Basic Composting Page

I found a page that has information on basic composting. The link is here. It gives a lot of information in a clear and concise way. http://momsneedtoknow.com/composting-basics-get-started-composting/#_a5y_p=1405513

  Why should we compost? When we compost, we are feeding our soil which makes the soil a nice place for microbes to grow. Microbes turn rotting food into material that will enrich the soil and provide nutrients for our plants to take in.

  Soil that is healthy will provide food for plants to be healthy. Healthy plants can resist disease and fight off different viruses that could attack and cause the plants to be stunted in growth or even die. It is much like human beings having to eat nourishing food in order to stay healthy and fight off sicknesses and diseases.

  Today, we have organic plant food available, and that is nice, but, should the time ever come when that product is not available, we can make our own compost to feed our plants with. It helps us become more independent of big companies and more productive in our own yards and farms.

My Current Garden Area and Improvements - Animals Be Gone!

  As I am popping popcorn for the squirrels right now, I am scheming plans on making my gardens work. Gardening in the yard has been a disaster. I used to think the problem was because I wasn't out there everyday, but now I know the real culprits that are destroying all my hard work.

  We live in an area that is behind a wildlife conserve. We have a group of turkeys that come around, and lots of hawks, squirrels, raccoon, and opossum. We even have a stray cat that comes around for food.

Our stray cat who comes around looking for food. Could
he be one of the culprits destroying the garden?

  I have fed popcorn to the squirrels and actually watched the squirrel population decline. I think that the hawks were having a tasty meal of popcorn filled squirrel. We had a dozen squirrels, then we were down to only 2. Every once in a while, I will hear an animal scream. Another one bit the dust, or rather, was chosen by another animal for dinner.
  After spending so much time making the garden work, only to have it destroyed by some animal(s), I decided to try container gardening. Only the containers are going to be on a balcony instead of on the ground. Now, these animals wont be able to touch my plants!

Tomato plant with Alpine strawberries, sage
and carrots growing toward the back of pic.

I wonder just how many Smart Pots will fit on the balcony? The 20 gallon pots use 3 bags of potting soil each. What's going to be cool is to see the plants as the vines grow and attach themselves to the railing. What will squash look like on a balcony rail?

                                       

                                        Greenhouse on balcony

But, here is one of the neatest things about the gardens on the balcony. A hydroponic set up which finally got set up yesterday. Alpine strawberries are in the pots.

Ebb and Flow Hydroponic setup

So, as long as we can keep the animals off the porch, we should be ok in growing food.  But there still is one problem left.                                                                                                                        

My New Compost Bin Plus Compost Tea From My Worm Bin

  My plants really need to eat well, so I have invested in a small compost maker to work literally side by side with the worm compost bin. When I ordered and received the compost bin, a bag of microbes was included. You are supposed to sprinkle the microbes on the chopped up food that is placed in the compost container and wait a couple of weeks. It should be well made compost by that time. I will update and upload pictures as things happen.

  Here is the picture of compost tea made by the red wriggler worms:

Compost tea made by red wriggler worms
eating leftover food scraps

     Here is a picture of my new bin. Maybe I should get another one as well, that way while one is composting, the other can be collecting new food scraps. Also available are containers to put food scraps in before they are taken to the compost pile or bin. They are designed to sit on the counter top. Other compost bins are bigger and some have a turning device as well. 

Indoor compost maker makes compost and compost tea in
a couple of weeks.

I would not even have thought about using an indoor compost bin except for the fact that I can no longer put compost outside in the garden area as critters come in when they smell the food scraps and think they are at a restaurant. Making the compost inside will work out much better anyway.

Making Compost

    All plants need to eat, just like we do, so, unless we feed them, they won't grow right. It's not as easy as putting a plant in the ground and having it bear something big, healthy, with delicious fruit. Plants get sick sometimes, and need vitamins and minerals in order to survive and be healthy. So, the question is, what is the best way to feed our plants?
   One way to feed them, is to actually feed your soil. We feed our soil by making compost. The soil must be fertile to feed the plants in it. This is not hard to do, but it does take time.
   Over the years, especially if we have plants in the ground, the soil becomes depleted. Whatever plants are already in the soil use up the nutrients, so the soil will need to be replenished. Plus, having our soil replenished helps us with building good soil structure. There is a whole world of microbes at work that live together and work together to build the soil back up. The soil is the home where the microbes live.
  One of the best foods to give the soil is compost. Compost is made of rotting leaves, grass, vegetable scraps, fruit peels and leftovers. There are different ingredients added to the compost pile to compliment other ingredients. For example, if you use mainly coffee grinds to make your compost, the compost will be more acidic. You can help neutralize the compost by adding brown material, such as black and white newspaper clippings, as well as fresh grass clippings and leaves. You need both green and brown materials to make good food for the microbes.
   The pile os food scraps, newspaper (use only black and white print), and grass clippings needs to be turned or tumbled occasionally to blend the ingredients well. It takes a couple of months for the compost to turn into food. When it is finished composting, it will be dark brown or black and crumbly.
  Here is a quote from Barbara Pleasant on composting: "Composting mimics and intensifies nature’s recycling plan. A compost pile starts out as a diverse pile of kitchen and garden “waste.” Left alone, any of these materials would eventually decompose. But when a variety of materials are mixed together and kept moist and aerated, the process accelerates. Compost matures into what soil scientists call active organic matter: a dark, crumbly soil amendment that’s rich with beneficial fungi, bacteria and earthworms, as well as the enzymes and acids these life-forms release as they multiply." I have to agree that composting is fascinating. It is one way of recycling, but it also produces plant food that can be used in the gardens. It gives earthworms an opportunity to do their thing and work hard as they contribute to the process of making compost. 
Here is another good reason for composting: Adding compost to garden soil increases its water-holding capacity, invigorates the soil food web and provides a buffet of plant nutrients. Compost also contains substances that enhance plants’ ability to respond to challenges from insects and diseases.

