Buy or make your own compost?

The debate is on........ buy an organic compost or make your own?

If you listen to the die hard organic's out there (& I'm one of them), making your own compost is really the only way to go. It delivers huge satisfaction of seeing your seedlings grow in your own compost; eating vegetables that have come out of your own soil. If you are looking for a recipe for making your own organic compost, look down the right of this page for some links (or just click here if you want to go directly there)

As well as gets rid of all this pesky cuttings, grass clippings and a whole range of other garden and kitchen related things without contributing to the land fill problems associated to built-up areas.

It takes time to make your own compost, but it's time well spent and the rewards are huge.

But, what if you don't have the time (or you don't have the space)? What are you to do on a balcony or in an apartment complex?

Well, if you live in Johannesburg, Pikitup (our local refuse removers) have been working on a solution for about a year now.

Quoted directly from the Pikitup website:

• Pikitup has launched several sustainable development initiatives in line with the global aims of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. One of these initiatives is Pikitup’s composting plant, situated at the Panorama site in Roodepoort. The composting plant processes green waste into soil-enhancing compost, which is sold to either the agricultural sector or to city homeowners for use in suburban gardens.

The compost is available in 30dm3 bags at most of the garden refuse sites around Johannesburg for a meagre R 10 per bag. A list of garden refuse sites is available at the pikitup website.

The compost is made from your garden waste (that you religiously trailer to the "dump").

So, if you don't have the time, the inclination, the space to make your own compost, you can now feed your organic moster by buying local and help to keep your environment clean.

Composting tips

There are lots of innovative things you can do to help reduce your rubbish - check out some of the tips below to get started.

Tips about what can and can't be composted:

• Shredded paper can be composted.
• Paper can't be recycled if it's contaminated with food, but it can be composted. Next time you have pizza, don't dump the boxes in the rubbish bin - soak the box, break it into pieces and add it to your compost bin instead.
• Kids' lunches can be wrapped in paper instead of cling wrap. The used paper can be put in the compost.
• Compostable kitty litter takes longer to break down than regular compost. Put the kitty litter into a separate compost bin and add an equal amount of soil every time you add more.
• If the prunings from plants and shrubs are small enough they can be run over with the lawn mower and put on the compost heap.
• Don't compost pumpkin seeds. They often don't work very well in the compost - too hard for worms and they sprout - but they can be cleaned off and saved for salads and lunches.
  

Tips about worm farms:

• For people who don’t have enough garden waste to make their composting bin work effectively, a worm farm may be a better option.
• Worm farms take very little space and maintenance, and are a great way to get rid of most compostable food scraps. The 'juice' is really powerful as a fertilizer.

General composting tips:

• Buy two bins for the kitchen: one for rubbish, the other for compost. This will remove the need to separate compostable waste from non-compostable waste later on.
• A compost bucket can get messy and smelly. An easy way to keep a bucket clean is to put water in the bucket before adding scraps. (The water can be emptied on to pot plants.)
• If you have too much material for your compost bin, stick it in a black plastic household rubbish bag (thin-walled), loosely twist off the opening, and store it beside the compost bin. A few weeks later, the volume of material in the bag will have reduced and you should find worms have made their way in to the bag and started breaking the waste down. The waste can be added to the compost bin when there is room.
• You can compost directly into the garden itself. The vegetables will love you for it, and the compost will attract the worms to that area and the soil benefits directly.
• If your compost bin starts to smell offensively give it a turn - odour can be a sign of a lack of aeration.
• Contribute your organic matter to a neighbour’s compost if you don’t have one, or invest in a worm farm.

Compost Ingredients

Building a compost pile creates more anxiety and obsession among gardeners than any other gardening activity. So before you start a pile, remember one thing: Relax. "There's no right or wrong way of composting, and people get panicked that they have the wrong recipe," says Dr. Maynard. "Composting is a natural phenomenon—it's decomposing; you're just helping it along a bit." That said, there are good, bad, and so-so compost ingredients. So before you add an ingredient to your pile, make sure it's up to the compost quality-control test. Ask yourself four basic questions about each ingredient:

1. Is it biodegradable?
2. Will it help make high-quality, nutrient-rich compost?
3. Did it come from a chemical-free lawn?
4. Is it free of disease, toxins, and other contaminants?

If you answer "no" or "I don't know" to any of these questions, forgo adding the ingredient to your pile. It's that easy. Mix and match the green and brown ingredients listed below until you find a compost recipe that works for you. Just keep in mind the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio as you build your pile.

