Feb. 8, 2008
At Home with Kris - Composting advice ??
Posted in AtHomewithKris
Good Morning Everyone!
I hope you have had a good week so far! I want to thank everyone who posted advice for starting a garden - you have given me some great info to digest and I know that you have helped others who are just beginning this endeavor, too. I asked for suggestions or topics to discuss here on the porch and I received a response this week from Anissa who said, "I would like to learn more about composting. What can be composted, what can not go in the compost pile, how to compost without spending a lot of money on equipment, etc." So, that is the question of the week ... can you help her out by leaving a comment here? I'll be sure to point her to your answers! (I have to admit that I'd like to start this, too, so I can't wait for your responses, either!).
Here are some Freebies straight from the TOS Freebie Friday newsletter.
Valentine Notebooking pages, brought to you from the folks over at notebookingpages.com.
Next, how about some free sites to teach your kids about the human heart? Let's Hear About Your Heart is an interactive, fun way to learn all about the heart and how to take care of it. All About the Heart is true to its name. It even has a cool little animation that shows how blood pumps through the heart.
Papervalentines.com has every imaginable idea for making your own valentines. If it can be made out of paper, I am thinking you can find the pattern at this site.
We still have plenty of the Valentine's gift packages available with your purchase of a new two-year US subscription + Winter. Why not treat yourself to a two year subscription to TOS and also get a FREE CD from Steve Sensenig and tealight candles from Homestead Originals? See details here.
I'm going to keep this brief as I am leaving this afternoon for a weekend retreat with some women from my church and I need to take care of the homeschooling this morning before having a lunch date with my husband. I've gotta put "first things first." So, I hope you don't mind the lack of info this week. I'll be back next week with another question of the week. See you again soon!
Kris Price
Senior Editor, HomesteadBlogger.com
www.homesteadblogger.com/hsbfrontporch
www.homesteadblogger.com/athomewithkris
Comments
Feb. 8, 2008 - Composting
Posted by CatherineAnn
Kris,
Here's a link for a post from Our Little Homestead that has the basic info. on composting:
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/ourlittlehomestead/Garden/
And a compost bin can be anything from a pile on the ground, an old garbage can with the bottom removed and a few holes cut in the sides, wooden pallets nailed together, a large ring of wire fencing...
Put your compost bin in full sun (I learned this the hard way). Keep it moist, and turn it every now and then and nature will do the rest :) .
Blessings,
Catherine
Edited by CatherineAnn on Feb. 8, 2008 at 02:52 PM
• Permanent Link
Feb. 9, 2008 - We Compost Anything
Posted by Kristin Hoffman
I know we have all read that we can't compost meat and dairy but we compost EVERYTHING! This is important as we butcher our own chickens and have lots of offal. We'd run out of space to bury it all if we didn't compost it.
In fact, you can even compost dead cows given enough carbonaceous material (like wood chips, straw, dried leaves). Heres a link: http://www.dairybusiness.com/northeast/Nov00/recipe.htm or just google "composting dead cows".
We've also found that copious amounts of manure help keep the compost hotter. It wasn't the same when we just used kitchen scraps & garden refuse.
Our compost piles are in an area not easily accessed by rats....and we have lots of cats to keep them at bay. The dogs are interested when we first add the chicken cleanings but they get chased away.
We have used rings of fencing, purchased bins, and just plain piles. They all work. Keep it all wet. And consider worm composting bins if you have no manure.
Hope that helps!
Kristin
www.solarfamilyfarm.com
• Permanent Link
Feb. 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by mountainmama
We compost but it is nothing fancy at all. I used some left over chicken wire and made a little fence that is hooked to our chicken pen. I have a small lidded bucket in the kitchen and when it is full we take it and dump it into the compost.
The chickens can get what they want, and when they are in the yard they dig around in it. I don't turn mine or anything else but it does work.
I do not dump meat or anything that will smell really bad, but almost everything else goes in there.
• Permanent Link
Feb. 10, 2008 - Composting
Posted by kerimae
I am certainly not an expert by any means; I don't even have a system set up yet. However, I am most interested in doing a worm bin. My friend had one, and it was so easy to just dump scraps in (with newspaper) and let the worms do the work. Here is a project I plan to tackle:
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm
Blessings,
Keri, who has much to learn herself :)
• Permanent Link
