CompostaBlog

The theme for 2006 is The Possibilities are Endless … Compost!

Across the United States and Canada, composting advocates will be encouraging everyone to Compost! Those who believe in the Compost Message will be planning events in their community to promote the value of compost. All types of composting events — from “do it yourself” composting in your backyard to large-scale community-wide composting — can be promoted during the week.

Successful promotions in past years have included:

• Compost sales - many communities offered compost for sale with the days proceeds going to selected local charities

• Openings and tours of composting demonstration gardens as well as centralized composting facilities

• Tree planting ceremonies using compost to prepare the soil for planting

• The setting up of a “Grow A Row” garden, using compost to prepare the soil, with the fall harvest being donated to the local food bank

• Backyard composting training sessions, offered for residents as well as through school visits

• A “Compost Tea Party” where residents were invited to learn about composting including how to use compost and make Compost Tea?

• Talks by well-known gardening experts on gardening experts on gardening and the use of compost

• TV & radio shows as well as newspaper articles on gardening and the use of compost as well as how to compost?

More information at http://www.compostingcouncil.org/

If you don’t belong to the ‘grist mill’ perhaps you should at least read this article… Old Big Brother Had a Farm

I liked Mary Zanoni, executive director of Farm for Life’s bottom line…
“Zanoni sums up the views of many independent farmers: “Real food security comes from raising food yourself or buying from a local farmer you actually know. The USDA plan will only stifle local sources of production through over-regulation and unmanageable costs.”

Aaaaaa hahaha.. honest to God, that’s the first thing that went through my mind when I first saw the word. I’m SO not kidding. But it’s meaning is this…

the use of specially bred earthworms, esp. to aerate soil and convert organic matter into compost; also called vermicuture

vermi = worm

culture.

Sound sort of icky, but have you EVER smelled BAD compost? Ewwwwww. Now, have you ever smelled the forest floor? Good clean soil? Actually the soil is down below. In a good forest, the first four inches or so is humous (A brown or black organic substance consisting of partially or wholly decayed vegetable or animal matter that provides nutrients for plants and increases the ability of soil to retain water.)
I was going somewhere with this… Remember back in the end of the summer when I told you about Eugene bringing me ALL those bags of cut grass? Well, they’re not quite ready yet. But I ordered fifty pounds of earthworms to finish the job. They’ll dig right in and have a feast and I’ll continue to feed them all summer with a new top dressing of green grass… some of their favorite food. Best way to compost I know.

And sustainable!

It’s going to raise the price of food.

It’s going to make some food less robust.

What IS it?

Irrigation expenses loom as planting season begins

Why compost?Composting is an easy, environmentally beneficial way to turn yard and kitchen wastes into a dark, crumbly, sweet-smelling soil amendment that will build your soil, increase garden production and do wonders for your landscaping.

Composting will…

• Save you money by lowering garbage bills and replacing the need for commercial soil amendments.
• Increase production by improving the fertility and health of your soil.
• Save water by helping the soil hold moisture and reducing water runoff.
• Benefit the environment by recycling valuable organic resources and extending the lives of our landfills.

Sustainable soil building for organic gardening begins after the initial garden soil testing and the addition of fertilizers and conditioners. It is very important to maintain and improve the soil when trying to garden organically. Sustaining the soil means that you have a means of replenishing the garden soil with what you have at hand – compost, beneficial microbes, enzymes, and earthworms.Ideally, once your organic garden is established it could be sustained with garden compost alone - by removing garden soil and layering it in your compost. This method uses the microbes in your soil to inoculate your compost, which in turn will feed your soil.

Composting improves soil structure and moisture retention. Billions of decaying organisms (25,000 bacteria placed end to end equal one inch) feed, grow, reproduce and die, recycling garden waste into an organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. Composting is the ultimate recycling process – improving soil structure, increasing the soil’s ability to hold moisture, providing soil aeration, fertilization, and nitrogen storage. It buffers pH, releases nutrients, and provides food for microbial life.

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