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SUMMER BLOW OUT SALE AT COMPOSTERS.COM!

2009-07-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Summer Blow-Out Sale!
30% off of everything!
PLUS an extra 10% off merchandise today!
CLICK HERE for savings.

A Guide To Portable Rain Barrels

2009-07-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

With the rising population, the one resource the world desperately needs is plenty of water. There is a high demand for residential water which is used for cooking, cleaning and irrigation purposes. Besides household purposes, gallons of water are required in industries. Water conservation is the need of the hour. Fortunately for humankind, rain water is one of the consistently available natural resource. Every year, there is abundant supply of rain water, which if harvested can meet many of our needs.

Water conservation can be done easily by harvesting rain water as it is an effective way of cutting down the usage of water for household purposes and overcoming the problem of water shortage. One of the techniques of rain water harvesting is by usage of rain barrels. A rain barrel is a water tank which is used to collect and store rain water, typically from rooftops through rain gutters. Rain barrels are installed to make good use of naturally available rain water for future use. This method is not only economical but also helps preserve natural resources. In places where there is acute shortage of water, rain water harvesting aids self-sufficiency. Rain water harvesting can be done on a small scale as well as a large scale. Small scale rain harvesting is normally done in households wherein the rain barrels are placed strategically around the house and can be used for watering gardens, agriculture, flushing toilets, in washing machines, washing cars, and also for drinking, especially when other water supplies are expensive, unavailable, or of poor quality.

Rain barrels come in different forms such as portable rain barrel, the rain catcher rain barrel, flat back rain barrel, wood grain rain barrel, flora rain barrel, etc. Portable rain barrels serve multiple purposes and come in varying sizes. Besides fulfilling the basic function of collecting rain water, these rain barrels can be easily pushed across and moved from one spot to another. Another most used rain barrel is the rain catcher. These two models are truly convenient and useful to be used in any household. This is very important that these barrels are engineered to screen out breeding of mosquitoes due to improper filtering systems. Therefore, along with these models, there are certain rain barrel accessories such as diverter kits, mosquito donuts and even pH meters that are available in the markets which will ensure the cleanliness pf the harvested rain water.

Raised Vegetable Gardening

2009-06-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

Having one’s own backyard food factory is a sheer joy in itself. Due to the non-availability of space and time, modern homes rarely engage themselves in vegetable cultivation. The entire task of tilling, weeding and planting can be back breaking. Raised bed gardening is the answer to this problem. Raised garden beds can be classified into raised flower beds and raised bed vegetable gardens.

Raised garden beds make the process of gardening simple and pain-free. It eliminates the ordeal of digging and weeding. The raised garden kit is lifted from the ground level. Growing vegetables on these raised garden beds have many benefits. Raised garden bed kit prevents soil erosion, facilitates growth of the vegetables and prevents the growth of unwanted weeds. Its saves time, energy and water. It makes one’s garden look organized and creates a beautiful and a colorful garden. These beds are easily to handle and maintain. Growing vegetables on raised garden beds makes it easier for the gardeners to tend to it as the beds are raised from the ground level. Since it is one open bed, there is more room for the roots to penetrate and spread, thus allowing them to breathe better as compared to flower pots. A good number of vegetables can be grown in one bed at the same time. Raised garden bed kits are designed to retain water for a longer period as it has sufficient soil mass. There are engineered to provide the best drainage facilities along with soil aeration. These beds are most useful during spring as the soil in the beds warm up more quickly than the ones on the ground.

Raised vegetable beds are available in different materials and sizes. They come in forms such as composite timber raised beds, natural cedar raised beds, Vinyl raised beds, cedar rectangular raised beds, Elevated container gardens, Recycled Plastic raised garden beds, Ready-to-Grow complete raised bed gardens, etc. These models are available as ready to use or can be assembled. Raised beds can be built on are own as well. While growing one’s garden or backyard farm have several benefits such as providing one’s family with healthy and organic vegetables and reduction in the family expenses. It is also an environment friendly action as it reduces the impact of transporting and warehousing. It also contributes towards tackling air pollution. All these amazing benefits can be made possible even with limited space, by using raised bed vegetable gardening method.

Why You Should Use Compost In Your Flower Bed

2009-06-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

The benefits of using compost in your beds instead of just soil include less waste, less weeds, healthier plants with less diseases, and less harmful chemicals that damage your plants in the long run. Each benefit will improve the quality and life of your plants, and in turn make your gardening experience more enjoyable.

