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