Tip #7 - Cycle Those Nutrients Around
As you prepare your dinner in the evening or crack those eggs to make your favorite cake, what do you do with your egg shells, vegetable clippings or even your leftovers? If you are a person that throws them directly in the trash, you are essentially throwing away gold. Your food scraps can be collected and composted in your yard to create a beautiful nutrient rich additive for your garden. Once composted, it is essentially the same thing that you are buying for $8 a bag from your local gardening shop.
So, what is composting? Good question. You are essentially taking all of your food scraps and putting them in either a) a pile in the corner of your yard or b) in a closed container with ventilation. The key to both of these is that the food waste is getting plenty of air as well as the heat from the sun. You mix the food clippings around once every couple of days and before you know it everything starts working together to break it down into what looks like soil. If done right, it should be unrecognizable and soil-like in about 40 days. The compost is not meant to replace soil, but meant as an additive, as it containers millions of the good nutrients that soil needs to be healthy and that plants need to grow well.
April 27th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
me again
There is no mention of not putting animal products into your compost pile. Those egg shells are fine, but not the eggs, fish, beef, chicken or any animal by-products (see above comment re: pet waste). Again, I am all for composting, but it needs to be done properly. There are many reason for no animal products but for the home gardener the two main ones are the smell, which can attract animals (rats if you are an urban dweller, bear, fox, coyote and other omnivores if you live in the country) and stinks. The other is that flies are attracted to it and will lay there eggs in the meat, then the maggots arrive - nothing like taking the top of your composter or turning your pile to find a mass of these wiggly things! Flies can carry many pathogens and parasites, so once again unless you get your entire pile up to 140 degrees you will not be killing these off. If you are using it in just a flower garden which you are not gong to eat it is not as crucial as using it on your veggie garden, but even so, you are reintroducing those pathogens right back into your soil.
just my 2 cents
April 30th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Thanks for your feedback Tia. You are absolutely right about leaving out the meat, bones and pet waste. Starting a compost pile and keeping it going strong and healthy takes time, patience and a little research.
May 17th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
I’ve been thinking about trying vermiculture to compost organic food scraps but haven’t found anywhere in the DC area that sells worms, and it costs a fortune to buy online and have them shipped. Do you know of anywhere I can get them around here? Alternatively, has MOM’s ever thought about having a “worm” event — like a Thanksgiving turkey, you put your order in and on a designated day you come and pick it up? I think this would be a great way to spread the word about vermiculture.
May 18th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Hi Krissy. Vermiculture is an amazing way to compost food scraps. The worms work at incredible speeds and produce the darkest most nutrient rich “stuff.” I did some research and found no worm supplier in Maryland or Virginia. As for a worm event, it is a great idea and something I’ll definitely think about. Thanks.
June 4th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Hi–I’ve been wanting to start composting but I have a question: environmentally, is there a benefit to composting over putting things through the garbage disposal, which theoretically sends that waste back into the system, somehow? I’m just wondering about the comparsion from an eco-friendly standpoint. Thanks for any insight!