Healthier Plants, Richer Flowers: Compost is made up of micro-organisms, worms, arthropods and humus, which provides soil with organic matter. It contains macro and micro nutrients, which are absent in chemical fertilizers. It neutralizes the soil, bringing pH levels to optimum range. It aerates the soil, and brings healthy bacteria, fungi, and insects to the soil. Composting also improves drainage, which is vital when growing flowers. It improves absorption and enhances soil quality. All of these are important for healthy plant growth. Your flowers will be richer and brighter, leaves a tad greener, and your garden friendlier to all kinds of organisms.

Stronger plants from your compost will be less susceptible to diseases and bugs: You will find it unnecessary to use toxic and harmful pesticides and fertilizers that do more harm than good to your plants and garden. The micro-organisms present in your compost are enough to protect from diseases and pests.

Compost means less weeds: Replacing soil with compost or mixing compost in your soil means less density, which makes it easy to pull out weeds, if any grow at all. Weeds are significantly less in compost than they are in bare dirt. The less time you spend weeding, the more time you have to plan out a beautiful spring, summer, or winter flower garden. You will have more attention for the plants themselves, rather than the weeds surrounding them.

Less Yard Waste: If you happen to make your own compost, then it means less organic waste from your kitchen and yard. You can make better use of your yard trimmings and fallen leaves. It is convenient to have your own compost so that you spend less time and money on trying to buy compost or fertilizer in the market. Also, when you have your own compost, you can monitor the ingredients, make sure that it is 100% organic, and tailor it to suit your own needs. You can use waste from the kitchen – vegetable and fruit skins, spent tea leaves, etc. to make your compost pile richer. Less waste means less trips taking out the garbage. Make sure you keep your compost pile or bin away from scavengers. Keep it covered to maintain moisture levels and keep out air. If you have a child, this is an excellent way to educate him or her in living sustainably, reducing waste, and caring for the environment.

Designs For Garden Flower Beds

2009-05-27T15:54:00.000-07:00

For ages, gardening involved digging, weeding and regular watering. Bending over and sweating it out was inevitable while gardening during the traditional times. With the evolution of new designs, gone are days of aching backs and tilling the soil. With the invention of raised garden beds, gardening has become a pleasurable experience. Raised bed gardening is perfect for small plots of vegetables and flowers. The raised garden bed keeps the weed away from the garden soil and prevents soil erosion. It provides good drainage for the garden and serves as a barrier to pests such as slugs, rats and snails.

Raised beds are available in a variety of different materials and sizes or they can be made with minimum difficulty. Raised gardening is great for households with a small backyard as it produces more per square feet than ordinary beds. Raised flower beds bring order and beauty to one’s garden as the soil level is raised and it gives a pleasing geometry to one’s garden. The raised garden bed kit is normally made of different kinds of wood. Cedar is most commonly used wood as they look naturally beautiful and are resistant to rot and insects.

Raised garden bed kits are available at reasonable prices. This encourages more people to take up gardening in spite of limited space availability. Not only does it add to the aesthetic value of the house, but it also contributes towards the environment. If every house, every apartment have a small little garden, it will create wonders to the depleting environmental conditions. These raised gardens can be moved from one spot to the other with great ease. One of the main advantages of raised garden beds is water conservation. Watering of raised garden beds normally is in most cases done through drip irrigation. This technique uses 30 - 50% less water than conventional watering methods such as sprinklers and watering directing through pipes. Drip irrigation not only saves water time and energy, it also improves the growth of the plants and discourages the growth of weed. Another main advantage of raised garden beds is that it helps reduce soil erosion as it prevents the topsoil and fertilizers from getting washed away or blown. The other benefit of raised flower bed is that it promotes natural aeration and drainage. As worms and other soil life are important to healthy soil structure, their channels provide aeration and drainage.

Composters.com - Earth Day Giveaway! Win a Kitchen Scrap Keeper of your choice!

2009-04-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

Composters.com is giving away a free stainless steel, red ceramic or white ceramic compost kitchen scrap keeper that comes with a compost manual and compost reference guide!

Please visit the Composters Composting Blog for how to enter this awesome contest that will be running until May 15th!

How a Rain Barrel Can Save You Money and Benefit the Environment?

2009-04-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Rain barrel is a very easy way to extend the benefits of a rainfall. A lot of water that is consumed goes for watering gardens and lawns. This potable water can be saved if one could use an alternate source for watering the gardens. A rain barrel is usually made from 50-gallon food drums. And an average rainfall of one fourth of an inch is sufficient to fill the 50- gallon drum using the roof and the gutter system.

