What Do Do Wednesday - Start Composting

It's that time of year.  Well, actually, it's always that time of year.  Time to start composting. 

I won't go into all the reasons why composting is good for you, and why composting is good for the earth, and why you're mother should have told you about composting.  I'll get into all that some other time.  For now, let's just dive into the nitty-gritty.  You wanna compost, here's how:
Just start.  It's gonna be a bit messy.  It's gonna be a bit hard.  It's gonna take work.  You will find your rhythm and create a good system and really like doing it.  But first, you have to just start. 
Step #1: You need stuff.  Grass clippings, leaves, hedge trimmings, yard stuff.  This is the base material.  If you can get yard waste, you have the goods.  Don't have lawn?  You can find bags of it curbside on garbage day.  (Later, I'll show what else can go in the compost). 
Step #2: Make a pile.  It can be on concrete, on the dirt, on grass, or directly in the garden.  A pile is the basic form of composting.  Even if you use a composter, it's just a container with a pile of stuff in it. 
Step #3: Stir the pile. This is not to be confused with 'turning the pile'.  All you really need to do is mix it up.  A little on one side, a little on the other side, a bit in the middle, and in thirty seconds, done.  This should be done a couple days a week.
Step #4: Water it.  After you stir the pile, turn on the hose, use your thumb, count to twenty, done.  Do this a couple days a week. 
Step #5: Repeat Step #3 & #4.  Do this as often as possible (about 3 days a week is ideal) and within 3-4 months, good compost will be ready to use.  The more you stir and water, the sooner your compost will be done. 

(Finished compost 3 ways - Raw, Sifted, Fine Sifted)

What you will need to compost:
Space - A compost pile will be about 3-4'feet wide and 2-3'feet high, and you need room for it.  The pile will grow, and then shrink as you begin to use it.  And stuff will spill, spread and go all over.  Make sure it won't be all over the lawn mower and the bikes.
Composting container - This can be a wood frame system, a tumbler, a static bin, a city provided bin, chicken wire frame, even an old cardboard box.  This is the tidy alternative to a pile.  It may cost money, or a bit of effort to build and/or acquire, but try what will work for you.  I recommend having at least two container systems.
Tools - Something sturdy and reliable to help stir your compost.  A spade shovel is good .  A metal rod is even better.  Typically made of rebar (about 4'ft long), this can be purchased at a hardware store or home improvement center.  Standard shovel will work, as well as a pitchfork, or garden hoe.  Even one of those fancy-schmancy aerator corkscrew tools will do the job.   As long as you have something that will move your compost material around, it's a start.  Oh, don't forget the broom.  You're gonna need it, a lot. 
Water - Without water, composting will likely not happen.  The closer the compost is to a hose source, the better.  Just one less obstacle to manage.  If it's a hassle, you probably won't bother.
Lastly, you need a place to use your compost, like a garden!  Once you start composting, it's only a matter of months when you'll be able to start using it, so be ready. Whether planting in ground or in a raised planter, compost is the magic ingredient.

(Raised beds at Xericopia full of good ol' compost soil and happy plants!)

What else can be added into the compost...(you asked for it)

Happy Composting!

The Gardening Season Begins...

Yes.  it's June, and now the gardening season begins....Here, in Phoenix.  If you're not willing to garden during these toasty months, keep your seat and watch the big kids play. 

I spent much of April and May in the whirlwind of house projects.  The frontyard farm beds are built and planted.  Two shade trees installed.  A new roof finally happened (perhaps the most un-nerving week of my life).  Immediately followed by some much needed extreme pruning.  So much, I didn't even compost it all.  A lot of it was bougainvillea and oleander, so no real heartbreak.  All this in preparation for the house painting to come.  

(brbrbrbr! crack-crack-crack! thud-klunk! thud-klunk! pop-pop-pop! brbrbrbrbrbrbrbr!!!!)

(With the bougainvillea fully grown, this wall is rarely seen.)

(I'm all for going green, but this might be over doing it.)

(Since when did gardens become storage units?)

With the garden converted to a garage, not much planting was in the cards.  Thus, birthed the new mission of keeping hope alive - and all my little seedlings.  The spring was incredibly nice, and summer has now arrived with muscles flexed in the shape of a lot of 110*days in the forecast.  

(Where's Hawkeye and Pierce?  This is the triage tent, right?) 

So while the house got stripped, shaved, and a new makeover, I got into some serious gardening - COMPOSTING!  Yup, this is real gardening.  If your not willing to grow your own dirt, you've just got a yard hobby.  That's the great thing about composting; it can be done anytime of the day, anytime of the year, and you're still making nice progress.  I haven't purchased a mulch/soil/amendment product in over four years.  And I have a jug of fertilizer on a shelf that I've pretty much forgotten about.  For me, it's all about sifted soil and compost tea to make a happy garden.