Extra(ordinary) Ingredients

Green goodies

• Aquarium water, algae, and plants (from freshwater fish tanks only) add moisture and a kick of nitrogen.
• Chicken manure has high amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
• Dead houseplants add a dose of nitrogen, but don't include thorny or diseased plants.
• Fresh grass clippings should be mixed with plenty of drier, brown material, or you'll risk creating a smelly pile.
• Green garden debris, such as spent pansies, bolted lettuce, and deadheaded flowers, can all be recycled in the compost bin.
• Horse manure contains more nitrogen than cow manure.
• Manure from pet rabbits and rodents(e.g., gerbils and hamsters) can be composted with the accompanying wood or paper bedding.
• Vegetative kitchen scraps (carrot peelings and the like) should be buried in the pile so they don't attract animals. Eggshells are okay, too.
• Weeds can be composted! No joke. Just remember never to add weeds that have set seed or weeds that root easily from stems or rhizomes, such as bindweed and thistle.

Brown goodies

• Brown garden debris, such as corn and sunflower stalks, dried legume plants, and dried potato and tomato vines, adds bulk to the pile.
• Hedge prunings and twigs help keep a pile fluffy but should be chipped first so they decompose faster.
• Leaves are an abundant carbon source and full of nutrients. Stockpile them in fall so that you have them on hand in summer.
• Pine needles decompose slowly. Add only small amounts to your pile. Use excess needles as a mulch.
• Straw bulks up a pile, but it should not be confused with hay, which often contains weed and grass seeds and shouldn't be added to compost (unless you want to deal with the potential consequences).

The No-No List
The following items should never be added to compost, because they could introduce harmful pathogens, toxins, and nonbiodegradable material.

• Diseased plants must be disposed of in the garbage or burned. Adding them to compost could spread the disease.
• Dog, cat, pig, and reptile manures (and associated bedding) may contain parasites or dangerous pathogens that are harmful to humans, particularly pregnant women, children, and people with compromised immune systems. Never add them to your compost.
• Gypsum board scraps could contain paint and other undesirable toxins.
• Materials from the side of the road, including grass clippings and leaves, could contain petroleum residues (such as oil), toxins, and nonbiodegradable materials.
• Meats, dairy products, bones, and fish decompose slowly, smell, and attract animals.
• Paper, especially glossy paper, printed with colored ink, may contain heavy metals. Black-and-white newspaper is safe.

The So-So List
Many things found in the average home are nontoxic and biodegradable and come from a known source—but they aren't great compost ingredients because they break down slowly, mat together, or don't add many nutrients.

• Black-and-white newsprint and office paper can be used in the compost pile if you're desperate for brown materials, but they must be shredded. Try using the newspaper in sheet mulching projects and recycling office paper instead.
• Cardboard is best used in sheet mulching. Shred or chop it into small pieces if composting.
• Dryer lint may contain synthetic fibers that will never decompose. Even natural-fiber lint adds no benefit to compost.
• Human and pet hair can be added in small amounts, if you keep in mind that it breaks down slowly, mats easily, and sheds water.
• Natural-fiber cloth doesn't add any benefit to the compost pile. Consider using burlap bags under wood chips to prevent weeds instead.
• Sawdust must be used in moderation, because it breaks down very slowly and can lock up nitrogen. Never use sawdust from treated or painted wood.
• Vacuum bags may contain synthetic carpet fibers and other nonbiodegradable items.
• Wood ash adds potassium (potash), but it is an extremely alkaline material and should be used in small amounts.
• Wood chips should be used as mulch around ornamentals because they break down so slowly.

Cowpie caution
Cow manure may contain E. coli O157:H7, a very dangerous pathogen that can cause severe illness and even death. "It's hard to meet time and temperature requirements to kill pathogens in a home compost pile," says soil scientist Craig Cogger, Ph.D. We don't recommend adding it to home compost ever because of the health risk. But if you're tempted to use it, you must wait at least four months after you add it to your soil before you can harvest, to make sure the pathogens are no longer active. Wear gloves when handling manure and wash your hands thoroughly.

Basic Leaf Mold

Instead of carting leaves to the curb, recycle them the way nature does, by turning them into an invaluable soil builder. Leaf mold greatly improves the structure and water-holding capacity of soil. It also creates the perfect conditions for the community of beneficial organisms that dwell in your soil, and it's great in potting mix.

There's really no excuse not to make leaf mold. It's free, easy-to-make, and readily available. If you don't have enough leaves in your own yard, trade raking duty with your neighbors in exchange for theirs. Before you use leaves that have fallen on your neighbors' lawns, be sure to ask them if the grass has recently been sprayed with synthetic chemicals. If so, don't use the leaves. Grass clippings with chemical residues can get mixed in with the leaves and contaminate them, says William Brinton, Ph.D., director of the Woods End Research Laboratory, in Maine. Still, Dr. Brinton explains, chemical contamination is not a significant concern with leaf mold because its lengthy decomposition time allows for chemicals to break down as well. Do not use leaves that have been raked into the street for municipal pickup, because they may contain lots of sand, fuel, or oil residues.

