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Indoor Composting

Composting is a way to feed your plants while reducing waste in your home or apartment and in local landfills. But did you know that you can get the same benefits of an outdoor compost pile or bin—without sacrificing precious lawn or patio space—through indoor composting?Composting recycles organic material and allows for the natural processes that decompose food, yard waste and other organics to create a nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer. Compost piles heat up as microorganisms break down leaves and kitchen scraps in the presence of oxygen, giving them a second life as to fertilize gardens. Indoor composting is also advantageous for small-space dwellers since you can store a compost bin in any dark and dry space indoors, such as the basement, a closet, and under the sink cabinet.

Your best bets for compost bins are lidded plastic storage containers, garbage cans (plastic or metal), or wooden crates (topped with a wooden board cut to fit the opening). Whichever style you choose, consider size carefully: The bin should comfortably fit inside the space where you intend to store it and yet be large enough to house more than the weekly volume of food scraps you plan to compost. Generally, 18-gallon containers are a good size for households with two to four members, while smaller households with minimal food waste can get by with 5- to 10-gallon containers.

What to Put in a Compost Bin—and When

Altogether, your compost bin will contain a combination of three parts brown matter (carbon-based materials such as shredded newspaper, torn cardboard, and dead leaves) and one part green matter (the nitrogen-based materials you toss out, such as food waste and plant clippings). So, to start preparing your indoor composting collection, fill the empty bin of choice nearly three-quarters of the way with dampened brown matter. Gently hand-toss the damp bedding in the bin, then evenly sprinkle a cup of garden soil over it.

Tips for Successful Indoor Composting

Take these steps to maintain a healthy indoor compost bin.

• Don’t leave waste exposed to air in the compost bin—this will attract fruit flies. If you can’t bury the waste completely in soil or a worm layer, cover the exposed scraps with additional soil or brown matter.

• Chop or tear all kitchen scraps prior to composting. Soil microbes and/or worms can break down smaller scraps more quickly, thus speeding up the decomposition process.

• Keep a watering can and a bag full of shredded newspaper or dead leaves in close proximity to the compost bin for quick refills of water or brown matter when the compost becomes too dry or too moist.

Companion Vegetable Planting

Companion planting is a great way to maximize the efficiency of your garden. For almost every vegetable you grow, there is likely to be a beneficial companion plant that will help increase soil nutrients, chase away pests, and help you get the most out of your garden.

Basil and tomatoes were made to go together, not only in sauces but in the garden, too. This herb helps tomatoes produce greater yields and it repels both flies and mosquitoes. Marigolds are another good companion, repelling nematodes and other garden pests. Other friends of tomatoes include asparagus, carrots, celery, the onion family, lettuce, parsley, and spinach.

Corn and beans grow well together because beans will grow up the cornstalks, which means you won’t have to build them a trellis. Beans also fix nitrogen in the soil, which is good for the corn. Marigolds, nasturtiums, rosemary, and summer savory repel bean beetles, and summer savory improves growth rate and flavor. Other companions include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and other members of the cabbage family along with cucumbers, peas, potatoes, and radishes.

Carrots should be planted near onions because onions will repel the carrot fly. Onions will also chase away the aphids, so plant them near aphid-prone (but onion-friendly) veggies. Other good friends of onions include beets, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, parsnips (which also suffer from carrot fly), tomatoes, and spices like marjoram, savory, and rosemary.

Plant mint among your lettuce to keep away the slugs that feed on lettuce leaves, or plant chives and garlic to repel aphids. Beans, beets, broccoli, carrots, corn, peas, radishes, and marigolds also work as good companion plants. Marigolds attract aphid-eating ladybugs.

Follow these companion planting guidelines to boost yields, minimize pest or disease problems and make garden management easier!

Vegetable Garden Tips

Here are a few easy gardening tips from a very passionate and accomplished gardener, Martha Stewart. These gardening tips and tricks can help to jump start your Vegetable garden this season.

You can create a garden by laying out a geometry shape to yield maximum results and easy access. To help minimize weeds and to help retain moisture, she uses mulch of salt hay, which can be harvested in marshes along the east coast. ( you can also use straw hay to help minimize weeds)

Make sure your plant seeds or small starter plants are spaced evenly to prevent crowding. You can use a tool called a dibber, which places holes into the ground . Set plants too close together and you’ll stunt their growth. Set them too far apart and you’ll create an opportunity for weeds, so if you can’t find a dibber, simply use your hand as a measuring tool, each plant should be a hand apart from one another.

