By: Robert

u found my last article on composting informative but there were a few things I didn’t go through last time that I would like to touch base on now. You found out last time that there are basic needs that you need to give for a compost to be productive. Those basic needs are air, food, and water. Now that we have the basics down, and we know how to properly deliver these basics I will now get a little more in depth into what you should and shouldn’t put into your compost. Let’s start off with what you shouldn’t put in your compost bin. This is an area I really could have used some more knowledge in my first time using a fresh batch of compost in my garden. 1) Any wood product that has been chemically treated (pressure treated lumber) should be left out of your compost. When the wood or sawdust from these types of wood get broken down the chemicals that were used to treat the wood leach into the compost and will ruin the garden or plants that you use the compost in. 2) Diseased plants may infect your garden if the compost was not hot enough to kill off all of the disease. So unless you want to play Russian roulette with next year’s garden I would stay away from composting diseased plants. 3) Human and pet waste should never be used in a compost by a back yard gardener. Although possible to effectively compost these materials you take the risk of your pile not being hot enough to kill off all of the diseases that are carried in the waste. There are people who do this type of composting but they are well trained in hot composts and know the temperature and time it takes to safely decompose this type of matter. For the back yard enthusiast I would recommend staying away. 4) Fatty foods and meat waste (including bones) should be left out as well. They will take forever to break down and the local rats and mice may make your compost their new watering hole. If you want to still use these materials you can bury them in your 8″ deep in your garden. This will make sure the little vermin can’t smell and then get at your leftovers. 5) Pernicious weeds can be a particular pest to compost because even if you chop them up really well these types of weeds will still be able to sprout new roots while in the compost. But there is a way. After weeding leave the uprooted weeds in a pile in the direct sunlight for a couple weeks until they are nice and brown. Then they are safe. Remember How I said I could have used some of this info in my first compost bin. I found out #5 the hard way. I chopped up a few morning glories into my first compost and the next season I was pulling dozens of them out of my garden where there was none before. The next thing to learn is what you should put in your compost. 1) Grass is a good material to put in your compost but I have always found it easier to leave it on the ground to help the lawn. But if you decide to use them in your compost make sure to add your grass in thin layers, and mix thoroughly to avoid a slimy layer that will not want to break down. 2) If you want a great material to put in your compost bin, kitchen waste is the way to go. Form fruits and vegetable leftovers, to tea and coffee grounds, this stuff is great to compost. One thing to consider is to make sure your compost bin is secure so this type of waste does not attract the local vermin population like meat products would. Although this type of kitchen waste will break down a lot faster than the meat products will it may still be tempting for a mouse or rat so you may want to think about a bin with a secure top. Avoid milk products as well since this also is a big lure for rats and mice. 3) Leaves can be a great source of material for your compost. Just to think people just rake up and throw away this stuff. If you are feeling energetic why not rake up the neighbour’s lawn too. Think of all the point around the block you could earn with your neighbours. Like grass leaves should be mixed in well to avoid clumping up and turning into a big mat in the middle of your bin. 4) Hay and Straw will make an ideal “Brown” ingredient to your mix. Not only will they supply a good nitrogen source for all the little microbes to feast on but they also help your pile from packing down and not allowing enough air to the center of the pile. Remember when you have a “Brown” ingredient in your pile you will also need “green” ingredients (grass, fruits and vegetables) to make the decomposition go quickly. Thank you for taking the time to read my article on the materials best suited for your compost bin. I will be writing one more article on composting to go along with this and my last one so I hope you will come back soon to check it out.

By: Kenny Point

By implementing a few simple gardening techniques to your garden in the fall you can help nurture a healthier vegetable garden that’s enriched and revitalized when the spring growing season rolls around. You’ll also enjoy the benefits of a more productive vegetable patch and harvest fresh produce far earlier and with less effort.

Fall Garden Clean-Up

The first step is to shift some of the routine gardening tasks that you normally perform in the springtime, and instead take care of them during the fall. At the end of your summer growing season clear out all of the weeds, garden debris, spent vines, and any left over fruits and vegetables that weren’t harvested, rather than allowing these items to remain in the garden over the winter.

This “garden-cleaning” will speed spring cultivation work, eliminate left over fruits and vegetables whose seeds can turn into unwanted volunteers next summer, prevent weeds from becoming established during autumn, and reduce the likelihood that insect pests and diseases spend the winter nice and comfy in your garden beds.

While you’re at it, also remove and store those plant stakes, cages, trellises, and gardening tools that are scattered about throughout the garden. A little care will reward you with a longer useful life and avoid loss and damage to expensive gardening equipment.

Cultivating the Soil in Autumn

Autumn is also a great time to apply and incorporate compost, mushroom soil, or even leaves into the garden beds. This will give the organic soil amendments additional time to break down or mellow, and will also reduce the risk of burning or over-fertilizing young seedlings in the spring.

If you till or cultivate your garden in the fall, do so very shallowly to avoid bringing weed seeds that were buried in the soil up to the surface levels where they can easily germinate. I garden in raised beds which eliminates the need for tilling the soil altogether.

With raised beds a quick turning of the soil surface of the beds with a digging fork or wheel hoe is all that’s ever needed before planting. Raised beds are never walked on and they naturally resist the compaction that forces many gardeners to till their garden each spring.

Stretching the Growing Season

Once your garden is nice and tidy, why not plant something? There are a number of cool weather crops, especially leafy greens such as lettuce, kale, collards, mustard, and spinach that will grow right into winter and provide you with plenty of delicious fresh produce from the garden.

It doesn’t stop there; these same plants can actually survive winter in the garden and produce additional harvests in early spring. So, from a single planting you receive multiple harvests of tasty leafy greens, protect the garden’s soil over the winter, and prevent weeds from growing unchecked in an empty garden bed.