If one is living in the country, main rain barrels can be installed at various places to collect rainwater and in a city, water collected from the roof can be used to water the plants and the lawn as well as reduce water bills. Apart from the monetary benefits, you will also be helping maintain the municipal water grid and hence help the environment. When you harvest the rain water you are not just saving water you are also reducing the amount of chemicals that run into the water bodies. When rainwater runs on the ground, it collects harmful chemicals like agricultural pesticides, herbicides, petro- chemicals like oil and gasoline, pollution, etc. This water then runs in the gutters and joins the rivers and lakes hence polluting them. When we harvest the rain water, we reduce the quantity of running water to some extent hence protecting the environment and erosion.

The rain water that gets into the water treatment plant is treated with chlorine and other chemicals before it is sent back to us. Therefore by using the rain barrel, we consume pure water, free of chemicals and we also reduce the work done on the water hence conserving energy. Healthy vegetables can be grown with this water. So your savings will not just be because of the reduced water bill.

Plastic, food grade rain barrels are the ones you should choose. The barrels that were used to hold chemicals or wax should be avoided as the chemicals found in the residue may harm the plants and the environment.

Some simple tips can be followed to make the best of the rain barrel.

A hose can be connected to the bottom of the barrel to take out water.
It should be kept on a flat surface to avoid it tipping over when full.
It should be secured using a stick or a rope so that it doesn’t blow away when empty.

An estimate was done and it was reported that 1 inch of rain on a 1000 sq. ft. roof would yield 623 gallons of water. Imagine the amount of water you could collect over a rainy season.

The Benefits of Using Commercial Compost Starters and Accelerators

2009-04-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

Many people can be interested in starting a compost pile but aren’t exactly sure how something like that would work, if they have enough compost material for the pile to give good results or even what it takes to get something like this started. As such, many give up on even trying to make their compost pile, even though in reality, there’s nothing to it. If you are worried that the ingredients you add to your compost pile won’t be enough, you can always rely on compost starter and accelerator to lend you a much needed hand.

Some sources say that compost starter and accelerators aren’t necessary and that everyone should have everything they need for a good compost pile around their household, but truth be told, for one thing, not all organic substances tend to decompose at the same rate, and for another, throwing all sorts of organic materials into the pile in hopes it will help with the decomposing process can give way to toxins or unwanted materials to show up in your pile.

The secret behind a good compost pile is the equilibrium between the carbon and nitrogen content. While carbon can be found in pretty much any organic residue, such as leaves, grass and other compost materials, nitrogen can make itself scarce, and as such, some help is needed in order to get things moving and the decomposing process under way. A compost starter will usually contain the necessary nitrogen the compost needs in order to start working.

Depending on the contents of your compost pile, you might find that while some of the things you’ve thrown in there have no problem decomposing, other things, such as pine needles or pine cones might take a lot longer. By adding a compost accelerator you can get everything to decompose at a quicker rate and as such, you wouldn’t have different ingredients in various stages of decomposition floating around your compost pile, but rather a balanced, homogenous mass that is ready for use.

By using commercial compost accelerator and starters you are making sure that the ingredients you put into the compost pile are pure and of high quality. Any sort of replacements for the substances commercial accelerators contain, that you might find around the house are likely to contain other ingredients which would bring toxins or unwanted substances into your compost pile. Some are even likely to use food leftovers or animal litter as compost material, something that is extremely unsanitary as well as damaging for your compost pile.

Commercial compost starters and accelerators can help you create and maintain your compost pile in optimal conditions, making your work easier and the end result much better.

Earth Friendly Pet Care

2009-04-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

: Drama, our Composters Office Dog

You love your pet and you want to do the right thing for the planet, but sometimes, the pet care product manufacturers don’t lend you a hand in this department. Some of the pet care products contain chemicals or environmentally damaging products and you would like a solution to appease your conscience and do the right thing for the planet. Fortunately, eco-friendly pet products, in the form of biodegradable waste bags or eco-friendly collars and leashes, not to mention the option of composting pet waste.

Biodegradable waste bags come as a solution to a very popular problem: using a non-biodegradable plastic bag for a biodegradable product such as pet waste. Whether it’s the waste bag people use to pick up after their dogs or the one used to line cats’ litter box, the use of biodegradable waste bags can open the door to the new age of environmental pet care. The biodegradable waste bags are made of celluloid or other biodegradable materials, mostly corn-extracts, which makes it very easy for them to decompose either in a compost pile or after being buried.

