вторник, 30 января 2018 г.

Composting 101 – How to Start a Compost Pile

The first year living on our off grid property we didn’t plan on having a garden because we simply had too many other more important projects. That said, because we do want a garden in the near future, we figured that we should start composting now! In this post we want to go over composting 101 which is how to start a compost pile… you know, the simple way!

Choosing a Compost Bin
Creating a Compost Pile
Compost Pile Maintenance
Finished Compost
Taking it Further with Worm Composting
Kitchen Compost Bins
Recommended Reading on Compost
Tips & Tricks on Getting FREE Compost Materials

Starting a compost pile is so simple yet for me, it was a little intimidating because there is simply too much information on the subject! In the end, I decided to not even try to aim for perfection but to simply get started, and I’m happy I did.

Six months later, and we already have a lovely heap of compost, although small, and this fall we spent some time gathering even more organic matter for our pile. As with anything, it seems to get easier and more obvious over time, which I’m extremely happy to report.

Here are the basics of what our composting experience looks like so far.

Decide on a Compost Bin

In all honesty, Mother Nature doesn’t use any type of compost bin… organic matter simply falls on the ground to deteriorate, and it all works out!

That said, we chose to have some sort of bin to keep things feeling contained, and also to be able to build the pile up fairly deep.

We chose to go with a diy compost bin out of reclaimed pallets. This was extremely low-tech… it doesn’t even have a fourth side! This is because we wanted to be able to get in to turn the pile on occasion. So far, this approach is working for us.

There are a number of compost bin plans out there, but if you want to buy one, many like to go the route of the tumbling compost bin. In all honesty, this type of bin is probably a bit small for our property since we want to compost in large quantities, but it’d be perfect for the urban homesteader that really wants to keep things tidy and doesn’t predict having a ton of yard waste!

how to make a compost pile and bin

How to Start a Compost Pile – Add Organic Material

This is the hard part… you ready? All you need to do is add material to the compost pile! In a nutshell, you need to add carbon and nitrogen in somewhat equal amounts or in other words, “brown” stuff and “green” stuff.

Add Carbon

Carbon is stuff that’s typically dry, which is why it’s referred to as brown material. This may be the easiest material to come by in bulk, especially if have property or live in a rural area.

Brown stuff includes dead leaves, paper, cardboard, straw, hay, pine needles and even sawdust. If you don’t have this on your own property, it should be fairly easy to come by. Leaves are easy to collect in fall, if you’re lucky you can pick up as many bags as you can handle curbside, and people are trying to get rid of things like rotting hay or straw all of the time. Pick it up!

Many of these things can also make a great garden mulch.

cabon for adding to compost pile

Add Nitrogen

Nitrogen is stuff that’s moist for the most part, which is why it’s referred to as green material. This seems to be harder for us to come by, but it may be different for you.

Green stuff includes lawn clippings (try to get these pesticide and herbicide free if you can), food waste, coffee grounds, plant trimmings and even manure. Manure if a great way to get a pile hot but it’s not something we’ve experimented with yet.

In the end, don’t stress too much! Just add what you have! If the pile seems too dry then add some green stuff. If the pile seems too wet and it starting to get slimy or smelly, try to find some brown stuff to add. Easy peasy.

adding nitrogen to make compost pile

Compost Pile Maintenance

Maintaining a compost pile is ridiculously easy. In fact, you really don’t need to do much to it at all as all things decompose with time, but there are a few things you can do if you want to speed up the composting process.

Keep the Pile Moist

If you want your composting process to happen as quickly as possible, it would be wise to keep the pile moist. If you live in an area with rain, you might be set!

For us, because we’re off grid and have limited access to water, we didn’t do a very good job keeping our pile moist. We did try to dump our sink water on the pile when we remembered or weren’t feeling lazy which helped, but some suggest giving the pile a good hose down on occasion to keep it moist.

composting 101 - how to start a compost pile

Rotate or Churn the Pile

A compost pile does need oxygen to compost and churning the pile every once in a while will stir things up and add in oxygen to the mix.