Do-It-Yourself Leaf Mold
Making leaf mold couldn't be easier. Start by ensuring that the leaves are thoroughly moistened, says Abigail Maynard, Ph.D., of the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station. Dehydrated leaves begin to lose nitrogen, and this hinders the decomposition process. Here are two ways to transform leaves into leaf mold.

• The lazy gardener. Pile leaves in a sheltered, inconspicuous area of your yard and leave them for two years.
• The ambitious gardener. Make a 3-by-3-foot leaf mold "cage" from stakes and chicken wire. Speed up the leaves' rate of decomposition by running a lawn mower over the pile a few times. To ensure even decomposition, Dr. Maynard suggests, turn the pile occasionally.

Using Leaf Mold
Now, here's how to use this nutrient-rich soil conditioner.

• Peat substitute. Use leaf mold in place of peat because it has similar qualities and it's a renewable resource.
• Moisture-retaining mulch. Leaf mold can hold up to 500 times its own weight in water. Place it around (but not touching) the crowns of annuals, perennials, and vegetables to help them maintain moisture during summer.
• Soil conditioner. It's easier for roots to penetrate soil and take up nutrients when the soil is not as dense. Dr. Maynard and her colleagues in Connecticut completed a 12-year study on the role leaf mold plays in changing soil characteristics. They found that garden soil amended with leaf mold had a 20 percent lower bulk density than soil to which leaf mold was not added.
• Drought-proof soil. The Connecticut study also found that soils amended with leaf mold increased their water-holding capacity by almost 50 percent. The amended soil could hold nearly a two-week supply of water for vegetables. Caution: This water-holding capacity can be a problem for seeds planted in early spring, because they may rot in the cool, wet soil. Dr. Maynard suggests planting extra seeds to compensate for seeds lost to rot.
• Seedling mix. Mix one part leaf mold with one part well-aged compost or worm castings for a nutrient-rich potting mixture for seedlings.

What Is It?
Leaf mold: Leaves that have fully decomposed over a long time.

Leaf compost: Compost made by mixing leaves with other organic materials.

Humus: The dark, spongy material created when microorganisms break down organic matter. Leaf mold and leaf compost both eventually turn into humus.

What is vermiculture?

Vermiculture is the process of using worms to decompose organic food waste, turning the waste into a nutrient-rich material capable of supplying necessary nutrients to help sustain plant growth. This method is simple, effective, convenient, and noiseless. It saves water, energy, landfills, and helps rebuild the soil. The worms ability to convert organic waste into nutrient-rich material reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers.

We violate natures ability to complete the life cycle process when we send food down the garbage disposal, or bury it in a landfill. We deplete the soil and deprive nature from rehabilitating itself when we bypass this natural life cycle recycling process.

Is Vermiculture Composting recycling?
Yes. Vermicomposting is nature's way of recycling.

How does Vermiculture composting benefit the soil?
Vermicompost improves soil structure, texture, and aeration as well as increasing its water-holding capacity. Your plants will grow stronger and have deeper root systems for better drought tolerance and disease resistance.

Worms are necessary to help produce top soil. Worms help the environment by decomposing organic material (food and yard waste) turning it into a natural rich organic soil amendment. The end result is called vermicompost, wormpoop,or worm castings. Vermicompost provides a tremendous source of nutrients for plants that dramatically improves the texture and fertility of soil. This replaces valuable nutrients taken out of the soil when fruit and vegetables are harvested.

Vermicomposting adds beneficial organisms to the soil. These microorganisms and soil fauna help break down organic materials and convert nutrients into a more available food form for plants.

Like composting, vermiculture composting is natures way of completing the recycling loop. Being born, living, dying, and being reborn again. Adding compost to soil aids in erosion control, promotes soil fertility, and stimulates healthy root development in plants.

What do you feed worms?

• Food scraps from the kitchen like fruit and vegetable trimmings, lettuce leaves, carrot tops, ground egg shells, orange peelings, banana peelings.
• Yard trimmings, grass clippings, leaves, and mulch are great for vermiculture.
• Anything but meat and dairy products.

Where do you keep worms?
Red Worms or (Eisenia fetida) are the best type of worm for eating food waste. These worms are surface worms and stay in the top 18 inches of the soil. It is usually best to keep them in a closed container so you can keep the process going. Every three months the worms should be harvested separated from the castings.

