What can I compost?

Basic composting is super easy! Your compost heap needs four things: Browns, greens, air and water.

• Browns: Dry materials, like wood chips, dried leaves, grass and other plants. Anything crunchy and dry.
• Greens: Fresh moist materials like grass cuttings and food scraps. If you are putting in food scraps, make sure you cover them up with other greens or browns so your pile doesn’t become a buffet for the local wildlife. Also avoid greasy foods, like meat or cheese, which will start to stink pretty fast.
• Air: Turning the compost pile helps aerobic microorganisms break down organic matter faster. Turning basically means emptying it out into a new pile, where what was once on top, is now on the bottom, and what was on the bottom is now on the top. The more often you turn your pile, the faster your old stuff will become your new compost. Compost will happen even if you never touch your pile. Turning it just makes it go faster. I try to turn my pile about once a week.
• Water: Keeping your pile as moist as a wrung out sponge keeps things moving along. I sprinkle mine with a hose a couple of times a week, mostly around the edges where it tends to dry out. If you live in an area with a lot of rain, you may not need to water your pile very often.

See how easy this is? Next post…Composting Equipment

Thanks go to....

The Blogger Guide, for their easy to use tutorial on how to modify this blog template. Using their handy guide I was able to increase the width of the posting column. Thanks!

Why Compost?

From my compost: worms in an eggshell

I don’t have a large yard, but it’s mine. By composting, I’m improving my little corner of the planet. A little bit of work on my part (and I do mean just a little – composting is REALLY easy), and I‘ll have healthier soil which will come back to me ten-fold in the form of better and more plentiful veggies, not to mention prettier flowers. My container plants especially love compost. I love knowing that I’m not putting chemicals on my edibles. It’s great to be able to bite into a great tomato, bean or pepper knowing exactly what went into them.

Home composting can be the cornerstone of a beautiful, healthy garden. Composting is nature’s way of recycling. It’s a great, satisfying way to turn your fruit, vegetable and yard waste into a dark, rich, crumbly, sweet smelling soil conditioner. Approximately 30% of the waste stream in the US comes from food and yard waste. Composting helps divert a huge portion of my family’s waste from landfills, and my garden gets back some lovely compost in return.

Composting
· Helps plants indoors and out by improving the fertility and health of your soil.
· Saves you money by lowering your garbage bills and replacing store-bought soil conditioners.
· Conserves water by helping the soil retain moisture and reducing water runoff.
· Creates a wildlife habitat – worms love a good compost heap!
· Contributes to a healthy community by recycling valuable organic resources and extending the life of our landfills.
· Is a great way to get your kids more involved in recycling since they can actually see the finished product, and see how it goes right back into the garden.

Composting is EASY! Just get started. I’ll be posting more on the specifics of composting during the next couple of weeks.

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out....

Hmmm..finally figured out why my nasturtiums are looking all holey and lacy. I found this little critter and a few of his friends hiding out on the underside of the leaves, munching away. I think he's some kind of inchworm. Wikipedia says inchworms are the caterpillars of geometer moths. I picked all of them off, but I wonder where they came from. This plant is in a planter on my deck. I guess I'll go out tomorrow morning and take another look.

Bountiful Blooms make for a Big Butterfly Bash!

I cannot believe how many things are blooming in my garden! This is a gorgeous time of year in Northern California. It's unseasonably hot today, in the 90s, but I got my compost heap turned, took care of my worm bin and watered everything before it got hot this morning. The yard is a riot of color, and the butterflies are having a party. I've never seen so many. Here are some of my blooming beauties.

A flying friend. Hard to photograph, but fun to watch.

Rosie enjoying the morning sun.

Geranium

More Geraniums & Alyssum

??? Something I picked up at Home Depot the other day. ??

Gruss an Achen rose

Daylily

Jasmine

Rose...can't remember the name

Siberian Iris

Geranium

Another nameless rose

Abraham Darby Rose - smells heavenly!

Graham Thomas Rose

Gazinnia

Potato Vine

Yarrow

Lavender Trumpet Vine

Sally Holmes Rose

Petunia

Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour

On May 3rd, I attended The Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour. This was a free self-guided tour of 50 fabulous local gardens that provide habitat for wildlife, are pesticide-free, conserve water, and contain 50% or more native California plants. Considering that I’ve been wanting to go organic, and we’re heading for drought conditions where I live, I totally was excited about going. The Bay Area where I live has so many different micro-climates that I stuck to gardens in my town and the one over. Ordinary people, just like me, opened up their gardens, so that ordinary curious people, just like me, could see what was possible with native California plantings.

It was a lovely drizzly day. None of the four gardens I toured had lawns and they were simply gorgeous. I’ve been thinking about getting rid of our lawn for a while now. My yard isn’t large enough to waste that much space to grass when I could be planting vegetables and finally get those chickens I’ve been wanting. The hubby was even convinced after going on the tour with me. We saw so many fabulous, beautiful native plants. How could you not love a plant with a name like “Sticky Monkey Flower”? The gardeners had plant lists available and I took tons of notes on the plants I liked the most.

It was a beautifully done tour. I’ll definitely be signing up again next year. Even if you’re not in the East Bay area of Northern California, check out the website for some great ideas.
Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour


Sticky Monkey Flower

Friends in the Garden

My dog Rosie is joined to my hip. She follows me wherever I go, from the laundry room, to the kitchen and out to the backyard. I always bring my daughter's Russian tortoise, Franklin, outside with me when I'm outside. Unfortunately, Rosie really wants to get her paws on Franklin.

Here's Franklin trying to escape from our raised bed.

Here's Rosie watching him like a hawk.

Grandma's Geraniums

My Nana always had a garden. Vegetables only, no fussy rosebushes or hard to maintain plants. She always had geraniums though. I love their vivid colors and the way they smell brings back a lot of memories. They seem old fashioned, no nonsense, but fun...just like my grandmother.

One small step from pesticides, one giant leap toward organic

Well, I did the deed. I called and cancelled our pest service. No more toxic streams of insecticide all over my little plot of land. Sorry Pest Control Guy. Time to start researching natural pest control.