Archive for the Category » Compost Bin «

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | Author: admin

There is a lot of information out there about composting and a lot of it states that you shouldn’t use products like meats or eggshells in your compost because they would attract all sorts of unwanted animal attention and might turn your compost pile into a snacking ground for the area animals. There have been those complaining about bears being drawn to compost bins and other smaller animals as well. However, eggshells can also be a good source of nutrients for your garden, and can also have other uses, so composting them can prove to be quite beneficial if you follow a few golden rules.

The first thing you should know is that eggshells can host salmonella on their surface, and as such, if you don’t want to spread that around to your garden, it’s best to wash the eggshells before composting them. There are those who also like to put the eggshells in a tray in the oven for 20 minutes or so to make sure to kill all the bacteria, and this might not be a bad idea since the procedure would not destroy the Calcium in the shell, which is what the plants will most require out of the eggshells in the first place.

Egg shellsAnother thing you could do is to grind the shells into very small pieces. This helps in more than one way. For one thing, the smaller the eggshell bits, the quicker the break down process (and in the case of eggshells, this process will take quite a while so you want to do whatever you can to hasten it). For another, scattering the small pieces of eggshell around plants will keep slugs and other pests away from them.

Spreading the ground up eggshells onto the ground or in the areas where you feed birds or chicken can also be useful, as the birds can take back a lot of much needed nutrients from the shells. If you are going to feed them to chicken, it’s advisable to put the shells into the oven for a few minutes, as feeding the chicken raw shells might encourage them to also pick at the freshly laid eggs that are yet to be collected.

While composting eggshells can be beneficial for your plants and birds and is therefore not discouraged, it would be good to avoid composting other egg parts, as it would not only be a surefire way to attract animals to your compost pile but it would also ensure that your compost would give away a smell that you would not be thrilled to have around. All in all, if you take some precautions, there is no reason why you shouldn’t compost your eggshells.

Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Author: admin

Tilted Earth Compost BinMost ecologically aware persons have learned about the benefits of compost and are having fun turning some of the organic residue of their household into nutrient for their plants. However, there are some limitations to what you can compost and many are, with good reason, careful about what they add to their compost pile. However, you might be avoiding some of the things that would work very well as compost, so here are a few of the things you had no idea you could compost.

If you have pets, you might do your compost bin a favor and feed it some of the waste your pets leave behind, such as fur, claw clippings and pet food. Be careful about composting your pets’ fecal matter though, as it’s not advisable to compost feline feces because of their high content in toxins and germs, and dog feces require special measures when composting.

Leather goods can also make for good compost bin material. If you have old leather clothing, shoes, wallets or bags that you are sure can’t be used anymore, you can try composting them. Because of the processing, it’s likely that leather will take some time to break down fully, but it really won’t take as long as you might think looking at it.

vacuum cleaner dustUnbelievable as it may sound, the dust in your vacuum bin can make for a great compost ingredient. If you think about it, the composition of dust mostly particles of dead skin, lint, and various other small pieces of organic materials, aside from a few non organic ones, for good measure. You can either get paper bags for your vacuum cleaner, which you can compost as well, or buy a vacuum cleaner which uses a bin instead of bags and just empty the bin into the compost pile.

Speaking of paper bags, paper can make for a great compost ingredient. You can use all sorts of paper in your composter, except, of course, paper that has been laminated or the kind of gift wrapping that usually comes with a thin plastic layer on top. Aside from that, you can go crazy and compost anything from cardboard boxes to old newspapers and other kinds of paper that end up building up around the house.

You can also compost cotton balls, strange as it may seem. Cotton is organic, and as such, cotton balls should have no problem breaking down in your compost pile. Just make sure to check the packaging on the cotton balls you buy, because if they are made from synthetic fibers, composting them would be useless.

As you can see, there are plenty of things you can compost that you might not have thought were up to the task. All that’s left now is for you to have fun composting.

