By: Abhishek Agarwal

Fall is normally the time for harvest as well as planning for the following year. While keeping busy with the fall season, gardeners make it a point to buy tools, bulbs, supplies, gardening stock etc. to prepare for the next season.

Tools : Tools are essential equipments that are required for leaf cleanup process in the fall season. One can also employ leaf blowers to ease things up. However, if you find the noise produced intolerable then you can initiate the kids into a raking party to clean things up amicably. The fall leaves make wonderful compost if put into a compost bin and allowed to rot during the winter season. In case you are not in possession of a compost bin, fall is the most appropriate time to go shopping or it. There are many types of compost bins like round barrels and wooden boxes available in the market.

Bulbs : It may be necessary to pluck out few tender bulbs that may not be able to withstand the winter frost. Other kinds can be planted during the fall to give them ample time throughout the winter to go dormant. So, both digging up and planting of bulbs essentially happens during the fall. You should ideally start with picking out whichever bulbs you may feel necessary and then follow that procedure up with planting the others with the help of special tools designed to make the task easier and quicker.

General Supplies : Fall is also the right time to get the lawn ready for the next season. It is quite common to subject the lawns to fertilizer sprays with weed killers that can assist the lawn to put up with the winter cold and curb the weed growth as well. Many gardeners seed the following years lawn in the fall season itself. To get on with this process, general supplies like tool, bulbs, supplies, gardening plants etc. are required along with some lawn care goods as well.

Garden Maintenance : Once the necessary tools, bulbs, supplies, gardening materials have been purchased, it is imperative to go around he garden and trim the dead plants. If neglected, it can result in deadly plant diseases. Mulches also need to be purchased along with the fall gardening products to get the beds for following spring ready and help the plants to retain their moisture levels during winter. After getting through with all these processes, one should clean, sand and oil the tools prior to taking them away for safekeeping.

Making purchases of the essential items like tools, bulbs, supplies, gardening materials etc. can be a tiresome process due to many other simultaneous activities in the fall season. However, if planned properly, one can do justice to all of them in a satisfying manner.

By: Vicki Duong

Before you start on your first composting project of the year, have you thought about what you were going to place your compost in? I don’t mean, “In my garden,” or even, “In my houseplant’s soil,” those are all moot points. I mean, have you considered whether you were going to compost out in the open for anything and everyone to see, or perhaps in a compost bin or compost tumbler? After all, these are important points to consider and they may hold the key to a successful composting project.

There are quite a few methods when it comes to composting; some use the open composting method by building a pile of compost out in the woods or yard, others use compost tumblers and bins. I prefer the compost tumbler method out of all of them mainly because I lead quite a busy life and can’t commit to watering down my compost constantly if it’s out in the open in addition to turning the pile on a regular basis. However, that’s not to say that a compost tumbler is better than open composting; both methods produce the same amount of compost in the same amount of time so long as you keep your compost heaps aerated.

Moving forward, compost tumblers have a lot of great benefits, the most obvious being that if you’re a busy person all you really have to do is toss all your food scraps and/or yard waste into your tumbler, turn it or flip it (depending on the design) about every few days and you’re good. Tumblers of course, keep your compost aerated which is very important; you never want your compost to stay stagnant because that would bore the little microbes in your heap. They should be actively eating and decomposing all the matter in the tumbler or bin!

Another reason I prefer tumblers over other methods is that it keeps animals and rodents away from your compost. Your pile will stay securely in the tumbler until it’s ready to be removed, which can be easily done. But the big reason why I like compost tumblers is because they’re fun! Sorry to the folks who have open compost heaps, but I don’t find using a pitch fork to turn my compost appealing at all. Something about spinning or flipping my compost tumbler while on a steady axis sounds easier. Call me lazy or what have you, but know this: my compost heap is still just as good as yours!

By: Jack Nguyen

There are many different methods of composting, and there are a number of products now available to those who compost. The compost bin to buy depends on the needs of the garden or home. With that said, compost tumblers provide an efficient, low maintenance, and reliable method of composting.

One of the many misconceptions about composting is that there is an odor associated with decomposing materials. The odor that is referred to is caused when microbes don’t thrive amongst the compost. Microbes are the microscopic living organisms that convert biodegradable waste into rich organic soil. Like any living being, microbes require oxygen to exist. This happens by turning the compost. When the compost sits neglected, microbes don’t get their oxygen. When the microbes don’t get their oxygen, they die, they smell, and the compost doesn’t decompose nearly as fast. The smell associated with composting only happens when compost is neglected.

