All gardeners take pride in their compost, and I’m no different. I love to touch it and let myself be amazed by the fact that the waste destined for the smelly, maggot-infested garbage dump was instead turning into black gold – right there in my little compost bin. However, there was an instance when my …
Compost and Vermiculture
The perfect time to think about how to improve your garden soil is over winter. Although it can be tempting to think of gardening as a warm-weather pastime, we can do many things year-round to help our gardens stay fertile and hospitable to plants. To improve garden soil over winter, you can use amendments and …
How to speed up compost! Starting a compost bin is a great way to add nourishment to your garden and practice eco-friendly living. If starting from scratch, you may feel daunted by how long compost can take to mature. Sometimes a year or more! The good news is that when the community of microorganisms responsible …
Starting a worm farm business at home is an excellent option for farmers, smallholders, and gardeners looking to diversify their income streams. You might not make a fortune from the enterprise. But it could bring in a little extra cash, cut your garden spending, and potentially increase yields at the same time. This guide shows …
Making compost is perfect for all kinds of plants and something you want to do if you garden. But composting can sometimes feel like it takes forever to get your compost in the right state so that you can apply it! That’s the best benefit of compost shredders – speed! They help shred organic material into smaller pieces that decompose …
You have probably heard that earthworms (nightcrawlers) and red wiggler worms are soil magicians, able to enrich the soil and create extra quality compost, respectively. However, you have probably also wondered how to keep worms alive. That is especially true if you have already tried culturing them and failed and are now unsure what went wrong …
If you have experience making compost piles, then you may be familiar with composting crocks. There is one basic goal of having the best composting crocks in your kitchen. Making sure the compost doesn’t stink up the place is that goal! We don’t want compost piles to stink so much that even skunks wouldn’t touch …
In our collective gardening imagination, earthworms are synonymous with healthy soil – and with a good reason. Is the magic of earthworms just a myth or is there a seed of truth to it? It turns out that there is a lot more than just a seed. There is a good reason why we celebrate …
You have probably heard that peat makes a great addition to soil. Humus, of course, is another well-known soil helper. So, peat humus must be something even better – a double-deal, the all-star substrate, right? The short and surprising answer would be – No. Peat humus is one very particular soil ingredient not fit for everyday use. Still, there are …
Worms serve an amazing, useful purpose in the garden. The burrowing action and feeding habits of an earthworm make the soil rich and enable plants to grow strong and stay healthy. Worms break down compost to produce the nutrients that your garden soil needs to flourish! Did you know that you can buy small ecosystems …
There’s a common misconception that composting requires lots of space and materials, yet composting can easily be accomplished in a 5-gallon bucket you can find at the local hardware store for a few dollars. Let’s break down two different composting methods that can be accomplished in a 5-gallon bucket. What Should I Add to My …
It looks like dirt and smells like dirt, but it’s not. It’s teeming with bacterial and fungal activity. It’s the nutrient-rich, life-giving material dreams are made of: we’re talking about compost, baby! Compost enriches our soils, feeds our veggies, and makes quick work of the organic waste we produce. Let’s get digging into what composting …
I was recently asked what my best compost bin is. You might imagine it’d be some super fancy turning compost bin or compost tumbler, but it’s not. My favorite way to compost is actually to just throw it all on a heap. However, there are places where I don’t want a heap and that’s where …