Compost!

I was at my father’s house for the weekend and I think that we are in agreement: it is time to get him a compost bin.

He’s been gardening diligently for three years now and I think that I have convinced him of how his garden would benefit from some of his own compost.  He picked up a flyer from the county for a compost tumbler.

My friend said that she has been trying to convince her parents to set up a compost pile too.  Her father is a life long gardener, yet he never had a compost bin.  But he does complain about how poor the soil is in his vegetable patch.

Some gardeners are blessed with beautiful topsoil, but most of us have to work with what we have.  The act of growing things in the soil removes nutrients from the soil.  Its important to return those nutrients and compost is the perfect soil additive.  Who can argue with free fertilizer? 

Not only is compost good for the garden, its good for the environment.  Everything that goes into the compost pile DOESN'T go into a landfill where it will rot and create methane.  With each trip to the compost, I am reducing waste in landfills and doing my part to halt global warming.

I love taking my buckets of freshly pulled weeds to the compost pile.  I felt awful, weeding my father's garden.  I won't even mention what he has been doing with his yard waste.  I think that it is mildly illegal.

By the time the recycling goes to the bin and the compost is taken up to the garden, I have very little left in my garbage can.  

After checking out this website, I can add a few more things to the pile. http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/surprising-compost-items.html  Check it out, but be sure to scroll down to read the comments.  Though the writer endorses adding nutshells, one contributor noted that squirrels continued to look for the nuts in his garden long after the shells had turned to fertilizer.  I'll skip the pistachio shells to keep out the squirrels.  I have enough trouble with them already.