This is where compost tumblers come in very handy: they are incredibly easy to maintain. Every time you throw something in your compost tumbler, you just turn it a few times. It is never neglected, it is never stinky, and it turns out fresh organic soil in record breaking time. Typically, with a single compost bin or compost heap, decomposition time can take between six months and two years. Compost tumblers, when used and turned regularly, have been known to create humus in as little as a month or two. This does, of course, depend on the user. What can be accurately said is that compost tumblers will cut decomposition time in at least half.

There are a few things to consider when shopping for a compost tumbler. Compost tumblers come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. As always the case, think first of your own composting needs. This will help to determine what size tumbler you need. Consider as well your own physical needs. Some people struggle with turning huge heaps of compost; one major advantage that compost tumblers offer is that they require very little physical exertion to turn. The height of some tumblers can be a factor because height determines ease of accessibility.

Another factor to consider is the material used in the construction of the tumbler. A good choice in material for compost tumblers is food grade plastic. This material is UV resistant which means that it will be durable, and last a very long time. Some compost tumblers have metal parts, which isn’t necessarily an advantage because they become weather rusted in certain climates. A food grade plastic compost tumbler generally outlives the rest, and maintains a nice warm temperature for the microbes that dwell in there.

Yet another important factor to consider before you buy is maneuverability. For the most part, when filled with compost, you’re probably not going to be moving your compost tumbler around your lawn or garden. However, there are some models that are bulkier and harder to move than others. If you know that you will at some point be required to move your bin, you should absolutely factor this into the equation. There are several rolling models that simply roll across your lawn, churning the compost as you move it. Now there are also several models that actually include wheels; one of which doubles as a wheelbarrow. So if maneuverability is an issue, you certainly are at no loss to find portable compost tumblers.

Whatever your composting need, give compost tumblers a shot. You might have to invest a bit more money up front than a standard compost bin, but you’ll find that the returns of this method of composting are well worth it.

By: Vicki Duong

Adding organic material into your compost can sometimes be a sticky situation, especially if you’re new to the composting game. You’ve probably heard of some stuff called “green matter” and “brown matter,” too. Now, as gross as that may sound to some of you, it’s really not what you think. This all stems back to the carbon/nitrogen ration (C/N ratio). Green matter, which is chock full of nitrogen, usually consists of yard wastes such as grass clippings and non-diseased weeds, fruit scraps and humus. Chicken manure and rotted manure also falls under this category. Brown matter, which is full of carbon, would usually be dried leaves, hay, sawdust and wood chips.

How much green matter to brown matter you want to throw into your compost bin is really up to you. However, there are a couple formulas you can start with until you find the right plan that works for you. The first thing you should keep in mind is to achieve the ideal batch of hot, fast compost is to try to stick to the 30:1 ratio. With 30 parts carbon for every 1 part of nitrogen, all the beneficial microbes will be able to reproduce and decompose all the organic matter quickly and efficiently. An easy method I use to achieve this ratio is by mixing half of the brown matter and half of the green matter by weight. Keep in mind though that yard waste and food scraps weigh more than dried leaves and hay so there’s a possibility that you’ll have to include three to four times the amount of brown matter to reach the same weight of your green matter.

Once you’ve got your own formula (or are even using the 30:1 formula), it’s time to start throwing everything into your compost tumbler or bin. Assuming you’ll be composting in your backyard, set up your compost bin in a shady area and near a water source. Throw in a pile of dried leaves that’ll fill up about eight inches in your bin and turn the hose on it to dampen them just a bit. Afterward add in some green matter like grass; remember to keep in mind the half greens, half browns weight. Mix well so that everything is evenly distributed and damp. For an added boost, sprinkle on some rich soil, but not a shovel full!

Check on your compost regularly to make sure that nothing’s too damp or too dry, and to make sure your pile is shrinking. After a few weeks and regular turning of the pile you should have some ready made compost to use in your garden.

hallsmentholyptus2003 asked:


I am a preschool teacher and we just got a compost bin. It’s a pretty cool one it’s a plastic barrel that rotates. Anyone have any advice?