Eco-friendly pet collars and leashes have become more and more popular because of the many fun designs they can

: Indoor Outdoor Portable Doggie Potty

have, the ease of use and the ease with which they can be cleaned, not to mention the growing eco-awareness of pet owners. Eco-friendly collars and leashes can be made from a variety of green materials, ranging from hemp and other natural textiles to recycled, petroleum-free plastic. Some pet care companies have even developed eco-friendly collars and leashes made out of bamboo, for the renewable material savvy pet or pet owner.

Composting pet waste is a somewhat debated practice because

: Pet Pee Converter

of the potential germs or bacteria that can be contained in animal feces, however, while the composting of cat waste is not entirely recommendable, dog waste has a relatively green light for such things. Cat waste can also be composted if you take certain precautions and if you keep in mind that in order for cat waste to be composted, a minimal 18 months is required. Where dog waste is concerned, things are a little easier because dog waste, while still prone to carry parasite eggs and other pathogens is not as toxic as cat litter. Composting dog waste is a responsible way of getting rid of pet waste without having to resort to petroleum based plastic bags or other eco-dangerous methods. Adding enzyme-active biological compounds into the compost bin in order to speed up the composting process and to get rid of unwanted bacteria is recommended. It’s not recommended that you use the compost resulted from pet waste on food crops, only on ornamental plants, to keep things as safe as possible.

: Barney, beagle extraordinaire.

Seven Reasons An Electric Lawn Mower is Better Than Using a Gas Mower

2009-03-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

If you peep into any normal American household during the weekend, you would find over 50 millions of them are attacking their lawns with their gasoline mowers. But they are not aware of the effect which the greenhouse gases emitted from these mowers cause.

· The gasoline products are exhaustible resources and thus, as the supply of the resources are getting thinner and thinner, the cost of the gasoline products are getting higher by the day.

· When most of the American households get out to attack their lawns at the same time with their gas mowers, it is quite disturbing for the neighbors. But on the other hand, the electric lawn mower produces less sound, thus cutting down on the noise pollution.

· As an alternative, we are resorting to inexhaustible resources such as electricity etc. These are restorable and are not limited, and this is what is used by the electric lawn mowers. Many companies and firms are developing these electric yard devices instead of gas mowers. Electric weed removers have been here for quite some time and now the electric lawn mower has started to prove its value to the people.

· The cost of the electric lawn mowers might scare you at first but if you give it a thought and do some calculations, you would understand the benefit of an electric mower over the gas mowers. The cost of running an electric lawn mower is less than half the cost of running one gas mower. The gas mowers can hold just around one gallon of gas. And when the rising price of gas is reaching two dollars per gallon mark, it is quite easy to calculate the cost of mowing the garden for just one summer. On the other hand, running the electric grass mower just takes a few cents of power for one battery charge. So, it can be easily seen how much you can save in the long run with the electric grass mower or electric lawn sweeper.

· We should also keep the environment aspect in mind especially when we are facing severe hazards due to global warming. The gas mowers emit harmful greenhouse gases and are quite a cause for the small particle pollution.

· Gas mowers are also harmful to the person who uses it, causing serious health implications like asthma, heart disease and other serious respiratory infections. But the electric lawn mowers emit less than a percent of the harmful gases like carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, etc, thus resulting in a great difference in the environment.

· Some of the electric mowers offer extra features like handling, trimming and edging, etc apart from the regular features like mulching, height-adjustment, grass collecting bags and such, for easy transfer to your compost bin.

So use the electric green mowers and feel the difference.

INSTANT CURB APPEAL

2009-02-16T11:29:00.000-08:00

INSTANT CURB APPEAL. Increase the value of your home without hiring a landscape designer. Let’s face it, in these challenging economic times we need to use this time wisely to maximize value of your home.

Multiple studies have shown the increasing importance of curb appeal in selling a home, especially in a competitive market.

According to the Real Estate Agent Community Trends survey, commissioned by JELD-WEN Windows & Doors. Out of about 500 realtors polled, 82 percent agreed that buyers unimpressed with a home's exterior will not want to look inside. The results also found that 90 percent of respondents agree that a sale depends on first impressions of the front entry, while 91 percent said that the home's exterior is just as important as what is inside.

Another study by The Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association compiled the following property value statistics:

Landscaping can increase the resale value of a property by as much as 14%
The sale of a property can increase by as much as six weeks
A landscaped patio can raise property values by 12.4%
A landscaped curb can increase property value by 4.4% and hedges can add 3.6%

As our economy starts to improve and home sales increase, you will be ahead of the game!

