By: Douglas Hill

The concept of composting has been around for quite a long time in the forests. Leaves fall to the forest floor, decompose, and their nutrients will be absorbed back into the trees through the roots. Farmers and Gardeners have been taking advantage of the nutrient rich by product from this decomposition for thousands of years and you can too.

Composting is a great way to add nutrients to your garden or potting soil. Not only is it good for your garden and plants, it also is a good way for you to help reduce your overall garbage going to the dump. There are no hard and fast rules in what you should do your composting in. In fact you could do it in a pile in the yard, although it will probably not be well accepted by the rest of your family. While you can go out and buy a commercially sold unit that will do well for all your composting needs, I prefer to save a few bucks and build one myself.

The real hero’s in the world of composting are the fungi, bacteria, worms and other insects that will take your yard and kitchen waste and turn it into the black gold you want for your pots and garden. Now it is in your best interest to keep these guys in good conditions so they can digest the food you give them. Their basic requirements are just like you and I, they are food, water, and air. If you want to help these insects and microbes along, keep your compost in a nice cool corner of your yard.

To better understand these basic needs for your compost let’s start with the food. Essentially there are two types of food. There are the brown foods that include straw, autumn leaves, wood chips/sawdust, and dead plant material. These materials mainly consist of long chains of sugar molecules that the microbes digest and use as a source of energy. There are also the greens such as green grass and weeds, kitchen fruit and vegetables, coffee grounds, and tea bags. These materials have a lot more nitrogen in them than the browns. This nitrogen in your compost pile acts as a source of protein to all those microbes for them to feed off of as well.

The next part is the air. It is very important to get good airflow into your pile. The microbes you want to decompose your pile cannot do this without air. If there is no air supply then other microbes will move in. They will also do the job but they work a lot slower and tend to make the compost smell like rotten garbage. So unless you want your backyard to smell like the city dump you will have it “fluff” your pile. “Fluffing” your pile is easily done with a spade or a garden fork. You will have to completely break it apart and then pile it back together leaving it in a “Fluffy” condition.

Some “food” like grass clippings or wet leaves will sit heavy on the pile and not allow good air flow through that portion of the pile. You should mix this sort of ingredient into the pile to avoid a spot that won’t decompose very easily. Straw is a great ingredient to add to your compost because unlike grass they will not mat down into slimy layers and add to the airflow.

Water is the last important ingredient in your compost. This is where it gets a little tricky. You need to get the water just right to aid and not hinder the work of the microbes. Too wet and the pile gets too heavy and the airflow gets cut off to the middle of the pile. Too dry and the microbes will not be able to break down the waste as easily. Ideally you want to get every particle wet but not saturated. In wet climates you may need a lid or a tarp to avoid saturation.

Having a good mix of the greens and browns is a good thing for a few reasons. Not only does it supply all your little microbes with a good diet, but it also helps in airflow since the browns are dry and “light” and the greens are wet and “heavy”.

By: Douglas Hill

The concept of composting has been around for quite a long time in the forests. Leaves fall to the forest floor, decompose, and their nutrients will be absorbed back into the trees through the roots. Farmers and Gardeners have been taking advantage of the nutrient rich by product from this decomposition for thousands of years and you can too.

Composting is a great way to add nutrients to your garden or potting soil. Not only is it good for your garden and plants, it also is a good way for you to help reduce your overall garbage going to the dump. There are no hard and fast rules in what you should do your composting in. In fact you could do it in a pile in the yard, although it will probably not be well accepted by the rest of your family. While you can go out and buy a commercially sold unit that will do well for all your composting needs, I prefer to save a few bucks and build one myself.

The real hero’s in the world of composting are the fungi, bacteria, worms and other insects that will take your yard and kitchen waste and turn it into the black gold you want for your pots and garden. Now it is in your best interest to keep these guys in good conditions so they can digest the food you give them. Their basic requirements are just like you and I, they are food, water, and air. If you want to help these insects and microbes along, keep your compost in a nice cool corner of your yard.

To better understand these basic needs for your compost let’s start with the food. Essentially there are two types of food. There are the brown foods that include straw, autumn leaves, wood chips/sawdust, and dead plant material. These materials mainly consist of long chains of sugar molecules that the microbes digest and use as a source of energy. There are also the greens such as green grass and weeds, kitchen fruit and vegetables, coffee grounds, and tea bags. These materials have a lot more nitrogen in them than the browns. This nitrogen in your compost pile acts as a source of protein to all those microbes for them to feed off of as well.

