Dried tree leaves make good compost material
Ask Gardenerd: Leaves for Compost?
A great question came in from a curious gardenerd this week: "Just started composting! I have a composting tumbler in my yard as there are many animals I would need…
A bacterial-eating nematode
Up Close and Personal with Compost
Nerd Alert: this blog post may cause irrational desire to look at compost under a microscope. Ever since I took Alane Weber's compost immersion workshop last year, I have been…
The "thermal" in active batch thermal composting
Active Batch Composting
What the heck is "Active Batch Composting" anyway? You're about to find out, but first let's look at another term: Cold composting. Cold composting, though the name is a bit…
Compostable cutlery, nearly three years later
Compostable Cutlery – Not!
I've been unknowingly conducting an experiment on compostable cutlery over the last three years. Today I report my findings to you, in hopes that it will dispel some of the…
Soil Foodweb: It’s a Party In There
This week we are delighted to present another guest blogger, Sheri Powell-Wolff, A.K.A. Compost Teana. Sheri is an Advisor and Master Soil Consultant for Soil Foodweb Oregon and Earth Fortifications in Corvallis, Oregon. Her company, Compost TEAna’s Organic Landscapes provides compost tea services and soil biology testing and consultation in the Los Angeles Area. She's here to gives us the ...
Compost Queries
A question came in this week from a Gardenerd student:
"I'm sharing a Biostack [compost] bin with my neighbors in my apt complex and the question was raised on whether or not it's acceptable to put whole fruit, apples, oranges, etc. into the bin. I'm
trying to keep the bin simple for people so I am hesitant to tell people to cut up their fruit to help accelerate the composting, but my neighbor thinks they should be. Can you tell me what the
...
Quicker Compost
Here's a question that came in last week:
"How can I speed up composting without spending a lot of money. Cover it with a tarp? Helga"
Hi Helga,
There are a few things you can do to try and speed up your compost production, and none of them cost money:
The first is to build a bigger pile - at least 3 x ...
Composting, Worms and Shade Gardening
Another great question came in this week:
"Hello, I have a worm bin that I use to throw all my compostable items in such as veggies,eggshells, paper etc. I also have a big compost bin next to my worm bin, it is about a quarter full. I
throw junk mail and grass clippings, tree clippings, whatever is too big for my worm bin goes in this big bin. Could I add worms to this big bin as well to aid in the speed of the ...
Rat-Proof Compost Bin
A new gardenerd wrote in recently:
"Any suggestions [for a rat-proof compost bin]? We do trap and try to control the rats but they just exist and like to
come around compost in our neighborhood."
There must be a global increase in rats this year. We've been seeing an increase in these critters around our community garden as well. I had them nibbling away at my tomatoes all summer. Here are a couple suggestions I can across in my research:
First of all, you will want to make sure that you aren't composting any animal fats, bones or flesh. Rats are ...
Building a Compost Sifter
Back in the middle of winter, we purchased a subsidized compost bin from the City of Los Angeles. Our Bio Stack has been hard at work in the back yard, thanks to my husband's new fascination with composting. When I say fascination, I mean obsession. He's become obsessed with adding kitchen waste and yard trimmings to the compost bin at any opportunity. Forget about waiting until there's enough for a layer of green or brown. Anytime the kitchen waste bucket is half-full, it's "time to feed the compost bin". It's cute actually. My husband has never really been ...