By our Smarty friends at Gardening Gals
These days everyone is taking measures to Go Green, and what better way to
reduce your carbon footprint than to compost. It’s easy and you most likely
have all the items needed to start your own compost pile. So don’t throw
those food scraps in the disposal, Charlotte Smarties! Those banana peels,
apple cores and carrot scrapings are essential ingredients to turning yard
waste into an organic, nutrient-rich material that your plants and garden
will love. Compost suppresses plant disease and pests and can eliminate the
need for chemical fertilizers.
Here are the basics to composting:
* Your compost pile can be as simple as that, a pile of leaves and
yard debris. Some people prefer to enclose the yard waste in wire fencing.
There are many styles of composters on the market that make turning the
compost easier, an essential step in creating compost.
* Leaves, or brown stuff, should account for the majority of the
material in your composter.
* Kitchen scraps (vegetable matter), coffee grounds, egg shells,
chemical free grass clippings make up the rest.
* Do not compost cooked foods, animal waste, grass clippings that have
been treated chemically, or diseased plant matter.
* Keep the compost heap damp but not wet. Microbes need moisture to
break down the material.
* Turn or mix the contents of your compost pile to increase aeration.
* Be patient. Composting takes time, as long as 3-12 months to turn
those grass clippings and eggshells into gardening gold.
Alright Smarties, ask yourselves, “Are you ready to reduce your weekly trash
collection by as much as 25%? Are you prepared to have the most amazing
soil for your lawn, plants and garden?” If you answered yes, then it’s time
to start composting. With the leaves already hitting the ground, you will
have plenty of material to contribute to the pile. Follow the simple steps
above and you will be well on your way to being a champion composter.
