Using Human Urine In Composting

I find this fascinating!

Don't Throw Away Those Egg Shells

•  Compost for Naturally Fertilized Soil

Eggshells quickly decompose in the compost pile and add valuable calcium and other minerals to the soil in the process.

• Nontoxic Pest Control in the Garden

Scatter crushed eggshell around your plants and flowers to help deter plant-eating slugs, snails and cutworms without using eco-unfriendly pesticides. Also, deer hate the smell of eggs.

•  Less Bitter Coffee

Add an eggshell to the coffee in the filter, and your morning coffee will be less bitter. The spent coffee grounds, eggshell and bio-degradable filter are then conveniently ready for the compost pile.

• Seedling Starters

Fill biodegradable eggshell halves with potting soil instead of using peat pots to start seedlings for the garden. And an egg carton on the windowsill is the perfect way to start a dozen tomato seedlings in shells before transplanting to the garden in the spring.

• Eco-friendly Household Abrasive

Shake crushed eggshells and a little soapy water to scour hard-to-clean items like thermoses and vases. Crushed eggshells can also be used as a nontoxic abrasive on pots and pans.

• Natural Drain Cleaner

Keep a couple of crushed eggshells in your kitchen sink strainer at all times. They trap additional solids and they gradually break up and help to naturally clean your pipes on their way down the drain.



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10 Tips for Recycling Coffee Grounds

By Green Living Tips

Here's 10 quick tips for reusing coffee grounds:

• If you have a worm farm, dump the grounds in - I swear the caffeine jolt makes the worms chomp through more. But seriously, it doesn't seem to do them any harm; but I'd recommend mixing them through the pile so the worms don't overdose on any residual caffeine.

• Use coffee grounds as a plant fertilizer. Sprinkle the grounds around the base of the plant then dig them in a little. They can also be sprinkled directly on your lawn.

• Add the grounds to compost piles to enrich nutrient content - the grounds contain Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Sulfur. Phosphorous is becoming scarce, so we need to conserve it as much as possible.

• Add water to the grounds and allow to stand for a day or two. Drain off and then use as a liquid plant fertilizer - cold coffee that you'd usually toss down the sink can also be used in this way.

• After drying the grounds thoroughly, add them to an old stocking. Tie off the ends and then use in cupboards and your refrigerator as an odor absorber. Alternatively, you can just place the dried grounds in a container of some sort.

• Rubbing your hands with used coffee grounds will remove strong smells such as onion or fish.

• Grounds can be used as a scourer for greasy pots and pans

• A ring of coffee grounds around sensitive plants can discourage ants and some other pests.

• Use as a wood stain. Allow them to soak in a small amount of water overnight (or hot water for a shorter period), then drain off. The amount of water you use will determine how dark the stain is. Also good for touch-ups to mahogany furniture.

• This one's interesting and I can't say I've tried it. Dry out the coffee grounds in a warm (not hot) oven; then add equal weight of fresh coffee grounds and then use that mix to create another brew. After that brew, try one of the tips above - I wouldn't recommend repeating the cycle :).

By the way, a good tip for how *not* to use coffee grounds. Don't try to get rid of them via your kitchen sink. They'll stick to grease in the drain and form the basis for further build-up. Over a period of time this will totally clog the drain.

With all these wonderful re-use options for coffee grounds; perhaps hit your local coffee house and ask them if you can collect theirs on a regular basis. They'll reduce waste and you'll have a useful product - everyone wins! You might want to get in quick; since the time this article was originally published it seems many people have been doing just that, so used coffee grounds are becoming quite sought after.

Easy Indoor Composting (video)

 I find it so disturbing to throw away my used coffee grounds, apple peelings, carrot heads, etc. etc because it's the stuff rich, fertile veggie garden soil is made of....okay, so I'm weird.... but that's another story......anyway  I found this video and thought I'd share it with my fellow Old Hippies.

More On Composting

Composting - helping you to Grow Your Own
Making and using compost is the cornerstone of organic gardening - if you want to 'Grow Your Own', there's no better place to start.

The finished product is rich, dark, crumbly and sweet-smelling. It is made of recycled garden and kitchen waste, and can also include paper products. It is used to feed and condition the soil and in making potting mixes. Around 40 per cent of the average dustbin contents are suitable for home composting so it helps cut down on landfill too.

Making compost is often considered to be complex but all you need to do is provide the right ingredients and let nature do the rest - however, a little know-how will help you make better compost, more efficiently.

Hate Junk Mail?

I absolutely loathe junk mail, it makes me I resent that rubbish being forced on me. If you're anything like me, filled with hostility to the extent to being on the verge of having a stroke every time you open your mailbox this is the article for you! Since I have started worm composting my worms are converting most of my junk mail into WORM POOP. Ahhhh.... the sweet, sweet taste of revenge. Now, what can we do about Washington......?

Taken From: http://www.joegardener.com/

Earlier I addressed the subject of things you can and can’t compost from within your home. But now allow me to isolate and elaborate on my favorite part of the indoor composting process. Inside my house, the shredder is the equivalent to the compost bin outdoors, based on how much it is put to work. I shred everything! In fact, I derive great pleasure from it. If you think that sounds a little odd, just know that my kids argue over who gets to shred the next stack.

The point is so much that makes its way into our homes is fair game for the shredder. As long as there is junk mail, schoolwork, bills or anything else printed, there will always be and endless source of compostable material from inside the house. And while we’re having some good clean family fun reducing unwanted paper to confetti, I am creating a wonderful carbon-rich addition for the compost pile and ultimately the best soil amendment in the world!

With the help of a good shredder, you can make great composting ingredients quickly and easily and finally put those papers in their proper place! Shredders are readily available today from many sources; drug stores, office supply stores and the big warehouse clubs all sell them. I use a high quality, home office version that I purchased for about $150. It can take about 15 sheets at a time, cuts paper into confetti and handles a large volume, all without removing a single staple or paperclip. It can even cut through CDs, DVDs and credit cards. However, knowing that everything I shred is destined for the compost pile, I don’t include these.

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for, and so it is with shredders too. I’ve had the small and inexpensive trash can size in the past but to me, they’re more trouble than they’re worth. The small cans fill up too quickly for all the trash I have. On my current model, I even enjoy hauling out the container of confetti paper to dump into the compost pile. It’s quite attractive actually. In short order, all the different colors from the confetti are soon reduced to the same unrecognizable common denominator of finished compost.

Even if someday we do actually become a ‘paperless’ society, I can’t imagine junk mail ever going away. And as long as there is junk mail, there will an endless source of compostable material from inside the house…meaning there will always be an endless source! Besides the true pleasure I get in reducing these offensive mailings to confetti, I must say, I am amazed at how quickly that volume of paper adds up, not to mention that for much of my life, I was contributing so much unnecessary waste to the landfill.

Now, with the affordability of quality shredders for the home, I encourage you to get one and start using it right away, especially since there’s not much else going on the compost pile this time of year. Although the extra compost you’ll make is the direct benefit, keeping all that paper out of the landfill is a simple and significant way to do something good for our planet too.

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WORM POWER!
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Vermiculture (Composting With Worms)

Once you’ve had your worm bin for a few months and the worms have turned your food scraps into soil, you need to separate the worms from the compost so you can use the worms again in fresh bedding — and put the finished compost to work in your garden.

Lauren demonstrates two methods of harvesting worms and compost from a worm bin. She also shows us how to make a worm bin from a plastic Rubbermaid bin.

See Lauren’s video on starting a worm bin here.

http://www.cityfarmer.info/city-farmer-worm-composting-tips/
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