Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | Author:
admin
When one part of the world is flourishing with industries and sky scraping buildings, the other part is being mounted by heaps and heaps of waste. The waste being disposed includes both organic and inorganic substances. While the inorganic, toxin wastes need to attended to and disposed carefully, organic waste materials can be put to great use. Recycling the organic wastes through the process of worm composting puts back into the soil the much needed nutrients. Through the process of vermiculture, we can take part in the nature’s cycle and do our bit in keeping our planet earth clean.
Worm composting is an uncomplicated method of creating natural fertilizers by the use of earthworms. Worm compost is derived by facilitating the worms to feed on wastes such as cow-dung, household scraps. The excreta of the worm, which is rich in humus, is the key component which restores the nutrition value of the soil. Vermiculture involves the culturing of worms in a worm bin to produce worm compost.
Worms eat almost everything we, humans eat and don’t eat. Worm food mainly includes vegetable scraps, fruit scraps and peels, Bread and grains, Teabags, Non-greasy leftovers, Coffee grounds and filters, Crushed egg shells, Napkins and paper towels. There are certain food items that are harmful for the worms. Over feeding of citrus items, meat and fish, Greasy foods, Dairy products, Twigs and branches, cat litter and dog feces are dangerous to the health of the worms. Other organic material such shredded newspaper and corrugated cardboard or paperboard can also be used. Shredded black and white newspaper should be kept over the food at all times. This bedding provided by the newspaper and cardboard helps keep the worm bin dark and moist and prevents direct sunlight from contacting the worms. This also keeps the flies away from worm bin.
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Author:
admin
Having one’s own backyard food factory is a sheer joy in itself. Due to the non-availability of space and time, modern homes rarely engage themselves in vegetable cultivation. The entire task of tilling, weeding and planting can be back breaking. Raised bed gardening is the answer to this problem. Raised garden beds can be classified into raised flower beds and raised bed vegetable gardens.
Raised garden beds make the process of gardening simple and pain-free. It eliminates the ordeal of digging and weeding. The raised garden kit is lifted from the ground level. Growing vegetables on these raised garden beds have many benefits. Raised garden bed kit prevents soil erosion, facilitates growth of the vegetables and prevents the growth of unwanted weeds. Its saves time, energy and water. It makes one’s garden look organized and creates a beautiful and a colorful garden. These beds are easily to handle and maintain. Growing vegetables on raised garden beds makes it easier for the gardeners to tend to it as the beds are raised from the ground level. Since it is one open bed, there is more room for the roots to penetrate and spread, thus allowing them to breathe better as compared to flower pots. A good number of vegetables can be grown in one bed at the same time. Raised garden bed kits are designed to retain water for a longer period as it has sufficient soil mass. There are engineered to provide the best drainage facilities along with soil aeration. These beds are most useful during spring as the soil in the beds warm up more quickly than the ones on the ground.
Raised vegetable beds are available in different materials and sizes. They come in forms such as composite timber raised beds, natural cedar raised beds, Vinyl raised beds, cedar rectangular raised beds, Elevated container gardens, Recycled Plastic raised garden beds, Ready-to-Grow complete raised bed gardens, etc. These models are available as ready to use or can be assembled. Raised beds can be built on are own as well. While growing one’s garden or backyard farm have several benefits such as providing one’s family with healthy and organic vegetables and reduction in the family expenses. It is also an environment friendly action as it reduces the impact of transporting and warehousing. It also contributes towards tackling air pollution. All these amazing benefits can be made possible even with limited space, by using raised bed vegetable gardening method.
Friday, May 15th, 2009 | Author:
admin
According to the random number pulled from random.org, the winner of the Kitchen Scrap Keeper, the Composting Manual and the Composting reference guide is BREANNA!
She will be contacted shortly, to pick out her preferred Scrap Keeper color and we will get that out ASAP!
Thank you to everyone who played, this was very fun and hopefully we will be able to have more contests soon.
