Okay, okay, so I promised to devote a post to Vermiculite, and to Peat Moss, and I swear I’m thinking about it. It’s just that they’re both so…controversial, and I’ve yet to fully decide how, exactly, to address them.
This is a very busy week as our oldest boy is celebrating his birthday this week.
In any case, I’ve been thinking more about compost, and seeing as how this is International Compost Awareness Week it seemed fitting that I devote another post to the topic.
First things first! If you are a practitioner of Square Foot Gardening, you will be aware that our friend Mel stresses that you must use at least 5 different types of compost. When you factor this into arriving at the perfect 1/3 of your final mixture, your head may begin to spin at the advanced math involved (no? maybe it’s just me). Can you see where I’m going with this, though? That’s right! The Compost you can procure from your municipal program (let’s hear it for VWRM one more time) arrives already automatically mixed. Unless, I suppose, you and all your neighbours only eat carrots. I’m always keen on the easy way out and this seems to be just the thing in my book.
All that aside, though, it does beg the question: why are we paying (even a little) to get our thoroughly rotted food given back to us? Good question! Of course - there are several answers which make a certain amount of sense: volume (we’d need to rot a whole heck of a lot of food to fill 4 garden boxes), impatience (composting takes time), and supporting our local reduce/reuse/recycle initiatives.
Which brings me to the final point in all this. We need not exclusively purchase our compost. Heck, I bet you’ve got some stinky leftovers halfway on their way to compost hanging out in your fridge as I type! This is the “Us” of my title.
Us = all the stuff that’s okay (or, at least, easy) to compost in your own backyard. I’m not going to include a total list but things like veggie/fruit peelings, coffee grounds, eggshells are all fine to rot down to your own black gold. Stuff like meat, dairy, and mixed foods belong in the municipal compost.
Back in early April (hence, the snow in this photo) Mike finally got around to building the backyard composter he’s been hankering after since we’ve lived here (see what I mean about impatience? Composting DOES take time!). He made a very simple construction which has several benefits including (but not limited to) the ability to allow your 3 year old to help, and easy access for neighbourhood raccoons who have been known to enjoy an apple core or two.
Will the snow compost, too?
The Delightful Final Product (sans snow).
In our house, I have tried to simplify things by having 2 containers labeled “us” and “them.”
Us and Them Buckets
Aren’t they lovely, nestled there in the fresh Spring grass? Of course, we don’t actually store these on the lawn. Rather, we store them in the freezer for two reasons: 1. it keeps the food from rotting stinkily in my house and 2. it speeds up the cellular breakdown so our backyard composter is getting a little kick in the pants. By the way: please note the plug for JUST US Coffee!
Us and Them at home
In the meantime, though, don’t forget about the free compost giveaway this weekend! Happy composting.
Rise Again! My favorite.
You can also bulk up with grass clippings and leaves…..
And bits of chipped wood from the dead tree we felled a couple of weeks ago!
Haha, I’ve blogged about Just Us both at my personal blog and at Eco Child’s Play. I actually was a bit disappointed with Rise Again but I love all their coffee, really…
Anyway, I’m just starting composting this year myself and I wanted to THANK YOU for the idea of storing the kitchen scraps in the freezer! That’s just brilliant. We’ll be doing that for sure!
Lovely to see “Us and Them” snugly at home in their natural habitat. I have long been a fan of keeping all stuffs headed for the compost in the freezer until the appointed day. I didn’t know it gave it a head start - bonus.
Thoroughly enjoying this … a good read.