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 | Author: admin

Win a Free Kitchen Compost Scrap Keeper

It’s Earth Day and here at Composters we decided to celebrate by giving away one our red or white Ceramic Kitchen Scrap Keepers (or stainless steel if you prefer) as well as Home Composting Made Easy by Dr. C Forrest McDowell and Tricia Clark-McDowell and a Rott Wheeler Quick Compost and Worm Guide.

Entering is simple, just take a quick glance at our contest rules:

1. In order to enter, you must link back to this post OR link to your favorite Composters.Com product on your own blog/tumblr/twitter/myspace/etc… so long as it is PUBLIC and I will be able to view it.

2. Comment here, linking back to where you linked us, so I can find it.

3. On 4:00PM Pacific Time, May 15th, I will close comments and draw one person to win all three items at random!

4. You may enter as many times as you want, but each entry must be posted at a place. And please, no spamming. That’s not what this is about. We just want to get the word out about our company, as well as our blog and ESPECIALLY this contest.

5. United States and Canada only, please. I really would like to expand this more, and hopefully next time I can.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and good luck!

Edit: How to insert link: copy and paste the following into your blog/website:

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 | Author: admin

Compost Soil

The benefits of using compost in your beds instead of just soil include less waste, less weeds, healthier plants with less diseases, and less harmful chemicals that damage your plants in the long run. Each benefit will improve the quality and life of your plants, and in turn make your gardening experience more enjoyable.

  • Healthier Plants, Richer Flowers: Compost is made up of micro-organisms, worms, arthropods and humus, which provides soil with organic matter. It contains macro and micro nutrients, which are absent in chemical fertilizers. It neutralizes the soil, bringing pH levels to optimum range. It aerates the soil, and brings healthy bacteria, fungi, and insects to the soil. Composting also improves drainage, which is vital when growing flowers. It improves absorption and enhances soil quality. All of these are important for healthy plant growth. Your flowers will be richer and brighter, leaves a tad greener, and your garden friendlier to all kinds of organisms.
  • Stronger plants from your compost will be less susceptible to diseases and bugs: You will find it unnecessary to use toxic and harmful pesticides and fertilizers that do more harm than good to your plants and garden. The micro-organisms present in your compost are enough to protect from diseases and pests.
  • Compost means less weeds: Replacing soil with compost or mixing compost in your soil means less density, which makes it easy to pull out weeds, if any grow at all. Weeds are significantly less in compost than they are in bare dirt. The less time you spend weeding, the more time you have to plan out a beautiful spring, summer, or winter flower garden. You will have more attention for the plants themselves, rather than the weeds surrounding them.
  • Less Yard Waste: If you happen to make your own compost, then it means less organic waste from your kitchen and yard. You can make better use of your yard trimmings and fallen leaves. It is convenient to have your own compost so that you spend less time and money on trying to buy compost or fertilizer in the market. Also, when you have your own compost, you can monitor the ingredients, make sure that it is 100% organic, and tailor it to suit your own needs.  You can use waste from the kitchen – vegetable and fruit skins, spent tea leaves, etc. to make your compost pile richer.  Less waste means less trips taking out the garbage. Make sure you keep your compost pile or bin away from scavengers. Keep it covered to maintain moisture levels and keep out air. If you have a child, this is an excellent way to educate him or her in living sustainably, reducing waste, and caring for the environment.

compost in flower garden

Tuesday, February 03rd, 2009 | Author: admin

One thing I’ve noticed on the Composting forums and elsewhere, are people saying they have a hard time composting due to space restraints because they have a small backyard or live in an apartment. There are actually products out there specifically for this, so that you can recycle those costly food wastes into something less destructive to our landfills, and therefore that much better for the environment (and your houseplants!).

The Pro Automatic Indoor Compost Bin is a fully functional, indoor composting system. It efficiently recycles your food wastes, coffee grounds, newspaper, pet waste and plant clippings, conveniently in your kitchen, without smell.

It is a powerful compost bin that can fit inside one of your cabinets and handles up to 120 lbs of food waste a month, 70% of which will vanish into thin air. You don’t even have to worry about stirring or aerating it and it has a vacation mode to reduce the energy it uses during periods of non-use.