High yielding, low maintenance vegetable gardening that’s perfect for our modern-day lifestyle When we think of organic gardening and permaculture we tend to conjure up images of bearded warriors dressed in overalls who dedicate their lives to working long days in their vegetable plots.  Whilst this may be a wonderful way to live

The equipment you use in your composting will help make or break your pursuits of building your compost. If you are really bent on making the most of your composting goals, a good familiarization of the tools that will help you achieve your goals is very much appropriate. The tools will not necessarily be in the form of objects, because there are also elements of place and space that are in play when it comes to obtaining the optimum performance of your compost.

A Good Composting Site

The site of your composting activity is the primary consideration and one of the best tools you need to master before you do any composting activity. The place must be free from obstruction and well capable of obtaining the right temperature needed for your composting. Aside from this,

By Jonathan White, environmental scientist For many people, composting is just an alternative way of dealing with rubbish.  It prevents the garbage bin from getting full and smelly.  It’s also a way of disposing of grass clippings and leaves, which saves many trips to the

Now that you have decided that you want to compost, there is a list of items that you will need to get started. Most of these items are available in your own yard and require a small amount of planning ahead of time. After you pick a location for your compost bin or pile (ensure it is in an easily accessible location) you are going to need approximately four inches of leaves as a base. If you are able to chip the leaves prior it will make things progress and breakdown faster but it is not a requirement. The quantity of leaves you will need to make a four-inch base will vary depending on the size of the bin you have chosen. Your next layer should be about one inch of high-quality soil. If you cannot find this in your own garden a small bag purchased from your local nursery will work fine. Then start layering the food for the microbes to eat. There are two categories of food you are going to need brown (yard waste) and green (food scraps or other organic waste). A common ratio is two parts brown for every part of green. You are going to need a spade or heavy-duty pitch fork to turn or rotate the compost at least once per week. If there is a dry-spell you will need a means of adding water (a hose) to keep the pile moist. With these simple materials and start-up instructions, anyone can start their own compost pile in under a day. If you choose to not use a bin, consider buying some wire mesh to contain the pile, it can be wrapped around the base of the pile in a circular shape. The compost can be ready anywhere from two months up to one year.

When we think of organic gardening and permaculture we tend to conjure up images of leathery-skinned bearded warriors who dedicate their lives to working long days in their vegetable plots.  Whilst this may be a wonderful way to live your life, it doesn’t suit the average suburbanite with a full-time job and a hefty mortgage. Growing food is typically seen as either an art form or damned hard work.  It’s no wonder very few people do it on a serious level.  But what if a technique came along that was so easy and so prolific that even the busiest corporate executive could grow a significant portion of their family’s food in less time than it takes to drive to the shops.  Ecological gardening just might be the answer.  In my experience, it’s the ultimate modern-day convenience veggie plot. I didn’t have a light bulb moment that said, “Ah, so this is ecological gardening”.  My vegetable garden was no different to anybody else’s for many years until I made a few changes.  The first and probably most significant was squeezing far more plants into a given area.  The second change was to never dig the soil.  And thirdly, I upgraded my composting system.  Once these simple strategies were in place I noticed the garden taking on a life of its own.  Weeds virtually stopped growing in the beds and plants started living much longer.  The garden could endure longer periods without water, I was yielding far more than I ever had and I could harvest every day of the year.   I wanted to know what was happening at a scientific level and applied my university training as an environmental scientist to understand why I was getting such amazing results.  I had to completely let go of all my preconceived ideas as a gardener and look at the plot through the eyes of an ecologist.  After some time I realized that I had created an ecosystem made up of edible plants, and it behaved in exactly the same way as a natural habitat.  I became more of an observer than a gardener and the role of head gardener was pulled from under my feet as nature took up the reins.

There are many types of compost bins. Each of the compost bin types has unique features and uses. This simple list of compost bins should help you understand some of the composting options available to you.

Compost Pile, Compost Heap, The No-Bin Compost Bin

OK, so you might think I am crazy to say no

The spring and fall are the best times to collect leaves to start a new compost bin. In the spring, the leaves you collect have already started to decompose as they stayed wet and insulated throughout the winter. It doesn’t matter when you collect the leaves — either way they are the perfect base for a compost pile. If you are using dry leaves from the fall, consider putting them through a chipper of some kind. If they are smaller and already cut up it will aid in the whole composting system.

How to restore our basic life-supporting systems; water, air and soil The breakdown of our food growing systems poses one of the biggest threats to our survival.  Our existence depends upon our agricultural systems, but what do our agricultural systems depend on?  The answer: water, air and soil.  These basic elements support

The World’s Best Compost book claims, “This Mysterious ‘Humus Colloid’ Solution Of A Ukrainian Nobleman Proves 99.99% Of The So-Called ‘Experts’ Are Totally Wrong About How To Grow Healthy Plants! Now You Can Have Beautiful, Vibrant, Healthy Plants and Ultra-Delicious Fruits And Vegetables (As Nature Intended Them)… Without Dangerous Pesticides And

The most common location for a compost pile or bin is near your kitchen or garden. Your composting should be in a convenient location. This makes it easy to bring your food scraps or garden waste to the composter. If you have a large yard, the yard waste can get quite heavy and you don’t want to carry the heavy material around your yard. Extra work might be a deterrent to composting. There are a few simple considerations when choosing a location for your compost bin: Make sure children or animals will not disturb or get into the compost bin. The ground should be level and have good drainage. You don’t want excessive water to accumulate in your compost bin. Your compost pile needs to stay moist but you do not want too much water or it will not work properly. Make sure you can easily access the area with a wheelbarrow. A shady location is best, if the compost pile gets too much sunlight it will get hot and dry out. Again, the pile needs to stay moist and overheating it with external sources will not help. A water source should be close by. You will want to use the garden hose or easily carry enough water to moisten the pile if it becomes too dry. Remember you just want to moisten the pile with a spray of water not drench it. If you are beginning with a one bin system, you may want to leave enough room for a second bin down the road. By having two bins side-by-side, you can easily rotate or turn the pile by moving material from one bin to the next.