Worms are easy to care for but they require food, moisture, oxygen, and a dark place to live.

Starting A Herb Garden

Having access to a small herb garden can be as simple as having a nice large squatty pot just outside your kitchen door containing a few of your favorite herbs containing sweet basil, purple leaf basil, chives and flat leaf parsley.

Your food preference tastes should dictate what you would like to grow. Two favorites that almost everyone would agree upon are parsley and chives. Their mild flavors are very versatile and can be used in any variety of cuisine.

Perhaps you want your mini garden within arms reach of your cooking area. All you have to do is design a window box or group of planters for your kitchen. When creating this mini herb garden, decide where your box will be located.

The amount of sun that you get in the chosen window will dictate which herbs to select. Northern exposures are generally sunny and hot. Good choices are are thyme, coriander, French lavender, bay laurel, basil, lemon verbena, dill, parsley, chives, sage and rosemary. A nice combination of both upright and trailing herbs is attractive, so consider adding creeping thymes or oregano or to you mini garden for a little eye appeal.

Souther exposures will provide more shade and are not as warm. Shade loving plants that will work nice here include parsley, spearmint, peppermint, lemon balm, chives, borage, and Cuban oregano.

Fill your container(s) half full of potting soil mix with equal parts of potting soil, peat moss and vermiculite. Move and place plants until you are pleased with how the design looks. Remember to keep in mind the mature sizes of the plants and what their growth habits are. Do not place a
plant that will mature at 50 centimeters in front of a plant that will mature no taller than 5 centimeters. Don't fear mixing plants together - it will not hurt anything.

Once you have settled on the placement of the plants, add potting soil to about 2 centimeters below the rim of the container. Tamp the soil down firmly and liberally water. Pinch back any large growth to promote thick growth.

Patio Herbs

When planning an herb garden outside, you can start modestly with a few pots on the patio or located on a bakers rack. Some herbs like sage, thyme and mint are available in different colors, so that you can make an attractive bed in various shades.

Construct the bed as close as possible to the house, so you do not neglect to gather the herbs for cooking during wet weather. Whenever possible, grow each type of herb in a separate pocket. You can actually divide the bed into distinct pockets with dwarf hedges of lavender or you can use concrete or stone pavers or stones to add a landscaped design. This way, herbs may easily be reached by footpaths and easily replaced without disturbing other plants that are nearby. Keeping plants harvested insures thick and hearty growth.

Since most herbs grow well in full sun to part shade, choose a spot for your garden that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. Make sure there is good drainage and easy accessibility. When planning your garden, take into consideration the height and sizes of herbs.

How to Make Your Own Compost Bin

Composting is a wonderful thing. It allows you to use organic / vegetable waste from your kitchen and garden, thereby reducing the amount of stuff going to landfills, and producing something useful that will help your garden grow healthier. Making your own compost requires a little bit of effort. Although compost can be made by piling or heaping organic material, you'll get better and faster results if you use a compost bin.

A compost bin can be made of a variety of materials. Most of the compost bins available for purchase are made of heavy plastic. But you can make your own bin out of materials you likely have lying around the house, or can be purchased cheaply. Try a few of these ideas:

Heavy Mesh Wire

I found this method too wobbly for my taste, but it's a quick, easy way to contain your compost heap. It's also highly mobile - you can lift the wire easily and move it to another location when you're ready to start a new pile. Simply make a circle of the wire, and attach the openings with small wire. You'll want to be able to open and close the container fairly frequently to turn your compost. To give the container more shape, drive stakes into the ground at four corners, and wrap the wire around the stakes. Secure wire to stakes with a short piece of wire, or simply squeeze the wire around the stakes.

Wooden Pallet Compost Bins

Wooden palettes can be found at many warehouses for free. We had several left over from deliveries of patio bricks and lumber. (Watch your neighbours to see who's putting in a patio or re-doing their roof. They might be willing to give you the palettes their materials arrived on.) These we attached at the edges to make three sides. The front panel was attached at one side with hinges, so we could open and close the door, and latched at the other side with a common hook and latch. For the top, we bought a piece of thick plywood and cut it to size. We attached it at the back with hinges, so it could be easily lifted to add materials.

Old Fencing

Replacing your old wood fence? Don't throw the slats away. If possible, take down the fence in sections. These sections can be used to make a great compost bin, ready-made with small space between the slats so your compost can breathe.

Dresser Drawers

No, really. Take an old dresser / bureau. Knock out the bottom of each drawer. With a few 2x4's you can attach the drawers together to make a small compost bin. Detach the top of the dresser and attach to the top of your bin with hinges at the back for easy accessibility.