Compost and Recycling

Composting is necessary to maintain healthy organic soil. What is compost? Compost is decomposed organic materials. In a sense, you are simply recycling real food, leaves, yard clippings (herbs and flowers) and grass. Sure, you can buy bags of compost at your local gardening and supply store, but wouldn’t it be awesome to have full control over the ingredients that are going into your garden no matter how small it is? Composting improves the soil’s drainage and nourishes the soil to promote the growth of healthy plants.

Getting started with composting is simple!

 Remember, cool green matter like veggie scraps, fruit peels, and any fruit ready to get tossed works. Adding veggies like parsley, lettuce, carrot tops, celery, potatoes, beets and yes, coffee grounds, supply the nitrogen. Warm organic matter (dry leaves and grass) are your carbon source, both essential for healthy compost.  

Here are simple steps to starting your own small space organic compost bin.

There are many materials that will decompose, but I choose to feed my compost the things that I eat and not add materials of paper, cardboard, eggshells or even Q-tips and newspaper. This is what I mean about having control over what you add to your garden. 

Note: Things that should never be added to compost are cooked leftovers, raw meat and bones, dairy products and diseased plants. 

Instead, I enlist my neighboring organic urban farmers who raise chickens to share their organic waste including straw (I keep this separate) and combine when ready to add to my beds and pots. Most of us have a very small area to allocate to a bin so no need to stress about it. Simply start saving your scraps indoors. You can also gather and collect leaves from a hike, or again enlist your neighbor’s help. Not all of us have backyards, so let’s get creative. 

I love small gardens and with minimal space we can all share the joy of having one. Hanging gardens, vertical gardens, pocket gardens, window seal, and gardens on steps and ladders all make for unique gardenscapes. 

Let’s have fun with going green! 

Start with a tin, plastic or wood tray and cover it with cardboard or plastic top. These ingredients when left to decompose will produce healthy worms so have a plan to move outdoors to combine with your dry leaves matter. After weeks of turning your compost and decomposing you are ready to add to your single potted plants or flower and herb beds. Happy composting.