|
Home / Hobbies
Composting Made Easy Means All Benefit And Minimum Work
By:Ann Knapp
For avid gardeners, having an ample supply of rich compost is a dream. The use of compost will result in nicer plants, but producing the material can be time consuming and hard work. The more you can reduce that effort, investing the saved time in other gardening tasks, the better.
One way to start the process is by building composting bins that at least semi-automate the productopn of compost. A bin should be five feet wide, five feet deep, and four feet high. Start by sinking 4 by 4 posts in the ground for the corners, and then nail 2 by 4s and 1 by 4s, alternating on the sides, leaving 2" gaps between the boards for air circulation. The 2 by 4s are rigid enough to keep the sides from bowing out, and in between each 2 by 4 you can use 1 by 4s to save a little money. The bins are three-sided, with the front open so they can be filled and emptied easily.
Fill one of the bins with grass clippings, dried leaves, and shrub clippings, trying not to put more than 6" of each material on a layer and alternating layers of green and brown material. Keep a few bags of dry leaves around to help with the alternating.
When you root cuttings use coarse sand in the flats and put the old sand on the compost pile. It's a good idea to take plants that do not survive and dump the entire container in the compost bin, which adds more brown material to the mix.
After the bin is full, one option is to turn the material in the bin every few weeks. Another option, however, is to pack as much material in the bin as possible, then start filling the second bin, piling the material as high as possible, even to the point where it spills out in front of the bin and covering the fresh material with mulch or potting soil.
Setting a small sprinkler on top of the pile and turning it on at a very low level will let a small spray of water run on the material. By keeping the material damp, the moisture will cause the pile to heat up, which is what makes the composting action take place.
Once the first bin is full, the second bin is used. As the material in the first bin starts to break down, it settles, which means you can keep shoveling the material piled in front of the bin, up on top of the pile. Continue to do this until all the material is either in the bin or piled on top of the heap. Then leave it alone, except for the occasional watering, which speeds up the process.
Not all of the material will rot completely, a result of not turning the pile. But the material in the center will break down more than the material on the edges, most of it breaking down quite well. Keeping a pile of potting soil on hand at all times or buying two or three yards of shredded mulch to get started, will mean always having a supply of good compost.
Left in a pile, shredded bark will eventually break down and become great compost, and some potting soil is about 80% rotted bark. Some buy fine textured and dark hardwood bark mulch, and put it in a pile to rot, keeping the pile low and flat so it does not shed the rain water away. The idea is to keep the mulch to stay as wet as possible to allow the mulch to break down quickly.
Keep a pile of rotted bark mulch near the compost bins and empty the bin containing the oldest material by piling it on top of the rotted bark mulch. The pile of rotted mulch should be wide and flat on top so the compost material is only 5 to 10 inches thick when it is spread.
The mulch pile might be 12" wide, but only be 24 to 30 inches high. Once the compost is on top of the pile, go around the edge of the pile with a shovel, and take some of the material from the edges of the pile, tossing it up on top of the pile, covering the compost with at least 6" of rotted bark. In this way the compost material will fully decompose.
Once the system is started, don't use all of the material in the pile. Keep at least 2 to 3 cubic yards on hand so there will be something to mix with the compost. If necessary, buy more material and add to e pile in the late summer or fall.
Some supply companies sell a compost material that is already broken down, but try to keep at least 3 yards of old material on hand, adding another 3 yards of fresh material. In the spring you can empty one of the compost bins and add the compost to the top of the pile.
The pile of usable compost will be layers of material, some of which can be chipped off and spread on the ground. You can then mix it together with a tiller and shovel it onto a potting bench.
Having a pile of rotted compost near the compost bins will allow you to throw some rotted compost in the bin, maintaining the layered effect necessary for composting to work well.