Create a stunning DIY lighted, landscape design using pre-fab, curved raised garden bed kits, which contains everything you need to transform your empty yard into a stunning garden oasis, in less than an hour. You can have your landscape done before your realtor comes over to appraise your home.

A great choice for raised garden bed kits are called Landscape In-A-Box. They are beautifully designed all-inclusive, eco-friendly, curved raised garden bed kits. They come in different sizes and shapes to add variety to your yard or garden. They appeal to the “green” buyer as well. Unlike pressure treated wood, these composite wood timbers do not leach toxins into the soil. They are easy to install with just a screwdriver and a mallet, and even include an optional solar lighting kit.

Talk about curb appeal!

Earth-Friendly Raised Garden Beds

2009-02-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

Earth-Friendly

Raised Garden Beds

By: Lauren J. Heimberg

Eco-friendly Raised Garden Beds are the hot ticket item for this year’s spring planting season. Raised garden beds and planters are multi-functional and can be used for planting flower beds, vegetable gardens or shrubbery, landscape edging, playground borders and splinter-free sandboxes for kids.

These modular raised garden beds can be stacked on top of each other, to adjust the height as your garden blooms. Typically, raised beds are sold in 6” high increments, and can be purchased in heights of 6”, 12”, and 24”. The width of raised beds should be limited to 2’ or 4’ widths, so they will be easy to maintain, without having to climb into beds.

The best elevated garden beds look like real wood grain but are made from earth-friendly recycled, composite plastic timbers. They are durable and long lasting, non-toxic (like arsenic-containing, pressure treated lumber), termite-free, and do not rot, warp, splinter or lose their wood grain finish like traditional timber.

There are a multitude of benefits to raised planters or raised garden beds including:

· Provides a beautiful frame for your garden

· Longer lengths may be used as landscape edging or playground borders

· Can be used as a, or sandboxes

· Improves drainage

· Improves poor soil conditions by providing a deeper topsoil layer

· Adjusts in height, size & shape to accommodate plant growth

· Lawn mower and edger proof plant and flower beds

· Easy to install

When purchasing elevated or raised beds and planters, make sure they are made from eco-friendly recycled materials and include anchor joints for connecting plastic timbers. You may also need finishing sleeves for landscape edging kits.

After constructing your raised garden bed, and securing it into place, place a liner made from gardening plastic or weed mat in the bottom of bed; this greatly reduces the growth of weeds.

Next fill the liner 1/3 full with nutrient-rich compost (from your compost bin, we’ll talk about this later) then fill the rest with potting soil (store-bought or from another area of your landscape) and some dry organic fertilizer. Finally, you are ready to create your garden by sowing seeds or planting flowers, vegetable and plants starts.

Lastly, water your raised bed and don’t forget to water these beds frequently since there are above ground, and do not retain water as well.

If you are using the raised garden bed for a sandbox, it is best to place a gardening plastic liner in the bottom before filling with sand. Some raised garden beds are sold as sandboxes and come with covers for protection from the elements and from animals who think it’s a giant kitty litter box.

After you’ve created your very own eco-friendly, raised garden oasis, you can begin work on the composting and vermiculture.

Composting In Small Spaces

2009-02-02T12:44:00.000-08:00

One thing I’ve noticed on the Composting forums and elsewhere, are people saying they have a hard time composting due to space restraints because they have a small backyard or live in an apartment. There are actually products out there specifically for this, so that you can recycle those costly food wastes into something less destructive to our landfills, and therefore that much better for the environment (and your houseplants!).

The Pro Automatic Indoor Compost Bin is a fully functional, indoor composting system. It efficiently recycles your food wastes, coffee grounds, newspaper, pet waste and plant clippings, conveniently in your kitchen, without smell.

It is a powerful compost bin that can fit inside one of your cabinets and handles up to 120 lbs of food waste a month, 70% of which will vanish into thin air. You don’t even have to worry about stirring or aerating it and it has a vacation mode to reduce the energy it uses during periods of non-use.

Red Wriggler Recycling 101

2009-01-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

Red Wriggler Recycling 101

If you have been searching for a way to exercise your “green” thumb jump into this fun and unique world of “vermiculture.” or “vermicompost” is an organic gardening process of natural composting using earthworms, known as the Red Wriggler (Eisenia fetida). The Wrigglers transform food scraps into rich compost and liquid fertilizer. It is the perfect hobby to support the “cradle-to-cradle” return of organic matter to its origin, mother earth.

It is also perfect for small spaces. The worms only need about 1 square foot of surface area to digest each pound of waste material generated per week. Supply your worms with a container, some bedding material, food scraps, and the worms do the rest.

