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Backyard Composting Made Easy

admin — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:55:40 +0000

Backyard composting is an attractive, simple method of managing organic wastes at home. It has the advantage of being readily adaptable to fit individual lifestyles, income, yard size, and overall ambition. Backyard composting can be performed by a variety of methods. Typically, these include placing materials in open piles, burying materials in pits or trenches and enclosing materials in drums or bins (e.g., holding bins, turning bins, and worm bins. In order to heat up properly, compost piles should be at least one cubic yard in size. This provides the minimal insulation required to sustain the high temperatures in the center of the pile. Composting units or bins can either be commercial units, or can be simply constructed from inexpensive materials with little carpentry or masonry skills.

The compost produced by backyard composting is an excellent soil conditioner. It enhances the structure of soil by binding soil particles together. This improves aeration and helps soil to retain water and nutrients. Compost also improves drainage in clay soils and water retention in sandy soils. Compost improves the buffering capacity of the soil and minimizes adverse effects to plants due to extreme shifts in soil pH. Adding compost to soil also attracts earthworms, which aerate the soil and add additional nutrients to the soil. Compost can store nutrients and release them slowly for use by surrounding plants. Although highly beneficial for soil, most composts are not considered fertilizers because they lack the amount of nitrogen necessary to be classed a fertilizer.

Start the composting process with 50% green materials and 50% brown materials cut into pieces no larger than 1″ in size. Mix the materials and add water every 7-10 days. Your compost is ready to use when it’s dark brown, crumbly and smells like fresh turned earth.

Green materials:

Grass clippings
Garden trimmings
Green leaves
Livestock manure
Fruit and vegetable scraps
Coffee grounds and filters
Tea leaves and bags

Brown matereials:

Wood chips and sawdust
Shredded yard wastes
Pine and fir needles
Straw and hay
Dry grass and leaves
Nut shells
Stale bread
Shredded paper

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How to Plant Backyard Vegetables

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:13:47 +0000

Location is key
Find a space for your garden that receives plenty of sun. Prep the soil by tilling it with a borrowed or rented tiller. Mixing grass in with soil adds organic material. You will need to determine what soil type you have so you know what soil amendments (topsoil, gypsum, lime, fertilizer, organic material) to add. Bring a sample of your soil to your local agricultural extension office to receive a pH and soil analysis. If you only have a small area, consider container gardening. Many varieties of different vegetables grow well in large pots.

Planting time
Once your soil is tilled and in good shape, it is time to plant. There are many types of seeds that you can start growing indoors in small containers approximately eight weeks before replanting into the outdoor garden. You can also buy transplants of many of the popular vegetables and fruits. These little plants work beautifully, are inexpensive, and are good for the beginning gardener who may only want one plant for each type of vegetable. Good starter crops include tomatoes, beans, peas, zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers. Make sure you plant after the last expected frost. You can find out about frost information by doing Google search online.

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Earth Hour 2009

admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:25:58 +0000

VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

VOTE EARTH by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm.

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

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Use Hi-Tech to Bloom Your Garden

admin — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:58:25 +0000

So you want to have a green garden, kitchen or office, but you don’t know what plants/flowers best fit your specific environment? Don’t worry! We live in a hi-tech era. The EasyBloom Plant Sensor can help you:

Determine which plants will thrive in a specific spot in your yard or home.
Diagnose an ailing plant so you can bring it back to health.
Access detailed plant information on over 5000+ plants; create a custom plant library of your favorite plants.

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Green Gadget: Soil-Powered Clock

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:58:27 +0000

Gadget geeks can go green too! Check out the soil-powered clock designed by Marieke Staps.

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Green Sunflower

admin — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:56:51 +0000

It’s really nice to have some lights in your backyard – well, don’t use electricity, consider a solar-powered outdoor lights instead. Here we recommend Corona , a solar-powered outdoor lighting system. It can be staked to the ground, attached to a wall, or simply placed on a table top.

The Corona solar light’s photovoltaic cell transforms sunlight into energy during the day, and its LEDs automatically start to glow when the sun sets. It uses no glues or fasteners, making it simple to disassemble for recycling.

Put some in your garden, you will enjoy seeing beautiful solar-powered green sunflowers in your outdoor spaces

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