George, our mailman came to my door the other day, all smiles, and said “I’ve got worms!”, to which I replied that there were several good doctors that could help him. “No, no,” he said. “I’ve got a worm composter!”
I had been showing off the garden and my compost piles to George a few weeks ago, and he excited with the idea of recycling his kitchen waste but lives in an apartment. Worm composters are the perfect solution.
Taking up little space, simple to start and maintain, a worm composter provides a happy place for your worms, who in turn will process 5 to 10 pounds of fruit and vegetable peels, pulverized egg shells, tea bags and coffee grounds every week, leaving behind worm casings, compost “tea”, and no odor.
Getting started is easy. There are several worm composting kits available that come with everything you need to create a worm ranch. A model called the Cascade Worm Factory comes complete with the bins, a manual and 10,000 worms. For the more adventurous, there is Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof, an excellent guide available in your library that will take you through constructing a worm composter out of wood, and scavenging through horse dung piles for your own red wigglers, and setting up the correct environment. Most municipal recycling programs also offer courses and resources in worm composting. Check yours today, and happy ranching!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Mulching Away
It isn’t often that I get to use the bon mot “au contraire”, but last week presented the perfect opportunity when my nosy neighbor Fred leaned over the fence and said “getting a little lazy there, leaving all of them grass clippings on the lawn.”
I stopped pushing my manual reel mower, turned, raised an eyebrow and said “au contraire, Fred” and proceeded to explain the wonders of mulch.
There are two basic techniques for mulching. The kind I was practising on my lawn is known as lazy or accidental mulching. The grass is cut, falls onto the ground and in a couple of days has begun to break down and replenish the soil. It also keeps the ground cooler by inhibiting evaporation, leaving my grass greener with less water.
The second type of mulching is directed mulching; taking straw, leaves, bark, or wood chips and spreading them around the bases of plants or on the paths of the garden specifically to deter the growth of weeds, and to provide nutrients to the plants. This takes a little more work that just leaving your clippings on the lawn, but it is a sound way of controlling weeds, and giving your plants a boost.
Mulching is also a good garden and lawn fall activity. Shredded leaves make for excellent fall and winter plant food.
By far the biggest benefit of mulching is keeping leaves and grass clippings out of the landfill. On average 10%- 20% of landfill wastes are grass clippings. So Fred, I’m not “lazy”, I’m performing a public service for the greater good. So there.
I stopped pushing my manual reel mower, turned, raised an eyebrow and said “au contraire, Fred” and proceeded to explain the wonders of mulch.
There are two basic techniques for mulching. The kind I was practising on my lawn is known as lazy or accidental mulching. The grass is cut, falls onto the ground and in a couple of days has begun to break down and replenish the soil. It also keeps the ground cooler by inhibiting evaporation, leaving my grass greener with less water.
The second type of mulching is directed mulching; taking straw, leaves, bark, or wood chips and spreading them around the bases of plants or on the paths of the garden specifically to deter the growth of weeds, and to provide nutrients to the plants. This takes a little more work that just leaving your clippings on the lawn, but it is a sound way of controlling weeds, and giving your plants a boost.
Mulching is also a good garden and lawn fall activity. Shredded leaves make for excellent fall and winter plant food.
By far the biggest benefit of mulching is keeping leaves and grass clippings out of the landfill. On average 10%- 20% of landfill wastes are grass clippings. So Fred, I’m not “lazy”, I’m performing a public service for the greater good. So there.
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