Compost Happens!
By Anderwood on June 16, 2014
Here are some nuts and bolts on basic composting. If you don't get it right, don't worry. It all turns into dirt in the end.
Composting over Winter in Cold Weather
By Oberon46 on February 24, 2014
Composting can be a challenge in Alaska, where the weather is cool in summer and very cold for a long time in winter, but I think I have finally found a wonderful solution so I won't have to pitch out my kitchen scraps all winter and will have a hot compost ready for spring. Note black compost bins buried in the snow.
Keep Compost Aerobic
By Anderwood on February 10, 2015
Once a compost pile goes anaerobic, it is toxic to plants.
Composting Hint
By HollyAnnS on July 1, 2014
Make composting easy for everyone in the family to participate. Put a small attractive compost bucket next to the kitchen sink. With a composting bucket close at hand, you can catch each banana peel and all the coffee grounds.
Vermicomposting: Easy and Efficient Composting with Worms
By dave on August 22, 2011
Whether you live on a self-sufficient homestead or in an apartment in the city, you should consider keeping a bin of worms to turn your kitchen scraps into the best compost available. Here's how to get started.
ATP Podcast #27: A Double Header - Squash and Vermicomposting
By dave on July 18, 2013
In today's episode of the ATP podcast, Dave and Trish discuss at length the wonderful world of growing winter squash. We'll discuss our favorite varieties, how to store them, and how to eat them. We also talk all about composting with worms.
A Quick Tip About Compost
By plantladylin on July 12, 2012
Compost, Compost, Compost! No need for a special bin. Just find a corner somewhere in the yard away from the house, and start a pile of leaves and food scraps (but no dairy or bones). Pile on another layer of leaves and let it bake. No need to even turn the pile, it will eventually decompose for wonderful compost.
Portable Composting and Earthworms
By cwhitt on June 17, 2017
Living in a condo, I don't have a lot of space, so I sometimes need to get creative with my gardening. I can't imagine a garden without compost, but did not have a large permanent place for a compost pile, so I took a large black pot that had once held a tree and I started using it for composting. The idea worked very well -- with added benefits. I had placed the pot in my rose bed. Earthworms quickly found their way up into the pot from the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. They delighted in the constant supply of fresh kitchen and yard waste that I kept putting into the pot, especially my coffee grounds, banana peels, and egg shells. Soon, I had an entire nursery of baby wrigglers, and my kitchen/yard waste was rapidly composted and became full of earthworm castings. Then, I had another idea: I had a rose bush that was not doing very well, so I moved my compost pot next to the rose bush during the rainy season. Nutrients must have drained out of the bottom of the pot, and baby earthworms made their way back out of the bucket and into my rose bed. Soon I noticed a great improvement in the rose bush, and a definite increase in the number of earthworms. It seems that this was a win-win situation: I was breeding earthworms, composting, and improving my soil -- all at the same time! This summer my composting pot is moving again. I have another bed that needs some soil improvement and is lacking in earthworms. What an easy way to improve my soil!
Compost Here and There
By rebeccag on August 14, 2011
You can "spot compost" if you do not want to deal with a compost area. Just take your potato peelings, coffee grounds, etc, dig a small hole with a shovel, stick them in, then cover them. They will compost nicely and you will have no mess or flies.
The Wonderful Comfrey
By dave on March 24, 2015
Comfrey is incredible. It's a soil builder, a fertilizer, a compost enhancer, has medicinal properties, is a good feed source for animals, and much more. Let's talk about this chief of plants.
In-Place Composting
By orchidgal on November 22, 2014
If you are in the habit of throwing your kitchen waste down the garbage disposal, you are wasting valuable nutrients that would make your flowers and vegetables thrive. So, if you only have a little kitchen waste and not enough yard waste to compost, or if you don’t have a compost bin in your garden, you can do “in-place composting”.
Containers for Kitchen Compost
By rocklady on February 29, 2012
Instead of purchasing those pricey compost containers, I use plastic coffee cans. The lids fit tight so you don't attract fruit flies and you don't have to buy deodorizers either.
Spring Mulching Made Easier
By mcash70 on February 13, 2014
If you have perennial beds that need mulch or compost this spring, try this idea.
White Pine Shavings, Garden Helper
By kylaluaz on November 4, 2014
I started using white pine shavings when I badly needed some carbon (dry browns) for a new compost mixture and didn't know where to get straw or dried leaves. I bought a bale of white pine shavings instead because they were cheap, not too heavy for me to carry, and easy to work with. I now like having them on hand for several uses, and I keep finding more.
What Is Hugelkultur?
By Artistwantobe on March 21, 2016
Hugelkultur is an ancient method of raised-bed gardening, one that utilizes fallen wood. It has been used in Europe for centuries. In German it translates to "mound culture." Building one of these mounds takes a bit of work, but it will last for a long time, and it will be a self-watering, self-feeding, and self-composting raised bed! I have built mine in the vegetable garden, but you could have one serving as a perennial flower bed.
ATP Podcast #0.3: Interview with Author Chris McLaughlin
By dave on August 20, 2012
Chris is a gardener and hobby farmer, and the author of many gardening books in the "Idiot's Guide" series. In this podcast, she joined me to talk all about gardening: heirloom vegetables, compost, worms, containers, small plants, and much more!
Bury Your Compost Directly
By postmandug on December 2, 2011
During the winter bury your coffee grounds and other compostable material directly in your garden. Come spring it will have decayed into a nice black planting spot full of worms.
Composting with Worms, It's Easier Than You Think!
By prairiegirl on August 30, 2013
Red Wigglers are my garden's secret weapon, and it is easy to get started.
ATP Podcast #44: Diego Footer, Founder of the Permaculture Voices Conference
By dave on January 31, 2014
More permaculture! Diego Footer joins us today and talks about permaculture, soil building, fruit tree growing, composting, his upcoming permaculture conference and much, much more.
ATP Podcast #76: Composting in the Winter
By dave on January 29, 2015
In today's podcast, Trish and Dave share their thoughts on composting in winter. What to do to keep it alive, when there are no grass clippings or weeds? We also talk about the Green Pages feature at All Things Plants, and give miscellaneous thoughts on the goings-on around our farm.