(mmm...compost...)

And the yard work just keeps on coming - but this I'm not complaining about.   Firing up the new barbecue grill garden is a little sweat time I'll gladly sign-up for.

(Vynnie the Gardener chillin' and grillin' at Xericopia!)

What To Do Wednesday - Compost Compost Compost

With the summer heat lingering on and on and on (yep, about 2 more weeks so suck it up), planting isn't the best thing to be doing in the garden right now.  So what, then?

(sifted compost - from chunky to fine)

Compost!  If you haven't started composting already, summer time is the best to try it.  Composting is an organic chemical process where nitrogen and carbon react and generate heat. This is bazillions of tiny micro-organisms at work.

(compost pile - lawn clippings, kitchen scraps, shredded papers)

Composting is a great way to go green and manage waste around the house.  Lawn clippings, shrub trimmings, and tree leaves are the basis of a great compost pile.  But did you know there are loads of other things you put into your compost instead of into the garbage can?  Kitchen scraps, paper towels, shredded documents, dryer lint, pet hair, old flower bouquets, even old cotton clothing.
(click here to see the super-duper list of things you can compost)

 (compost storage - ready to use)

When my compost is 'good enough', I store it in old nursery cans.  This way I always have it at the ready to go into the garden.

(compost used in edible garden beds)

Whether I need to add more mulch around plants or amend planting beds, compost is the perfect blend of soil nutrients without having to measure or worry about over-fertilizing.  With my finely sifted compost, I can even use it as a potting soil.  

(fine compost used as potting soil for starting new tomato seedlings)

So do something nice for your garden, your plants, and your earth, and compost.

It's Earth Day - Reduce, Reuse, Return

Today is Earth Day. Lots of events and activities will involve being green and recycling and carbon footprints and saving the environment, yadda yadda. But let's focus to the real star - Earth.

Look down. (Well, go outside and look down.) Look at the earth, the ground, the dirt, the soil. What can you really do for the earth TODAY.


Real simple - give back. It's a good time to simply start a compost pile. Even better (and simpler), leave your garden alone and let nature compost. Allow your garden - the earth - the feed and replenish itself. Composting (decomposition) is a natural process that is always happening underfoot. Where the mulch meets the soil, in-between, the bugs and microorganisms are hard at work composting.


When we contribute to the process by adding more layers of mulch - or leaving the leaves where they lay - the earth is enriched with nutrient life. In the end, the earth will return the favor and give to us.


For more cool inspiration about good ol' terra firma, check out what's airing on PBS. Now go let your toes hug some dirt.

And So It Begins...

The lawn conversion continues with the installation of Farm bed #1 and Farm bed #2. Stay tuned...

High-Tech Dirt

When it comes to garden chores, I can be quite efficient (some might call it 'lazy'). Compost is often the most tedious chore of all. I figured it was time to try something innovative and let technology work for me. So, I got myself the eComposter. This ain't your grampa's tumbler. No cranking, no shoveling, no turning or churning. I just take it out for a roll around the yard and let the high-tech design take care of the air flow and stirring.

For the eComposter, I filled it with all my material:

paper waste

(tissue, shredded documents, paper bags, etc.)

veggie kitchen scraps
(old lettuce, cut flowers, banana peals, etc. - no meats or oils)

lawn clippings
(grass blooms, weeds - no worries)

yard waste prunings
(no diseased plants, no bougainvillea, no ruellea, no cactus)

Add water and mix. It's just that simple! Now we'll see how long (or not) this baby takes to make me some good 'ol garden gold.

Stay tuned....

It's An Invasion!

Oh no - they're here!

And they're taking over my garden!
(Yeaaaa!!!)

It's the attack of the Compost Makers!
After years of managing my rickety compost bins made from recycled pallets, I decided to try these new-fangled eComposter (from CostCo). I started them in May 2009 and I figure they should be done cooking by mid-August.
Stay tuned to see what hatches...

Home Grown Good Stuff...

Make your own compost!
It's fun! It's Easy! It's free!

Make a pile out of lawn clippings, tree litter, leaves, old dead plants. No need to be too scientific about the mix of brown (carbon) and green (nitrogen) materials. The best thing for compost is kitchen scraps. Make a hole, dump them in and cover them up (helps keep the flies and gnats away).


Turn the pile with a shovel or pitch fork and water it to keep the micro-bugs active. Do this weekly or so.
(I turned this pile every other day when I took out kitchen scraps.)


About eight weeks later I had brown gold - nature's alchemy! Use it as a planting soil, fertilizer amendment, or top mulch. Anywhere in the garden, it's good stuff!
Check out my compost workshop coming up at the Phoenix Downtown Farmer's Market.