  Composting is fun to do, and also is scientific. We can watch the compost being made over the months that the food scraps are composting. When it is finished, it will be like 'Black Gold' as someone referred to it as. 

  Compost can be made right on top of soil, or it can be made in a tumbler or bin. Also, worms can make compost. This is called, 'Vermicomposting' and the worms do all the hard work. 

  If you use only organic food, and put the scraps into your garden, your compost will be basically organic, not that you can't use food that isn't organic. Don't put grass clippings though, which have been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides in the compost pile. Nor is putting meat in the compost pile a good idea. 

   You will watch a cycle at work when you make your own compost. Making compost can be very rewarding.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/compost-made-easy.aspx

http://unclejimswormfarm.com/

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/5-easy-steps-fast-compost

http://yesicangarden.blogspot.com/2010/05/setting-up-home-composting-system.html

Petra - My Bird - My Reason For Organic Gardening

You might wonder what a bird has to do with gardening, well, here is my reason for gardening (or at least, one of my main reasons).

Petra's favorite words are 'Come here!'. She also says her
name and if food is missing from her bowl, she says 'manna'.

Because Petra is an indoor bird, the type of food she eats is specific. Conures like both sweet and hot peppers. I like some peppers and so does my son, so my pepper growing is not totally for the bird, but much of it is. 

I want to grow sunflower seeds for Petra, but, the squirrels have fun with the plant and we don't get the seeds from it. Someday, I will plant this on my balcony, if I have space.

Petra on her playpen. Her favorite toy is her big bell.

Another plant that is excellent for bird food is millet. I would imagine a large parrot would have a hard time eating such small seeds, but for parakeets, cockatiels, and conures, this is a nice treat for them. I have dumped leftover food from Petra's bowl into the garden and have seen some interesting plants come up!

   I belong to an organic vegetable and fruit co op and we get all kinds of fruits and veggies. Any peppers I get usually go to Petra and I dry them in a dehydrator. Carrots are excellent food as well, fresh or dried. I took some apples and cut them up and dried them along with the peppers and put them all in the food processor after they were dried. 

Petra is a 26 year old peach-fronted conure.
She is fed seeds, pellet, and dried fruit and
veggies, mostly organic.

Birds are supposed to have some greens as well. I have so much kale and lettuce that we are never hurting for greens around here! 

I will have at least 5 different pepper plants on my balcony. I will also have at least 3 different colored carrots growing on my balcony as well. This will make a nice variety for Petra when they are dried and minced. 

One other good result from growing plants is that plants give off oxygen. They provide the oxygen we need. We give off carbon dioxide as we exhale. Plants take in carbon dioxide, but give off oxygen. We take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. We work together mutually with plants. So, if you want to build up a lot of oxygen around you, grow plants (green plants). Clean air is good for us and for our birds. We need it to survive and it helps us to be healthy. 

My Longing To Own A Farm

   I would love to have a big, big backyard, with lots of space to grow fruit trees and square foot gardens. Several years ago, we looked at a beautiful house, and were almost set on buying it, until I went into the back yard. It had a little pool and a strip of grass on each side, which was surrounded by a wooden fence. Where's the back yard, I wondered? The realtor asked the homeowner's association if we could possibly fence the side yard, which was a fair amount of space, but the answer came back negative.
  We were looking at land last year, but never found any place suitable for us. I am still looking and hoping we can find this place that I could make into a farm. I will keep looking, but what do I do in the meantime?
   When we moved into this home, we hired the lawn mower men to do my garden beds. They set everything up as close as possible to my expectations. We transplanted a couple of blackberry plants from the old house, but didn't realize how prolific they would be! If I left the garden unattended for a couple of months, the blackberries took over and the garden looked like a jungle!
  Well, I removed many blackberry plants this year, and planted corn, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and a host of other vegetables, but, my expectations were sadly, not met. Whenever I planted corn, it would grow to a certain height, then the corn plants would all in unison be knocked down and destroyed. The same thing happened whenever I planted sunflower seeds. I would have a nice plant until a beautiful head came on the plant. Then the head would 'fall' off in a mysterious way. I had a couple of spaghetti squash plants that were doing well, then one day, they were gashed by some garden invader. The last straw came when I planted beets and carrots in the fall. They were coming up just fine until one day when I went out into the garden to find a nicely tilled garden bed with foot prints throughout. The carrots disappeared and the beets are nowhere to be found in that bed. (I have 2 carrot plants that survived). So, I decided to do something entirely different!
   I have two balconies and am going to put some pots on them. I will put 5 different pepper plants, 5 different tomato plants, carrots, potatoes, beets, sage, Alpine Strawberries, Scarlet Runners, squash, and a few others all on the balcony. It will be interesting to see squash and beans hanging from the balcony! So, here is the start of my little farm. I have a few Smartpots containing strawberries, sage, carrots, squash (I think), Scarlet Runners, and a tomato plant, so far. The greenhouse has quite a few little plants in it. Yes, the greenhouse is on the balcony as well.
 

If you look hard enough, you can see the cat. He thinks
the dirt in the pots is litter!

My little greenhouse from amazon.com. Baby plants
are Alpine strawberries, goji berries, soursop, yellow
tomatoes, catnip, squash, avocado, purple jalepino
and pepperoncini pepper plants.

Mystery tomato plant! Either a German Lunchbox or Amish
paste. Alpine strawberries, sage (on table), yellow, purple,
and red carrots and mystery squash plant (in dark brown pot).

A view of the balcony from the back. Won't it be cool to
see squash and beans hanging from the railing?