If you decide to plant tomatoes in your garden, try using Martha’s tomato stake method. It consists of white nylon twine supported by bamboo tripods. The vines are attached to the twine with trellis clips. Staking tomatoes allows for a clean, disease- and pest-free crop and even ripening of the fruit, and the clips can be reused each year.

Seeds saved from past gardens may be worth planting — but only if they pass Martha’s test: Fold 10 seeds in a moist paper towel, place in a resealable bag, mark with date and type. Watch to see how many germinate. Multiply that number by 10 to calculate the percent of germinations. More than 70 percent is passing. If between 40 and 60 percent, sow thickly. Below 40 percent, it’s best to buy fresh seed.

Watering your garden. Gauging how quickly a sprinkler delivers the right amount is easy if you follow Martha’s example. Set an empty, regular-size coffee can about 10 feet away from the sprinkler (or closer, if 10 feet is outside the watering zone). Turn on the tap, and monitor the time needed for the sprinkler to deposit enough water to reach 1 1/2 inches on a ruler dipped into the can (the equivalent of what your plants need). Next time, you’ll know just how long to run the sprinkler.

These tips should point you into the right direction and you can read our next blog to help see which vegetables are compatible with one another!

What to plant in April

When spring comes, there are plenty of spring flowers to plant. Perennials are ideal when it comes to flowers that grow in April. They grow fast and provide abundant color during the summer. Nurseries and online catalogs sell them. The plants are ready for sale after they grow for a year and have their growth trimmed to about an inch above the crown. They arrive ready for transplanting outdoors with the soil removed from the roots.

To begin the list of spring flowers, daylilies grow in many climates, and numerous hybrids are available in a variety of colors. Secondly, vine plants that quickly climb up trellises and gazebos. They include numerous species in colors such as white, pink, blue, red and purple. Clematis bloom shapes vary by species. Some resemble tulips, while others are bell shaped, star shaped or like tiny lanterns.

Summer-blooming annuals that may be planted in April include several easy-to-grow plants. Sunflowers are sturdy spring flowers to plant that require little care once planted. They adapt easily to a wide variety of soil conditions and include short varieties that grow no more than a few feet tall to tall plants that reach up to 8 feet and taller. For annuals that provide numerous color choices, select zinnias to plant in April for summer flowers. They have round-shaped flowers with multiple short, narrow petals and are perfect for floral arrangements.

Drought-tolerant shrubs planted in April fare well throughout the summer. Such as Rosemary bushes not only provide fragrant leaves used for medicinal purposes and cooking, but its small blue or purple flowers provide attractive blooms. The flowers are also edible. Depending on the species, rosemary shrubs grow from a foot to 6 feet tall.

You can find rosemary and sunflower seed packets at Printhousedesign1 on Etsy. Follow the link to see all the different types of flower/plant seeds they offer: www.printhousedesign.com

Gardening for Toddlers

Your toddler will find lots of things to explore in the garden, and if you are prepared with a few toddler gardening activities, you can enhance his or her experience. Gardening with toddlers is a healthy way for parents and children to enjoy the outdoors together.

Theme Gardens for toddlers should center on their five senses. Choose textured plants that they can feel and sensitive plants that snap shut when touched. Fragrant herbs appeal to a child’s sense of taste and smell. Honeysuckle is very fragrant, and if you catch the flowers at just the right time, you can squeeze a drop of sweet nectar onto the child’s tongue. There is no end to the variety of bright-colored flowers that are a delight to look at, and toddlers enjoy them even more if they can pick a few to enjoy indoors. Ornamental grasses that rustle in the breeze are plants that toddlers can hear. Consider toddler garden design ideas that involve several aspects of nature. Ladybugs and butterflies are a delight to little ones.

Creating the garden with your little one…

Let your child dig and scratch in the garden with small plastic garden tools. Large kitchen spoons and measuring cups make great toddler tools. Talk to your toddler about earthworms as “garden helpers.” Little ones that like to get dirty will enjoy digging for worms. Place a worm in his or her hand to hold for a few minutes. Let your toddler move small ornaments, such as pinwheels, around the garden. Help your toddler pick flowers and place them in a vase of water. Let him or her help add water to the vase as necessary. Show your toddler how to water the garden with a small, plastic watering can.

This can be a fun and learning lesson throughout the spring, summer, & fall