The Content Hoarder

Composting has been a familiar pastime for years, especially after the onset of the twentieth century and the improved cultivation methods that came about with it. Historically, there’s mention of compost, or compost-like compounds being used as far back as the Roman era, and the use of compost is also suggested in parts of the Old Testament. Compost has various benefits, and is typically used as a natural fertilizer. What’s more, the process of composting is eco-friendly, as it’s effectively a form of recycling. Many things can be recycled into compost, and these include eggshells, paper, cardboard, unused fruits and vegetables and manure. In order to get the best results from you compost, I’ve put together a few pointers that should encourage good results.

Firstly, use grass and plant cuttings to add to your compost. These biodegrade nicely, though they need to be mixed in with earthier materials that add carbon. Grass alone will give you very poor results, and this will be made glaringly obvious by the fairly pungent smell that grass produces when left to decompose alone. Secondly, ensure that none of the plants that you add to your compost have been treated with pesticides or herbicides. This will damage the quality of your compost.

In order to speed up the process of composting, try to place your composter beneath direct sunlight in order to raise the temperature of the compost. Most composters are coloured black in order to maximise the effect of this, and gather as much heat as possible. The optimum heat for compost can be found somewhere between one hundred and twenty, to one hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit, so don’t just try to increase the heat of your composter at all times. Excessive heat will slow down the whole process.

Also, be aware of the scientific side of composting. High quality compost will contain a decent balance between nitrogen and carbon emitting forms of waste. The nitrogen content will typically be provided by the inclusion of food waste, manure or grass cuttings, whereas carbon content can come from paper, rotting leaves and wood shavings. When making a compost mix or pile, aim for a fifty-fifty split between these two different types of material.

On a different note, it’s quite normal for compost to be fairly moist, and when adding new layers to your compost, try to ensure that they aren’t dry. On the other hand, make sure that your compost isn’t too wet, as wet compost will rarely produce a top quality finished product.

I’m also going to talk about the usage of compost tumblers here, in particular the use of back porch compost tumblers. For those of you with large gardens, you may wish to opt for a more heavy-duty tumbler or compost receptacle, due to the likelihood that you’ll have more garden waste. However, anyone living in an urbanised area, or with a small garden may benefit form the aforementioned back porch compost tumbler.

Gardening is a year-round hobby, which requires specific tasks at certain times of the year - often planning for several months ahead. In order to be ready to plant in your garden during next spring, you need to start preparing the soil sometime in the fall.

To prepare your garden for planting next spring, one of the most important things is to spread and till compost or peat moss over your garden, especially if it is a new garden. Adding fertilizers and nutrients several months ahead of the actual planting will help to ensure healthier plants.

Apart from preparing the soil, the winter months can also be used for removing of leaves and other debris and disposing of any dead plants. Some gardening experts recommend creating a calendar of planting dates so when spring is here you will know when to plant each variety.

Once spring arrives, your planting timetable will depend on where you live, your soil type and your local climate. Even though spring officially begins around March 20 th , you may have several more weeks of winter weather. Plants and vegetables that thrive in warm weather should not be planted until after the date that you can realistically expect no further frost. After that date, you can also safely remove any protective winter covers from plants.

Many varieties of annual flower seeds and vegetable seeds should be planted in March or April for best results. Try to sow seeds on a warm dry day as the soil may still be damp during this time of the year, thus causing the seeds to rot.

One tip for spring planting is to plant different varieties of crops and flowers in different parts of the garden than they were previously planted. Crop rotation helps to improve the health of the soil as well as preventing soil disease from spreading.

And before you even start planting, early spring is also a good time of year to perform basic outdoor maintenance tasks such as repairing fences or trellises, sharpening and cleaning tools. Spring is also the time to cut back unruly growth on most shrubs, before leaves begin to grow again.

About the Author:

Written by Joe Castro for GardenJunkie.com For more articles, auctions, blogs, forums & more visit http://www.gardenjunkie.com

“Free Plants, Seeds and Flowers”

Home gardeners give away free plants and flowers almost every day on the new GardenHere Internet site. Home gardeners save $10’s, –even $100’s on their landscape and home gardening projects. It’s easy, fun, and a great way to make new friends. Visitors to GardenHere forums find listings of free plants, flowers, and seeds or place a notice telling other members what they are looking for.

“Giving away extra plants is a tradition for many home gardeners,” says webpage owner Al Stubblefield. “Just this year, I sent Fuchsia starts to a home gardener in Arizona and Wisteria, Ivy, and Daylilies to GardenHere members in Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana, and Oregon -all free. It took only a short trip to the post office for me and the cost of postage for my new home gardening friends.”

One forum member from Adair,Oklahoma said, “I have just recently found this forum (Website) and absolutely love it. If anyone would be interested in some Bearded Irises, please let me know. I have three beds that are extremely out of control!” Another home gardener from Boulder, Montana had this to say about the GardenHere Website, “I just wanted to thank you for this wonderful website you have created. This is a great idea . . .!”

No self-respecting home gardener would throw plants in the compost pile when someone else might like to have them in their yard? “I’ve already gotten free Irises, Columbine, Daylilies, Hosta, Azaleas, Liriope, and Pachysandra,” said Stubblefield.

Any home gardener can do the same thing simply by finding what they want in the garden forums and responding or placing their own message. Most home gardeners enjoy giving away extra plants or exchanging them for something they don’t already have.

“Exchanging Plants, Seeds and Flowers is the Neighborly Thing To Do!”