-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!)
worm composting
It’s Soil, Not Dirt… And It’s Alive!
-Patrick Metz- This past weekend we had the folks from Mountain Gate Organics over at the Charlottesville store talking worms, soil, and biology. In anticipation of the day, we had made a couple hundred gallons of compost tea and were giving it away to any interested gardeners. Even more exciting was a little display we had set up with a microscope connected to a computer screen. Underneath the microscope two drops of the tea (made from worm castings and molasses introduced into water and … [Read more...] about It’s Soil, Not Dirt… And It’s Alive!
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
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
