In the last blog we talked about how you could fuel your body while staying environmentally-friendly. One of the suggestions was to get involved with gardening, either at your residence
or at a community shared garden. Plant seasonally and dig in the dirt to
increase your microbiome.
If you're ready to take another step to your environmental awareness, consider adding a compost heap! Composting can reduce our trash output, build healthy soil, and save you money.
4 Steps to Getting Started
If you decide to compost at home, here's what you need to know.
Step 1: Determine how you can collect and store your scraps (in a closed container on your
kitchen counter, under your sink, or in your fridge). Remember only use fruit and vegetable
scraps and stay away from meat, fish, cheese, dairy products and pet waste or oils.
Make sure you chop your food scraps before adding them to the compost!
Step 2: My preferred way to compost is to have a 3-level process (as shown in the title picture).
The tall bin is designed to begin the composting by adding leaves, twigs and food scraps. Try and add at least two to three times the volume of browns (leaves) as the volume of greens (food scraps). Always make sure your food scraps are covered by four to eight inches of dry leaves or other browns.You want to make sure you turn the compost about every 2-3 days to allow for air circulation. As the materials start to decompose, the temperature will start to rise, which will help to reduce the presence of pathogens and weed seeds. If the pile is too dry or not heating up, then add more greens. If it smells or is too wet, then add more browns.
Step 3: After two months, move the compost to the middle bin. Continue to turn, but do not add anything to it.
Step 4: Move the soil to your third bin for storage. This soil is ready to use! Incorporate it in your garden for a rich soil that will help your plants thrive.
Happy Gardening!
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