IT'S EARTH DAY! Let us celebrate by COMPOSTING

Earth Day is here! I'd like to share with you an excerpt from Kirsten Magnani, my FACE OF TODAY on April 5th 2013. Her effort in composting is truly what Earth Day is all about. I hope you enjoy this blog post but most importantly, I hope it inspires you to try it out for yourself! 

Along with her neighbors, Li and Eric, they emptied their "Earth Machines".  This photo is just half of the compost they produced in the last 6 months at their apartment complex, tge Towers. That pile is about 250-300 lbs of compost!!!!! 



Kirsten says that making compost is quite simple. It needs shelter, moisture, air and food....You just have to create the right environment for the FBI's to do their job.  (Fungus, Bacteria, and Invertebrates!) So what are the Food scraps that make up compost?

All fruits and vegetables, coffee and the filter, teabags, stale bread, old spices, used pasta (without any oils on it), crushed egg shells and nutshells.  

What you want to AVOID in a compost bin are: all animal products, bones, fish, shells, oils, & all dairy products.  (These foods need a high heat compost system otherwise they attract the wrong organisms.)

Besides the food scraps,  the FBI's need a source of carbon such as shredded paper, dried leaves or saw dust pellets.  The carbon controls the ph and it also provides the energy needed to feed the bacteria so it can break down the food.  It usually takes about 3 months for food to be turned into compost which is amazingly fast!  As far as volume, you get 1/3's worth of compost out of food scraps. So for every 9-lbs of food scraps-you'll get 3-lbs of compost!

This is a link to the Earth Machine that Kirsten is using. It is great if you live in an Urban Area. http://www.earthmachine.com/index_r.html  

The benefit of adding compost to your soil is that you are restoring the topsoil.  Compost is considered a soil amender~ which helps the soil maintain moisture, which acts as a fertilizer. Compost is SO much better for plants than 'miracle grow' (which is like giving your plants steroids).  Miracle Grow is a quick fix. It causes the leave part grows too quickly for the roots. And when there's no miracle grow... the plant starves.  Compost releases essential nutrients slowly as the roots requires. The plant won't grow as quickly as it does with chemical fertilizers but in the long run, your plant will be stronger and grow to be bigger and healthier.