Not interested in fall vegetable production? Well how about planting a cover crop, also known as a green manure, to protect and enrich your garden’s soil over the winter, as well as to crowd out weed growth? There’s a long list of crops that can be planted as a fall cover crop and remain in place until they are turned under to enrich the soil in the spring.

Annual Ryegrass is my favorite choice for planting in autumn to serve as a quick growing, green manure. If it doesn’t survive the winter it will still provide cover and is easier to turn under than many of the other green manure crops. A few other choices include winter rye, rape, barley, and Austrian Peas. Even everyday edible vegetable crops such as fava beans, peas, kale, and mustard can function as fall cover crops.

Fall Mulches for the Garden Bed

Think it’s too late for you to sow a cover crop in your garden? Well at the very least you can cover the garden during fall and winter with a mulch of compost, mushroom soil, or a layer of leaves. A three or four inch layer of shredded leaves in particular will restrict weed growth and encourage earthworm activity. The leaves can be incorporated into the soil in the spring, or be removed and composted.

Speaking of leaves, they’re abundant and free in most areas to anyone willing to go out and gather them up. Shredding will make the leaves easier to handle and store. Each fall I use a leaf blower to shred all the leaves that I can get my hands on and store what I can’t use right away until springtime.

Implement these ideas this fall and your garden will be protected from the elements and erosion while you improve the texture and fertility of your soil and encourage the activity of earthworms and soil organisms all year-round. You’ll also experience less weed growth, harvest more fresh produce and get your garden off to a quicker start in the spring.

Regardless of the season it’s a great idea to keep something growing, or at least covering your garden at all times. Be sure to visit my website to discover additional timely ideas and tips for growing and improving your backyard garden and edible landscape.

Chelsee L asked:


how and can bananas be composted?
im doing an assignment and need an answer that will inform me a lot.

By: Liz Fletcher

Did you know that nearly 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away in the UK every day, and 90% of these end up in landfill where they can take up to 500 years to biodegrade!

You may be thinking that you would like the convenience of a disposable, but without the guilt?

Well, Moltex ECO nappies are disposable nappies that are kind to baby’s skin and the environment

They are better for baby’s skin because they are free from harsh chemicals like bactericides, pesticides, deodorants, antioxidants and other unnecessary chemicals found in conventional disposable nappies.

Moltex nappies contain no lotions, potions, perfumes, deodorants, antioxidants or latex that can trigger allergic reactions and cause nappy rash. They have been dermatologically tested and approved by Dermatest. In fact the Moltex Oko is so much kinder to the skin than conventional nappies that it is even recommended for infants with Eczema.

Moltex nappies are better for the environment because the core is unbleached and therefore there is no pollution during the manufacturing process caused by bleaching agents like chlorine (often used in conventional nappies).  They have been proven to be biodegradable to a high degree in an earth worm composter, and even the packaging is made from maize starch which is 100% biodegradable.

Chemicals found in conventional disposables can cause rashes and allergic reactions. But Moltex ECO nappies contain natural products such as tea extracts in the core, which helps to prevent nappy rashes and repairs damaged skin (it also helps with odour control).

These nappies have been voted ‘Best Nappy’ after being tested by real mums on Channel 5 TV.

I found these fantastic ECO-disposable nappies at Spirit of Nature, a mail order company that offer over 1000 natural, organic and environmentally friendly products.

You can buy Moltex nappies from Spirit Of Nature at the lowest price in the UK. So Moltex nappies are kind to your baby, the environment, and even your pocket!

Check out Moltex Nappies at Spirit of Nature

By: zhafran

Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature. Organic gardening is the exact same as regular gardening except that organic gardening does not use chemicals that may have an adverse affect on your health. Organic gardening is an excellent way to assure that your plants will be free and clear of all pesticides and, if taken care of properly, will be as healthy as possible.

Organic gardening starts with the soil. Gardeners must add organic matter to the soil regularly in order to keep the soil productive. In fact, compost is essential to the healthiness and well being of plants grown organically. Compost can be made from leaves, dead flowers, vegetable scraps, fruit rinds, grass clippings, manure, and many other things. The ideal soil has a dark color, sweet smell, and is full of earthworms. Some soil may need more natural additives than regular compost can give, such as bonemeal, rock phosphates, or greensand.

One thing that makes even gardeners that are very serious about organic gardening reach for pesticides is insects on their plants. The best way to defend plants against insects is to take preventative measures. One thing that can be done is to make sure plants are healthy and not too wet or dry because insects usually attack unhealthy plants and if healthy, they can often outgrow minor insect damage. A variety of plant types is a good idea to keep pests of a particular plant type from taking out the entire garden.

Perhaps the best way to defend against insects is to make your garden enticing to insect predators, such as ladybugs, birds, frogs, and lizards. You can do this by keeping a water source nearby or by growing plants that attract insects who feed on nectar. Other ideas are sticky traps, barriers, and plant collars. There are some household items that prevent against insects too, like insecticidal soaps, garlic, and hot pepper.

To avoid plant disease in organic gardening, choose disease resistant plants and plant them in their prime conditions. Many diseases will spread because of constant moisture and bad air circulation, so the site of your garden and the way it is watered can help ensure against diseases.

Weeds can be an annoying and frustrating part of organic gardening. Organic mulch can act as a weed barrier, but for even better protection put a layer of newspaper, construction paper, or cardboard under the mulch. Corn meal gluten will slow the growth of weeds if spread early in the season before planting, as does solarization. There’s also the old-fashioned art of hoeing and hand pulling that always works.

Organic gardening may take a little more time and care than regular gardening, but after gardeners get the hang of it and figure out all the quirks of their garden, it is definitely worth the extra time.