biggest chore with composting is turning the pile from time to time. The secret is to thoroughly mix in enough coarse material, like straw, when building the pile.
A real shame. Trees are our only protection against air pollution and are natural swamp coolers - and they keep temperatures down locally. Depends where you live but you could hire an ensuite As for how long it will take Minimum a week and 2 weeks at the most. Stay in a long stay as these are cheaper by the night and have kitchen facilities so you can do a bit of your own cooking..
The other idea is My estimate was based on the fact my ex husband was a tiler, he would have got it done in a week. You need to lay the new floor and then render the walls and waterproof. All of this has to be left to dry, then you have to tile which would take a couple of days and then grout and put in your bathroom fitting and get your plumber back.
So, not as quick as you may think. Make sure that you get someone with a waterproofing license as this trade needs to be and not all tilers have this. Also make sure that you tiler is registered and insured.
You can ask them for a certificate of currency in regard to their insurance There is also a time factor in what type of tiles you use. Small tiles that are not on a mesh back will take the longest and a floor with at pattern. It was a compromise. A better juxtaposition would come from 2 more different materials. I think I hear you saying that you really want the walk to remain flagstone.
Is that the case? If so, seriously consider amending it with a gravel bed - by that, I mean using only the very large flagstones and separating them so they appear as jumping stones in a river of gravel, with a metal edging. You need the definition and width, and the style fits your theme. Remove anything too small to stand on, space them at normal walking distance, and choose gravel that will be safe for guests.
Then you can relocate the blocks altogether. If you go that route, adding taller grasses and broader leaved plant material into the mix helps to carry the statement. The new posting system for pix is an anomaly. At one inch deep a yard squared will cover approximately feet squared. Horster is right Kimmsr 9 years ago.
It is left up to you Here is a link that might be useful: photo's of piles. The HF shredder is spectacular. Lloyd 9 years ago. Related Stories. By Matt Kilburn. Peterson Garden Design. Get the dirt on classic and new options for raised vegetable and plant beds, to get the most from your year-round garden.
Make a tight or awkward yard a real destination with these design tricks from the pros. Once stark and uninviting, this urban backyard is now a welcoming retreat for relaxing and entertaining. See how a screened garden house and raised beds help an edible garden in a Los Angeles canyon thrive. The surface area of the materials effects the time needed for composting. By breaking materials down into smaller parts chipping, shredding, mulching leaves , the surface area of the materials will increase.
This helps the bacteria to more quickly break down materials into compost. Finally, the number of times the pile is turned influences composting speed. By turning more frequently about every weeks , you will produce compost more quickly.
Waiting at least two weeks allows the center of the pile to heat up and promotes maximum bacterial activity. The average composter turns the pile every weeks. When turning the compost pile, make sure that materials in the center are brought to the outsides, and that materials from the outside edges are brought to the center.
With frequent turning, compost can be ready in about 3 months, depending on the time of year. In winter, the activity of the bacteria slows, and it is recommended that you stop turning the pile after November to keep heat from escaping the pile's center.
In summer, warm temperatures encourage bacterial activity and the composting process is quicker. Incorporate compost into your garden as you prepare the soil in the spring. Cover the area with inches of soil and till it in to at least the upper 6 inches of soil. Add compost to soil in vegetable gardens, annual flower beds, and around new perennials as they are planted.
You may also use compost as mulch around flower beds, vegetable gardens, or around trees or shrubs in landscape beds. Apply a 3 inch layer.
However, states, cities, and individual businesses and vendors can spearhead zero-waste strategies to increase composting and recycling rates within their jurisdictions and to keep waste from being generated in the first place. There have been many composting success stories around the country, one notable example being San Francisco. In San Francisco established a large-scale composting program, and by it was able to divert 50 percent of its waste from landfills.
By increasing its goals over the years, San Francisco has been diverting more than 80 percent of waste from landfills since That means more than 90, metric tons of carbon emissions are avoided each year—equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 20, passenger vehicles. Compost is an essential tool for improving large-scale agricultural systems. Compost contains three primary nutrients needed by garden crops: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
It also includes traces of other essential elements like calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. Instead of relying on synthetic fertilizers that contain harmful chemicals , composting offers an organic alternative.
Irrigation systems are effective but are expensive and time-consuming for farmers to manage. Additionally, water is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain across the country. How can compost help? Research has shown the water-retaining capacities of soil increase with the addition of organic matter. In fact, each 1 percent increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold 20, gallons more water per acre.
By using compost to foster healthy soil, farmers do not have to use as much water and can still have higher yields compared with farming with degraded soil. Consumers are responsible for a staggering amount of wasted food.
NRDC research in three U. According to a report in The Guardian , U. The best way to reduce impacts from food waste is to prevent waste from occurring in the first place, so NRDC works through its Save the Food campaign and other tools to educate consumers on how to shop for, prepare, and store food to minimize waste.
However, even if we do everything possible to decrease food waste, there will still be food scraps that cannot be consumed e. Composting is a great way to recycle those discards instead of tossing them in the trash. Composting can be done both indoors and outdoors and can be as complicated or as simple as you would like.
The best way for you to compost at home depends on several factors:. There are two main types of backyard composting: cold also known as passive composting and hot also called active composting. Cold composting breaks down organic matter slowly, but it also takes the least amount of effort and maintenance.
Anything organic decomposes eventually; cold composting is just letting Mother Nature do her job with minimal intervention on your part. You do not need to worry about the ratio of compost ingredients, aerate regularly, or monitor moisture levels. Cold composting is the best process if you have little organic waste to compost and not much time to tend to the process, and if you are not in a hurry for finished compost.
However, depending on what kind of cold method you use, it can take one to two years before you get usable compost. A cold composting process is primarily anaerobic, meaning that your discards are broken down by microorganisms that thrive in an oxygen-deprived environment. In addition to being slower to break down, cold piles may be smellier or wetter than hot piles. Hot composting is a faster, but more managed, compost process.
This method requires attention to keep carbon and nitrogen in the optimum ratio to decompose organic waste. It also requires the right balance of air and water to attract the organisms that thrive in an oxygen-rich environment.
Under ideal conditions, you could have the final compost product in four weeks to 12 months. If managed correctly, the high temperature of the pile will destroy most weeds, plant diseases, pesticides, and herbicides, plus any bug larvae or eggs.
Organisms that decompose organic waste need four key elements to thrive: nitrogen, carbon, air, and water. Since all compostable materials contain carbon, with varying amounts of nitrogen, composting successfully is just a matter of using the right combination of materials to achieve the best ratio of carbon to nitrogen and maintaining the right amounts of air and water to yield the best results.
The ideal carbon-to-nitrogen ratio for a compost pile is 25 to 30 parts carbon for every 1 part nitrogen. If your pile has too much carbon-rich material, it will be drier and take longer to break down. Too much nitrogen-rich material can end up creating a slimy, wet, and smelly compost pile. Fortunately, these problems are easily remedied by adding carbon-rich or nitrogen-rich material as needed. A higher nitrogen-to-carbon ratio is most commonly found in fresh organic material often referred to as greens.
Having plenty of greens in your compost pile makes sure the decomposers can grow and reproduce quickly. Some household greens you can add to your home compost pile are fresh grass clippings, food scraps, and coffee grounds. Carbon acts as a food source for decomposers , helping to keep them alive while they break down waste. Typical browns you can add to a compost pile include dead leaves, branches, twigs, and paper.
To achieve the best carbon-to-nitrogen ratio in your home compost, a rule of thumb is to put in two to four parts brown materials for every one part green materials. Oxygen and Water Finally, like any other living organism, decomposers need oxygen and water to survive.
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