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6 Fashion Tips for Gardeners
Clothes and skin cream are far removed from potting out your begonias, or digging a trench for a line of potatoes. But the clothes you wear are important for your protection...read more on organic gardening
Chicken Soup for the Soil
Keeping Your Soil Healthy Your soil is the most important part of your garden, but too many people forget to nurture their soil. Soil is a living thing, containing...read more on organic gardening
Fall Pond Cleaning
Great question. The answer is it really depends. Doing a full pond cleaning during the colder winter months can be very stressful on your fish. However, if the pond is...read more on organic gardening
Planting Roses in Pots
In years past, serious rosarians would never consider having a potted rose on their property unless it was just waiting for its home to be prepared in the garden. Times...read more on organic gardening
Planting Guide For Roses
The art of planting roses doesn’t have to be a complicated thing to do. When you have the right knowledge there is no limit to how beautiful a garden or rosebush that you can...read more on organic gardening
Plant Now for Colorful Spring Blooms
(ARA) - Tracie Andrescik plants up to 200 bulbs every fall. “I guess I’m the bulb queen. I love the waves of color and early spring blooms I get with bulbs,” says...read more on organic gardening
Working with dahlias
Dahlias are among the most beautiful and most exotic residents
of any garden. The large blooms of the dahlia are impossible to
ignore, and they stand out in any garden in...read more on organic gardening
Caring for Your Plants
One of the best things you can do to save money on your landscape is to properly care for your plants. This is very important to keeping a healthy yard and an attractive...read more on organic gardening
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Compost is used in gardening to mix with the soil and provide nutrients, allowing for a more beautiful garden and healthier plants and vegetables. It utilizes organic materials that have decomposed to mix with the soil used in planting the garden. Compost is available at most gardening centers and home improvement stores, but it is also possible to make it at home. Utilizing ingredients readily found in the home, this is a cost effective way to make the compost while recycling already used items.
Use of a compost bin is advisable to keep your yard looking neat. These items are inexpensive and readily available or can be built. They do not need to be large but should be able to contain compost items easily. All compost will eventually decompose. How much time and energy you want to commit to will determine how quickly you will have useable compost. Controlling the temperature and regularly aerating the pile by turning or mixing will help speed the process. However if you leave it alone you will still get the desired results, just in a longer time frame.
There are a variety of items that can be used in compost. All are readily available and also provide valuable disposal solutions. Grass clippings and dried leaves are popular ingredients to compost. They have high nitrogen and carbon contents which will help decompose the pile. A good rule of thumb is to combine brown items with green items. Brown items are rich in carbon while green items are rich in nitrogen.
Brown items include things such as manure. However, stay away from cat, dog and bird droppings. Instead use horse, sheep and chicken manure. Coffee grounds are very popular. These are usually found in most kitchens, but some coffee shops will also set out their used grounds for use at no charge. Leaves raked in the yard are readily available. Wood ashes and sawdust can often be found in the home at various times. Cardboard is also a readily available source.
Green items can include grass clippings or pine needles. Kitchen waste is a great source of nitrogen. Food items such as vegetables, seaweed and fruit are perfect for the compost heap. Stay away from meat, dairy products and foods high in fat. They can be useful in a compost heap but also have a higher tendency to emit a foul odor and attract pests. Broken egg shells are a good addition but make sure to break them up and do not use the whole egg.
Compost is cheap. Using items readily available at home, there is no need to purchase anything additional. It is also easy to make, needing minimal effort. Compost can improve the soil in your garden, making it healthier and stronger. Finally, everyone has waste. Contributing to the recycling efforts by using waste in compost will help the environment and lessen the need for landfill space.
About the Author:
Gray Rollins is a featured writer for CompostCrazy.com. For more great composting tips and to learn more about making compost, visit us.
Read more articles by: Gray Rollins
This article is distributed by: www.iSnare.com
Written by:
Gray Rollins
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