It maybe freezing outside but you can still help your garden grow. How? You can compost. Compost is using waste to create nutrients for your garden. How do you do it, is really is easy. When my mom cooks we take the vegetables and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells and place them in a big bin. When the bin is filled we take the bin to my garden and dump them in compost bin my dad and brother built. We dump the kitchen waste into the bin that also has dirt, newspapers, grass clippings, leaves that have fallen from the trees and the old plants that we pulled from the garden. We make sure it stays moist and about twice a week with a pitch fork we turn the compost and it slowly decays. When the compost is ready we will till it into future gardens. Below is a list of items that you can and cannot compost thanks to my Master Gardener Ms. Lisa! Give it a try, it cuts down on waste in our landfills and will really help your garden in the future!
Materials for Composting
Weeds (without seed heads)
Bread and Grains
Coffee Grounds and Filters
Tea Bags and Loose Tea Leaves
Egg Shells
Fruit / Vegetable Rinds, Peelings, etc.
Grass Clippings
Leaves (preferably mulched)
Sawdust from Untreated, Unpainted Wood
Straw
Sod
Wood Ash (moderate amounts)
Wood Chips
Paper
Newspaper
What Not to Compost
Butter
Oils
Bones
Cat or Dog Manure
Cheese
Chicken Scraps
Fish Scraps
Lard
Vegetable Oil
Diseased Plants
Mayonnaise
Meats or Meat Fats
Milk
Peanut Butter
Salad Dressings
Sour Cream
Evergreen Leaves
Charcoal Ashes (can be toxic)
Any Treated, Painted Wood and/or Wood Chips
Coated Paper