We chose to turn ours over with a shovel once a month or so but you can do it as frequently as every couple of weeks.

A popular method is to take a compost aerator and stick it deep into the pile to do the churning for you. Some swear by this and claim that it’s a lot less work than going through the entire pile with a shovel… but we have yet to try it.

The other option is to buy a compost tumbler where you can turn the pile by simply turning a handle. Again, this is a great option for someone who only wants to compost on a small scale or is in an urban setting!

how to maintain a compost pile

Keep the Pile Hot

Have you ever driven by a field with a heap of cow manure in it on a cold day and seen the pile steaming? This is because the microbial activity in the decomposition process puts off a lot of heat… and manure especially can really heat up a compost pile!

One way to build heat in a compost pile is to make the pile big enough. A cubic yard is a good size to aim for. Ours was tiny this year so every time I’d stick my hand in the middle of it, it felt cool, but like I said, we still had finished compost in six months.

If you’re curious as to what the temperature is in your compost pile, you can try using a compost thermometer. We don’t feel the need for one yet, but you may want one if you’re uber scientifically-curious!

When is the compost finished?

The compost is finished when it looks a lot like dirt. Our small pile took about six months to fully compost and that was with taking poor care of the pile.

At that time, it’s best to add it to your garden soil.

For us, the garden isn’t ready yet, so I read that it can be good to tarp it or even store it in a garbage can as excess water can wash away some of the nutrients. I may do this before winter sets in.

finished compost

Taking it Further With Worm Composting

Another way to compost, or a way to simply enhance your exist compost, is to use worms. Here is a worm composting kit that can be good to start with… you only need to add worms to get going!

When we were buying our water tank from a guy off Craigslist, we discovered that he had a large worm composting farm and he offered up a bucket of red wigglers to us! Of course, we said yes!

worm compost bin

We keep these in a double bucket system… one bucket (holes in the bottom) with worms and organic matter in it and another bin to catch any moisture or liquid from the worm bin. This is also known as “worm tea“. This tea is great to pour into the garden. Worm poo, also known as worm castings, are also a great organic addition to the soil.

The guy that gave us the worms told us that red wigglers double their population in 90 days. At this point, we should have A LOT more worms than we started with, but it’s hard to tell for sure as the bucket seems to be filling up with castings very slowly.

Putting the worms into the compost can help speed up the composting process – that’s what my sister does in Southern California! I would think that tossing them on a dry pile though may not be their favorite thing, so I’d personally wait until the pile is decomposing and is somewhat dirt-like.

composting with worms

Having a Kitchen Compost Bin

Another thing you can do to help grow your pile is to have a small kitchen compost bin on your counter. This isn’t where you want the composting to take place, but you do want a non-smelly way to toss your fruit and veggie scraps until you’re ready to take them to the compost pile.

Kitchen compost bins have an air tight lid and carbon filters to control odor. We don’t have one of these because we don’t have a single inch of counter space (or even cupboard space) in our travel trailer… but we’ll be getting one for the house! Right now, I actually throw a decent amount of food scraps away because it’s time consuming to go out to the compost pile with tiny batches.

composting kitchen scraps

Composting 101: Recommended Reading

There is A LOT more to know about composting if you want to further your education. We feel that we’ve learned enough to get started but we do plan on investing in our education further when the time comes. We’re on the wait list for the Master Garderners program which is a place to start, but having books on the subject would be nice as well.

Let It Rot! The Gardener’s Guide to Composting

The Complete Compost Gardening Guide

This book is similar to the one above but goes into even more depth and covers a wider variety of topics. It also has lots of beautiful photos and is well-designed overall. In this book you can also find information on vermicomoposting, or using worms for compost.