The next part is the air. It is very important to get good airflow into your pile. The microbes you want to decompose your pile cannot do this without air. If there is no air supply then other microbes will move in. They will also do the job but they work a lot slower and tend to make the compost smell like rotten garbage. So unless you want your backyard to smell like the city dump you will have it “fluff” your pile. “Fluffing” your pile is easily done with a spade or a garden fork. You will have to completely break it apart and then pile it back together leaving it in a “Fluffy” condition.

Some “food” like grass clippings or wet leaves will sit heavy on the pile and not allow good air flow through that portion of the pile. You should mix this sort of ingredient into the pile to avoid a spot that won’t decompose very easily. Straw is a great ingredient to add to your compost because unlike grass they will not mat down into slimy layers and add to the airflow.

Water is the last important ingredient in your compost. This is where it gets a little tricky. You need to get the water just right to aid and not hinder the work of the microbes. Too wet and the pile gets too heavy and the airflow gets cut off to the middle of the pile. Too dry and the microbes will not be able to break down the waste as easily. Ideally you want to get every particle wet but not saturated. In wet climates you may need a lid or a tarp to avoid saturation.

Having a good mix of the greens and browns is a good thing for a few reasons. Not only does it supply all your little microbes with a good diet, but it also helps in airflow since the browns are dry and “light” and the greens are wet and “heavy”.

By: Abhishek Agarwal

A greenhouse is basically a very simple thing. By means of glass or plastic the sun’s energy is trapped in the air and soil so that an enclosed space is warmed allowing plants to grow optimally. While the principle of the thing is very simply the devil, as they say, is in the detail.

To get the most out of your greenhouse you are going to need some supplies to make it an efficient system. Your aim is create in an artifical environment the best growing conditions for plants that would not normally thrive in northern latitudes or at high altitude. Your plants need warmth and humidity, but they also need ventilation because without a good air flow disease can result.

You also need to get the maximum number of plants into the relatively small space of your greenhouse. Whether your aim is fruit and vegetables for the kitchen or exotic flowers for the house or show bench you need to exploit your greenhouse to the full extent of its potential. Otherwise it just becomes inefficient. A greenhouse is an intensive system.

Even you rely only on the sun’s rays to heat your greenhouse and do not have any form of supplementary heating you will need to think about a range of equipment. You will certainly need a method of venting the greenhouse. On a sunny day a greenhouse can become too hot and plants will suffer. The simplest method is to walk out there and open the door and a window. But if you are at work all day or plan to take vacations that is not a satisfactory solution. An automatic system of ventilation for the greenhouse is the answer.

Automatic ventilation may be as simple as an electronic mechanism that opens a window or a more elaborate system of fans. They are triggered by a thermostat. You can start with something basic and invest in a more elaborate system as you develop your greenhouse.

The same is true for watering. I could walk out to the greenhouse with a watering can. But do I want to do that four or five times a day in high season? Even the most enthusiatic grower might hesitate at that. No, an automatic watering system is the answer even for a small greenhouse. It can be quite simple. A passive system using capillary matting is cheap and easy to maintain. At a more complex level there are systems of drip feed pipes that deliver water to the plants.

For all the year round growing a greenhouse will certainly need lighting. Lights will extend your growing season. There are a number of types available for greenhouses.

Bringing power to the greenhouse is a skilled job. Get an electrician to install an outdoor power supply if you do not already have one. The control systems themselves can be built by an enthusiastic amateur. The parts are available at electronic hobbyist suppliers. Most of us would probably prefer to buy them ready made. They are a good investment in the long term because they will ensure the best conditions for your plants and allow you to take a break.

You should also think about how you intend to grow your plants. Will the plants be in containers on benches or will they grow in the ground? Plants will grow quite happily in the ground. But if you grow the same kind of plant year after year in the same place there can be a build up of disease. The traditional answer to this problem was to replace the soil in the greenhouse annually. That must have been back breaking work. A better solution is to use a growing medium that can be replaced annually. A commercial potting compost is an ideal solution. These are usually light to handle because they are based on peat or, even better, coconut fibre or bark which are both sustainable resources.

Benches, or greenhouse staging, is very useful. Smaller plants or seedlings can be placed at a higher level. They also provide space for mixing compost and repotting plants. If the greehouse is to be used by someone who has mobility problems then this becomes even more important. A gardener with limited mobility can derive great pleasure from a greenhouse if it is planned properly. Good access is important for all gardeners but especially so for those with mobility problems. A path of well laid paving stones is essential for any greenhouse.