Written
in one year and published in another, the timing of this column
emphasizes that our Westman household activities are often more
defined by perspective than by numbers. We don’t throw
in the trowel and hibernate with the arrival of Old Man Winter,
but usually pride ourselves on adapting to, and even embracing,
seasonal challenges. Though likewise affected by weather and
seasons, backyard composting offers its own timely ‘rules’
and opportunities in each calendar quarter.
Last month, we wrapped up our armchair travels with our Compost
Quest families – the Prices
and the McPhersons. I’m not sure if they
have yet taken their mini-vacation at the Victoria
Inn beach, but I know that composting will
remain a family habit for both city and country folk alike.
We sincerely hope that readers enjoyed these real-life learning
experiences and that some have been encouraged off the fence
and into organic recycling along the way.
Although our families have retired from the media spotlight,
readership feedback has requested that we share two remaining
objectives with current and potential recycling enthusiasts.
The first, alluded to in the opening paragraph, is that composting
is a yearlong process that doesn’t end with the snow any
more than households put producing waste on hold.
We’d like to offer some food-for-thought with a ‘Readers
Digest-form’ of seasonal composting highlights to help
maintain our enviromentum:
•WINTER- Don’t stop composting! Keep adding fresh
kitchen waste to your bin/pile. Fill and freeze an ice cream
pail of scraps to save trips.
•Cover fresh waste with dry leaves saved from the fall.
Keep dry stuff in a container handy to your pile, or move your
bin closer for convenience.
•The freeze/thaw cycle helps break down waste for a speedier
spring.
•SPRING- Empty your bin of finished compost, if any left
from last fall.
•Save a little of this rich humus as an activator to kick
start your spring pile.
•Start off with balanced layers of wet/green and dry/brown
waste.
•Save dry/brown materials from spring clean up to add
over the growing season.
•SUMMER- As you add fresh/green waste, cover with a layer
of dry/brown waste and a handful of soil. This keeps the balance
and prevents pests.
•Aerate or stir the pile about 5 X over the season. Add
water if too dry.
•Leave clippings on your lawn to retain moisture/nutrients
and reduce waste.
•FALL- Harvest finished compost. Till into garden soil
or use as top dressing.
•Move your bin closer to the house, if desired, for winter
convenience.
•Collect and save a good supply of leaves/dry material
for winter/spring use.
•Use leftover dry material as mulch to keep out weeds
and insulate shrubs. That’s
a seasonal overview of backyard composting in a Westman nutshell.
This also brings us to our aforementioned second objective:
stay tuned the first Sunday of next month, when we will walk
readers through the process of setting up a bin or pile this
spring and offer some tried-and true tips for successful backyard
composting.
Please call us at 727-5675 if you are interested in composting
information or for copies of previous columns. Composting
101 provides presentations, demonstration workshops
and educational material to help make backyard composting
second nature.
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