Our neighbour piles up all his branches and other wood debris and burns them, every Spring.
Every Autumn, numerous homeowners burn large piles of dried leaves.
I watch as billows of smoke drift across our yards, causing pets, children and me to search for clean air.
These same neighbours spend hundreds of dollars on truckloads of compost.
Is there anything peculiar with these events? Is there a better way?
Yes! These people could be producing their own 'free' compost for thier gardens and keeping our air a little cleaner. Most people associate composts with smell or pests or just think it will be too much work. I can be the first to say that on all 3 counts these are incorrect assumptions.
Compost is easy! If you have a yard, then you'll need 2 kinds of composting devices. The first kind is either a commercial, contained one which is designed for vermiculture--the growth of worms--or a larger one to hold larger, yard trimmings, leaves and small branches.
Vermiculture: All children love vermiculture! It can be done indoors in a commercially purchased bin or a large tupperware bin; or outdoors as long as the worms are insulated from the cold. All vermiculture bins need airholes at the top to allow your worms, and micro-organisms to breath.
Begin by soaking newspaper in water, to remove as much ink as possible. Avoid coloured inks and if possible choose unbleached, uninked brown paper bags. I forgot to say to 'shred' the paper first. Take the brown, shredded paper and squeeze out excess water and place it into the bottom of the bin. Then take a few cups of soil, and slightly mix it into the top layer of the paper. Add some soaked peat moss. Avoid using all soil as it will make your bin really heavy and, as worms are litter-dwellers, they prefer wet leaves or paper. The worms need some 'grit' to help their digestion; this is the reason for adding some soil.
OK! Time to add the worms! Most compost demonstration gardens sell 'red worms', or you could find them in an existing leafpile. Now they will need some food, such as: all vegetable & fruit peelings and scraps. Coffee grounds, filters, teabags, oatmeal, hair, bread and eggshells. Avoid adding meats, oils, or cooked salty foods. Cover with a brown paper bag or uninked brown cardboard; this keeps the moisture in and shields the worms from light. Every week or whenever you have scraps add them to the wormbin. Try to dig down a few inches to cover the food. Soon, you will see the food disappear. If the bin begins to smell then you either have too much uneaten food at the top and should try to bury the scraps under a few inches of paper, leaves, or or cardboard material.
In about 4 to 6 months depending how well you cared for your little 'eisenia foetida' friends, you will need to remove 3/4 of the compost and worms. Producers market this rich compost as 'Black Gold'! Your Black gold can now be used as a topdressing around your plants (keep away all dirt from touching the crown or stem of the plant as this may encourage rot, pests or disease) or placed directly onto your vegetable or garden beds. Or you can sell the BlackGold to your unconverted, leaf-burning, landfill abusing neighbours...
Ok! Time for lunch; I will add more info about outdoor composters and bins later...