They consume food scraps, hair, and dust reducing organic waste by 25% in about 60 days; and produce worm castings, which contain the richest form of fertilizer known to man. Concentrated worm castings are very potent fertilizers and must be mixed with potting soil or water to dilute the concentration. Worm castings promote higher than average growth in plants and are rich in phosphorus, nitrogen, and trace minerals.

To start your new worm venture you will need the following supplies:

· Compost Bin (DIY or commercially available)

· Compost Scrap Keeper (Holds food scraps, ceramic or stainless steel)

· Bedding Materials

· Food Scraps

· Worms (Red Wrigglers or Nigh Crawlers)

Compost Bins

You could make your own DIY worm compost bins but to keep things, clean, easy and well-organized, I would suggest investing in a commercially produced vermin-culture compost bin. They are well worth the money spent.

Vermiculture Compost Bins automatically separate food scraps from finished compost, and most-importantly, does not need to be emptied or restarted like some DIY bins. Some recommended vermin-culture compost bins include:

· The Expandable Worm Tower

· Worm Condo

· Worm Bungalow

· Down Under Farm Worm Compost Bin

· Pet Poo Converter and Worm Compost Bin

· Friendly Habitat Worm Compost Bin

· Advanced Biosafe BioSystem

Other helpful accessories to look for are worm bedding (good if you are new vermiculture), a compost scrap keeper (ceramic or stainless steel), soil moisture & pH meter, compressed coir fiber bricks (bedding) and the “Compost and Worm Reference Wheel”

Worms

Oh and of course, don’t forget the worms, Red Wrigglers or Red Worms (tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions) and/or Night Crawlers (feed on deeper parts of the bin) will do the job. A mixture of the two will create rich and abundant worm castings.

Bedding

After you have made or purchased a compost bin, you can fill it with bedding. The worms prefer a cool, moist, but well-ventilated, dark environment between 50 and 80 degrees. Worms shun light and are photophobic—they shun both sun and artificial light, burrowing as deep as they can to flee the light. Heat and sunlight will dehydrate the little Wrigglers and all you’ll end up are “fried” worms.

The bedding material can be peat moss, aged manure, sawdust, dried grass clippings, hay, garden loam, coir (coconut fiber), straw, damp newspaper, Hessian, cotton rags, aged horse/cow manure (fresh manure heats up) shredded cardboard, newspaper, grocery bags, and most types of shredded leaves. Oak and other highly acidic leaves are not recommended since these worms don't like an acidic environment. Stay clear of inked and glossy papers, since they contain toxic substances which can exterminate your Wrigglers.

Keep in mind the worms have a hearty appetite and will eat whatever is put in front of them, including the bedding.

Feeding

Worms will eat ½ their weight of food each day. Be careful to not overfeed your worms. Like you feed your family, only feed them once they have partly eaten their previous food. This means no desert before dinner. Worms lack teeth and prefer their food mashed, chopped or pureed.

Worms need a variety of foods, and greatly appreciate a well-rounded diet. Worms will happily consume fruit and vegetable scraps/peels (except citrus fruit, onion, garlic and chilies), tea bags/tea leaves, coffee grounds and filters, crushed eggshells, newspaper, cardboard, egg cartons and shredded/soaked pizza boxes, old flowers and small amounts of garden waste, pasta, rice, wet bread & cereal, hair and small amounts of dust from vacuum cleaner. Avoid onions, garlic, citrus, dairy products, seafood, meat, oil, and pet droppings, or the wrigglers will run for the hills.

Worms

The Red Wrigglers are the hardiest, fastest reproducers of the vermin culture world they efficiently gobble up waste and create worm castings. Well-fed worms reproduce even faster, at an alarming rate. They double there population in 3-4 months. Young red worms are a shade of white but turn red at maturity.

Harvesting Worm Castings

Harvesting the compost is easy, just push the bedding and worms to one end of the box and fill the other end with fresh bedding and table scraps. Within a few weeks, the worms will munch their way over to the fresh food and you can scoop out the compost from the deserted side of the bin.

With commercial vermi culture compost bins, the work is done for you; just collect worm casts from the bottom trays, and fill the top trays with food.

If you find that cultivating worms and worm castings are not your thing, you could always take the day off and hang a sign on the worm bin that says “Gone Fishin!”

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Now playing: The Mountain Goats - Blueberry Frost
via FoxyTunes

Rain Barrels That Double As A Planter

2009-01-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

This rain barrel at Composters not only collects and stores rain water, so that you can use it to water your lawn, flowers, veggies, etc... it also makes a lovely planter for your garden, so that you can show off your annuals and perennials in eco-style.