Digg
del.icio.us
Blink
Stumble
Spurl
Reddit
Netscape
Furl
Article keywords: grow hydroponics, hydroponics gardening, hydroponic gardening, hydroponic system, hydroponic systems
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com
HydroWarehouse is a Discount Hydroponics Supply Store . We offer world class customer service with warehouse prices. Our Secure online catalog contains over 1000 hydroponics , hydroponics system , hydroponics equipment and gardening products.
|
|
| Top Hobbies Articles |
- 1). Are you addicted to scrapbooking? By : Rita Hutner
Many who suddenly get the scrapbooking bug say they started when they realized that so few pictures were taken of them as cute little tykes - and they want to make things better for their own children. What ever the reason, scrapbooking has become a big business. There are estimates that over 4 million people, almost all of them women, gather for "crop-alongs" or "power layouts" every month! All these people are on the lookout for new and exciting scrapbooking ideas and share their thoughts and techniques on how to create that perfect keepsake.
|
- 2). Orchid Care - Phaleanopsis Orchids By : Yale Bernstein
--An introduction to Phalaenopsis orchids.
Phalaenopsis orchids are one of the easiest orchids to grow in the home. The name "phalaenopsis" comes from the Greek phalaina, meaning "moth" and opsis, meaning "like". For this reason this orchid goes by the nick name "Moth Orchid".
These orchids are very easy to grow and flower as long as care is given to recreate their natural growing environment as much as possible.
|
- 3). Doyles Room Spokesman Wins Cardplayer Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award By : Sage Kalmus
He's been called the Godfather of Poker. He's the Texas Dolly. He's won more tournaments than this writer has years to his name. He's written the seminal book on Texas Hold'em strategy. He's the spokesman of Doyles Room, one of the internet's most popular online poker rooms. His name is Doyle Brunson. And as of February 15, 2006, he's got another claim to fame.
|
- 4). History of Candle Making By : Coffee Man
Who invented the candle?
Candles were invented independently in many countries. The Egyptians and Cretans made candles from beeswax, about 3000 BC. In the fourth century BC there were clay candle holders in Egypt. Qui Shi Huang (259 - 210 BC) was the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC). His mausoleum was rediscovered in the 1990s 22 miles east of Xi'an in China and contained candles made from whale fat.
|
- 5). Which pool table? By : Jeff King
There are a few things to consider when purchasing a pool table that have an effect on the price and quality of your table and therefore, your game. Note that the term “pool tables” refers to the table used to play billiards, snooker, and all other cue-sports similar to this. The differences between these games are the rules and sets of balls used, not the table itself.
|
|
|
- 7). Challenge Coin Display Cases And Challenge Coins Tips By : Paton Jackson
I find it amazing that the interest and popularity of challenge coins and challenge coin displays keeps rising. I get many questions about military challenge coins so I have decided to gather some valuable tips for you.
The most popular challenge coins are navy challenge coins, marine corps challenge coins, army challenge coins, air force challenge coins and police challenge coins.
|
- 8). The Lincoln Cent – Part 3 – The Many Changes By : Keith Scott
No real changes occurred in the cent from 1918 through 1942. In 1943, the cent would again see a dramatic change although not to its design, but rather due to shortages of copper caused by the war. At the time of World War II, the one-cent coin was composed of 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc. These metals were denied to the Mint for the duration of the war, making it necessary for the Mint to seek a substitute material.
|
|
|
- 10). Live or Fake Bait? By : Ty Wagner
Choosing fake bait over live bait and how the two can get better results in different conditions.
|
| New Hobbies Articles |
|
|
- 2). Perfect Timing for Shooting By : Mitch Johnson
"Leading" or shooting ahead of moving game is usually thought of in connection with shotguns and wing shooting, but it is sometimes important with the rifle while shooting deer. Learn some tips on the timing for shooting.
|
|
|
- 4). Effective Times to Hunt Deer By : Mitch Johnson
One of the things, which a hunter must realize when he go for hunting, is that he must respect some restriction given by the land owner where he hunt the deer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 8). Karaoke Machine Buying Guide By : John Morris
The word karaoke, often mispronounced with a long e at the end instead of a short one, originated from a Japanese word meaning empty orchestra...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
