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Summertime in the BelgradesContentsfor Printing Article Summaries |
Cool Composting
By Jill Twist Cool composting is nature's way of recycling and helps to reduce the amount of waste we put in the landfill. By composting kitchen and garden waste you can easily improve the quality of your soil and be well on your way to a more beautiful garden. How do you compost? There are two ways of composting, slow/cold composting and fast/hot composting. For cold composting, which is the easiest way, you take your bin and fill it with leaves and then sprinkle it with water. Mother Nature will do the rest. This type of composting is very slow and it may take a year or more to get good fertilizer for your garden. If this sounds too slow for you, you may want to try hot composting. For hot composting you put shredded leaves in your composting bin and sprinkle a nitrogen source over the shredded leaves. Also some rich soil should be layered with it as well. Keep adding layers of your composting foodstuff. These aren't all the steps to composting so you should research more about how to compost. Now that you know how to compost, what do you put in your bin and what kind of bin do you need? 
One of composting's most important steps is putting the right stuff in your bin. The things that you can put in your bin are vegetable peelings, fruit waste, tea bags, plant prunings, and grass cuttings. What you can't put in your bin are cooked vegetables, meat, dairy products, diseased plants, dog or cat poo or baby nappies. Now, one of the other most important things with composting is your bin. Your bin should have a hole at the bottom and be about three to four feet tall if cold composting. If you are hot composting then you need a bin three to five feet tall. Even though all this composting sounds like a lot of work it is all worth it. The compost is good for your garden and also helps the earth. So, even if you are not that much of a gardener then you still can compost. I encourage everyone to start composting because a little can go a long way. Jill Twist is in the fifth grade at Belgrade Central School. The Small Garden Guide For the End of June And Beginning of JulyBy Esther J. Perne Time to focus on garden maintenance, especially mulch. Mulch is a protective material, organic or inorganic, covering soil around plants to reduce weeds and help maintain uniform moisture conditions in the garden, making it easier to pull weeds that do grow. Mulch also decreases the impact of heavy rain on erosion. Locally, mulch can be purchased commercially, or collected from available materials,
In all cases, remember that different types, thicknesses, and timing apply to different crops. Visit a local Farmers' Market and talk with vendors. They're happy to discuss your "crop" and give advice. | ||