Unrelated, yet important.

2009-01-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

Photo Credit: MaggieJumps

Neko Case is giving five bucks to the Best Friends Animal Society for every blog that links to her new single "People Got A Lotta Nerve" from her album out on March 3rd, Middle Cyclone.

She has a lovely voice and is obviously a lovely person, inside and out. Please give the song a listen, especially if you have never heard her before, because she is great!

Click here to download.
Click here for more information regarding the donation.

30% off + 10% off sale at Composters!

2009-01-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

Composters.com is having a sale on all composting bins, composting tumblers, vermiculture supplies, rain barrels, electric and reel lawn mowers, pet waste products and raised gardening beds and accessories.

EcologyFund -- A great way to help the planet, with as much effort as it takes to click your mouse.

2008-12-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

While browsing around the internet today, I came across EcologyFund. It is a site dedicated to saving our planet, whose advertisers pay a certain amount per click. Click your way to reducing pollution, protecting endangered species and replenishing our rain forests. Just for signing up, they donate 500 sq ft of forest in your name.

While we still buy green and do our part to reduce waste, I think this is a great step for in the middle!

Oprah's Compost Bin!

2008-12-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

Oprah used the Outside Gourmet Compost Bin on her show during Earth Day!

Right now Composters is having a 30% off sale on all products from compost bins, compost tumblers, rain barrels, electric lawn mowers, pet waste compost and supplies, red worms and vermiculture supplies to raised garden beds! Definitely worth a look before the same is over.

Electric and reel lawn mowers are a worthy investment.

2008-12-17T16:19:00.001-08:00

“Tis the season to—mow the lawn. Though we may all be glad to see the gloomy days of winter go bye-bye, we also know its time to tend to the lawn. Popular money expert David Bach offers a way to save some money - and the environment - while you mow the lawn in his new book Go Green, Live Rich. If you’re in the market for a new lawn mower, Bach says you should consider buying an electric version over a gas-powered machine. Reason being, it costs about $5 a year to use an electric mower, whereas gas-powered cutters are subject to the skyrocketing prices of fuel. Americans use 800 million gallons of gas each year on lawn mowers alone. Worst yet, 17 million gallons of gas are wasted on spillage each year. You can also help improve the air quality in your neighborhood by using an electric mower. If you spend one hour mowing your lawn with a gas machine, it’s the equivalent of having driven 100 miles! Electric lawn mowers can be found at retailers like Home Depot and range from about $150 to $450.”

Consider Electric over Gas Powered Lawn Mowers | Charles and Hudson

Check out the electric lawn mowers and reel lawn mowers at Composters!

When is your rainy season? Maybe you should invest in a rain barrel!

2008-12-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

Here in the typically sunny California, our rainy season generally runs from November to March, with the heaviest being early in the year. This tends to send those with already questionable driving skills into a panic and it shows on our freeways. Those of us not smart enough to wear galoshes, have a hard time getting used to the squish squish our shoes make from walking through puddles left by our ill prepared drainage systems.

It happens every year, but there IS a way to take advantage of this change in weather, or non-change in weather, depending on where you reside. You see, as much as the rain frizzes our hair and destroys our shoes, it can be very useful to those with a green thumb or really anyone who wants to do their part in preserving this planet of ours.

This would be catching the rain draaaaainage.

Now, reusing rain water may not be as profitable as say, Texas tea… it still can put an impressive dent in your water bill, because you can use it to water your plants, lawn, whatever.

When searching for rain barrels, you have a few to choose from. There is the kind you hook up directly to your gutters. The GWS Diverter kit can get you started on that, as well as the Wood Grain Rain Barrel. There are stand alone kits for those who may not want it connected to the roof gutter or perhaps you want BOTH, there is the Rain Catcher that comes with a screen to keep the undesirables out, a hose for easy watering and a spigot. A slightly more fashionable, yet functional, option would be the Gardenware Oasis Rain Barrel, which comes in two colors to better match your decor, has a lovely form that brings to mind ancient garden design, as well as the necessary screen and spigot. It can also take the rain from your gutter or straight from the air as it falls.

Don’t forget, with standing water, comes mosquitos, so throw in a Mosquito Donut (believe me, NOT as tasty as it sounds) to keep the mosquitos to a minimum.

Vermiculture special from History Channel

2008-12-16T12:29:00.001-08:00

Choosing your vermiculture bin

2008-12-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

Probably the easiest and most efficient worm bin that I am familiar with is the Worm Bungalow at Composters.com. Made with ease and efficiency in mind, the Worm Bungalow will house 20 lbs plus of red worms and nightcrawlers, not to mention can decompose tons of waste in a year.