Building Soil: A Down-To-Earth Approach

This book is great for learning how to strengthen soil and build the foundation for a thriving garden overall… composting is just one component of good soil!

The Suburban Micro-Farm

This book covers not only various easy-to-understand composting methods but also is a great general gardening book for beginners.

Tips & Tricks of How to Get Free Compost Materials

If you’re like us, even if you have property, you don’t have an abundant amount of compost-able material. We have five acres and what to compost isn’t obvious!

That said, we’ve scored some ways to get free compost materials with a little ingenuity… we’re happy to share what those are!

Wrapping It Up

Starting a compost pile doesn't HAVE to be difficult... it really can be done in just a few simple steps. Click through to get tips on where to find FREE compost materials, regardless of where you live, plus an awesome video on how to get your compost pile started today!

And that’s all there is to it… for us at least! Again, I’m sure there are ways to improve on your compost pile with time but it doesn’t have to be complicated to get started. We’re happy we stopped stressing and took action – and we are rewarded already with a rich, beautiful compost pile.

Get Involved!

What is your experience with composting? Do you find that you learn a lot overtime or do you realize overtime that it really is straightforward and simple? What tips and tricks do you have that you can share on composting? As always, we love to hear your feedback!

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Original article and pictures take http://purelivingforlife.com/composting-101/ site

понедельник, 15 января 2018 г.

Changing Table Organization

With Owen, we used his dresser as his changing table. We’re using the same dresser/changing table set up in Emmett’s nursery (still under construction), but we added a changing table into the mix with baby #2.

In our old house, the living room, where we spent most of our time, was in the middle of our house with our master bedroom to the right and Owen’s nursery to the left. So when Owen was a newborn, we only had to walk all of 10-12 steps to his nursery to change his diaper 10+ times a day or change his spit-up-on clothes.

Now that we live in a two-story house, we wanted to set up a changing table on our main floor so we wouldn’t have to go up and down the stairs 10+ times a day while carrying a newborn (and this kid needs his diaper changed more like 14+ times a day). This was especially important for me in the weeks following giving birth when I was encouraged to take it easy.

Since I didn’t want to drop a ton of money, I got this changing table for less than $60 and four baskets at Marshalls. I figured we can sell or donate the changing table once we’re done with it.

The top left basket holds a couple pairs of sleepers, onesies, socks, muslin blankets, diaper cream, nursing cover, diaper bags, and diaper pail refill bags.

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I keep an extra nursing pillow cover, nursing pads, changing pad covers, changing pad liners, and DIY burp cloths in the upper right basket.

The bottom left basket is for extra diapers.

And the bottom right basket is for extra wipes.

I love this diaper caddy. It holds a decent amount of diapers and the top spot perfectly holds our baby wipe dispenser. There’s also two smaller compartments for diaper cream, diaper cream applicator (love that thing), pacifier wipes, saline drops, and bulb syringe (we have a Nose Frida, but I prefer bulb syringes for newborns’ tiny nostrils).

The diaper caddy hooks onto the side of the changing table. It slides around a little bit, but it’s never fallen off.

The changing table comes with a pad, but I like how a contoured changing pad keeps babies more contained. And this one was only $14. I scored the changing pad cover from Land of Nod (now Crate & Kids) when it was on clearance for $6, so unfortunately, it’s no longer available.

My parents gifted us this diaper pail. We really like it so far. No smells can be smelled. But then again, newborn diapers don’t really smell anyway. Plus, when Emmett starts on solids we’ll do what we did with Owen’s #2 diapers– put them in a diaper bag and take it out to the big garbage can in the garage.

We love having this changing table on our main floor. I like how I can still keep an eye on Owen while he’s playing or eating breakfast or lunch if I need to change Emmett. And it’s been nice not having to go up and down the stairs numerous times a day.

Changing table organization! Great tips and tricks!

Original article and pictures take https://www.twotwentyone.net/changing-table-organization/ site