-Sally Watkins- Compost is all the rage in the sustainability and permaculture communities, but what can compost do for you and your home garden, and how can you produce it on a small scale? In this blog post, we are going to discuss how to get your compost tumbler or pile to create rich, nutritious compost as efficiently as possible, and finish up with a great recipe for compost tea. If you have a yard with some space away from your house, the simplest way to compost is to create a basic … [Read more...] about Compost: Yes, You Can Make it Yourself (and compost tea too!)
Search Results for: compost
Composting With Red Wiggler Worms
-Luis Guerra- Every spring, many of us rush out to our local garden centers in search of rich organic compost for amending our home gardens. We typically encounter many brands of bagged compost that are derived from different organic sources. Hopefully we find a local, regional, or even national organic copost brand that we can trust, depending on where we shop. But what if you could make your own compost with just a few square feet of space in your home or garage? What if I told you that … [Read more...] about Composting With Red Wiggler Worms
Compost Tea Made Easy
-Gabrial House- With spring approaching, it’s time to start thinking about your garden, and the best way to help your plants fight off heat, high humidity, and the dry soil that’s sure to come. For me, the best route to take is treating my garden to a fresh batch of compost tea. As the name implies, compost tea is made by steeping compost in water, and using the resulting liquid gold on or around your plants. Most of us know the benefits that compost provides to our garden soil, but … [Read more...] about Compost Tea Made Easy
A Guide to Simple Composting
-Gabrial House- Compost is one of the most nourishing and critical elements to a good organic garden. Compost not only feeds the plant in the garden it also feeds all of the wonderful creatures and bacteria that make living soil so vital and rich. Compost aids in aeration, water retention, as well as keeping the soil’s PH at a level the plants most prefer. Lots of good compost can even keep your plants disease- and pest-free! Let’s take a look at what it takes to make good compost from … [Read more...] about A Guide to Simple Composting
Worm Composting with Brian Rosa
Sunday, April 26th: 12-3pm Instructor: Brian Rosa Fifth Season Carrboro Outdoor Classroom Registration: $50 for one person, or $75 for two people sharing one worm bin.* Expect a fun-filled, info-packed afternoon workshop on composting with worms. Beneficial for all ages! Brian Rosa, founder of BE New Organic World (BE N. O. W.), will dig into the basics of backyard composting and vermi-composting. Learn from an expert while experiencing the process … [Read more...] about Worm Composting with Brian Rosa
Backyard Composting with Brian Rosa
Saturday, April 18th: 12-2pm Instructor: Brian Rosa Fifth Season Outdoor Classroom Registration: $25* Compost happens! Come for a fun and informative hands-on class where you'll learn quick & easy methods for turning ordinary kitchen scraps & yard waste into black gold. Organics Waste Solutions Specialist Brian Rosa will teach you the necessary components and practices of successful backyard composting. Topics covered include: Basics Arts & Science, Do's … [Read more...] about Backyard Composting with Brian Rosa
Putting Worms to Work: Vermicomposting Basics
Let’s talk compost: vermicompost to be specific. What’s that? Well, technically it’s worm poop and it’s amazing stuff: full of humus and microbes to inoculate garden soil or revitalize house plants. Worm composting systems deliver more than a top-notch fertilizer; they make it possible to compost kitchen scraps without a large outdoor compost bin--perfect for apartments or small households, although you can create a megasized wormtopia too, if that’s your thing. As long as the temperature … [Read more...] about Putting Worms to Work: Vermicomposting Basics
Building a Raised Bed (2023)
Whether you live in the city or out in the country, the best way to have complete control over your garden is by building a raised bed. I say this because everyone’s soil is going to be different. It could be very sandy, loamy, high or low in nitrogen, or even solid red clay like mine is. The best way to overcome challenges presented by your soil is by building a garden bed on top of your existing soil. The first step is determining the size bed you would like to build. I built my raised beds … [Read more...] about Building a Raised Bed (2023)
January: A Year in the Organic Garden
Welcome to a new year and a new blog series for our readers! By far, the most frequent questions we receive are about proper techniques for successful organic gardening for both edibles and flowers. We thought it would be fun and useful to pull together a series that follows the season and serves as a resource to answer those very questions. Our plan is simple. Early each month we will post an article to share our advice on what a successful organic gardener should be focused on in the … [Read more...] about January: A Year in the Organic Garden
A Bat Talk
We recently had the opportunity to both meet and have an engaging conversation with Dr. Rada Petric, Director of the Institute for the Environment at Highlands Field Site in Highlands, North Carolina, as well as Research Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dr. Petric is studying the fascinating world of bat’s, in-particular their migration patterns and ecological impact on North Carolina. Hello! It’s great to meet you Dr. Petric. Please … [Read more...] about A Bat Talk