It comes with a heating unit and is well insulated so that your worms can do their thing all year round. It is definitely an investment worth looking into.

25 Great Composting Tips

2008-12-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

Composting101.com provides a great resource for someone just getting into composting or seasoned pros looking for new ideas.

Here are their top 25 composting tips:

1. Grass clippings add necessary nitrogen to a compost pile, but be sure to mix with the "brown" materials that add carbon. Both are necessary for quick decomposition and rich compost. Piles made up of just grass will compact, slow down and start to stink.

(See Composters.com, Organic Compost Maker and Ultra-Concentrated Liquid Compost Accelerator)

2. Do not compost fats, pet droppings, or animal products. They will attract pests to the pile and can spread disease.

(See, Composters Pet Waste Products for easy disposal solutions.)

3. Newspaper or plain white paper from the computer is excellent for composting - just remember to shred it first to speed up the process.

4. Got compost? When finished it should look, feel and smell like rich, dark soil. You should not be able to recognize any of the items you put in there.

5. Worms love coffee grounds!

(See, extensive collection of red worms and vermiculture supplies.)

6. If adding ashes to your compost bin, do so sparingly. They are alkaline and affect the pH of the pile. In contrast, acidic materials include pine needles and oak leaves.

7. Plants that have been treated with pesticides and/or herbicides (weeds and lawn clippings) should be avoided.

8. The microbes responsible for breaking down your compost pile need a balance of nitrogen and carbon. Nitrogen comes from green materials such as food scraps, manure, and grass clippings. Carbon comes from brown materials such as dead leaves, hay, wood chips and shredded newspaper. A ratio that contains equal portions of both and is well mixed works best.

9. Algae and seaweed make excellent additions to your compost pile. Be sure to rinse off any salts before using.

10. Finished compost is usually less than half the volume of the materials you started with, but it's much denser.

11. Keep your compost pile in a black plastic bin and in direct sunlight to continue the composting process through the winter. Hay bales can be used to further insulate the pile.

(See compost bins and accessories)

12. Wooden pallets make excellent compost bins. Start with one pallet on the ground. Drive two metal stakes into each side. Slide additional pallets over each support and you have a bin ready for compost.

(See compost corral corners)

13. Straw is an excellent source of carbon for your compost pile. However, it may contain weed seeds, so make sure the pile is "cooking" properly.

14. Compost decomposes fastest between 120 and 160 degrees F. Decomposition will occur at lower temperatures, but it takes much longer.

(See Green Johanna Hot Komposter, for composting in colder climates)

15. The perfect size for a compost pile is one that is at least 3' x 3' x 3'. It's not only a manageable size to turn, but it's ideal for retaining heat while still allowing air flow.

(See, heavy duty pitch fork for compost aeration.)

16. For faster composting keep your pile or compost bin in direct sun.

17. Don't throw away your kitchen waste in the winter - try an indoor composter.

(See kitchen scrap mini- indoor compost bins, in green plastic, stainless steele, or white porcelain.

18. Compost piles should remain damp but not too wet. As you build your compost pile, make sure that each layer is moist as it is added. The surface should also remain damp (think of a wrung out sponge), especially during the summer months.

19. Does your compost pile smell? It's probably due to a large number of anaerobic microbes, which are working hard to break down your compost, but creating a smelly situation in the process. To cut down on the anaerobic process, aerate your pile regularly, creating air spaces and limiting the anaerobic microbes while stimulating the less stinky aerobic microbes.
(See Metal Pile Turner and Aerator for additional compost bin aeration)

20. Help start a new compost pile with aged manure, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, blood meal, or compost starter. They are rich in nitrogen and help jump-start the microbes responsible for breaking down organic matter into compost.

21. Anything that was living at one time is great for compost bins. Think of leaves, vegetables, and grass clippings.

22. Compost piles can either be layered - thin layers of alternating greens and browns, or they can all be thrown in together and mixed well. Either way works!

23. Soak finished compost in water to "brew" compost "tea," a nutrient-rich liquid that can be used for foliar feeding or for watering plants in your garden, backyard, or houseplants.

24. Apply finished compost to your garden about 2-4 weeks before you plant, giving the compost time to integrate and stabilize within the soil. Click here for a guide to vegetable gardening.

25. For faster results, use a compost turner every two weeks to aerate your pile.
(See variety of compost tumblers to best suit your needs.)

via - Composting101.com