Fifty-Six - Garden + Composting Expansion!

Guthrie and I got our seeds from the local food resource hub. For $10, we received more than we needed, so we were able to share with friends. We also received little plants like broccoli and cabbage in the first batch and tomatoes and eggplant in the second.

My first week off, I worked hard to complete the new raised bed with wood recycled from the our old box spring. This year, we are definitely doing something different. The garden is much bigger, and we are expanding what we are growing. We are still trying to keep it simple, using ideas from the Square Foot Gardening method from the book with the same name. I would love a copy of the book, and was only able to have it one hand for three weeks because there were many people waiting to read this book at the library. Still, I learn a lot about when, where, how deep, how far apart, how many plants two people really need, etc.

We are also turning into composting fools. The worms are doing well, but we are no longer composting in the backyard. Honestly, pallet composters or the nice ones you buy work much better and are easier to turn. Instead, we are able to bring anything the worms won't eat to Paradise Community Garden to put into their bins (they have four!). They are able to turn out compost much faster and definitely need it in the garden.

So, many of the seeds are planted (the rest tomorrow when the soil is a little drier), the compost has been added, the beds are weeded, waiting for sprouts (and trying to keep the bunnies away!). Hopefully we will have some wonderful, very local, organic produce in a couple of months. Yum!

Peace!

Forty-Nine - Minneapolis Local Food Resource Hubs Network

For $10, Guthrie and I have joined and registered our garden through the South Minneapolis Hub. I pilot program through the City of Minneapolis and Gardening Matters -- a local non-profit community to strengthen community gardening in the Twin Cities. The mission of the Hub is to support "Minneapolis residents to grow, preserve, and cook their own fresh produce." For $10, we get seeds, seedlings, classes at a discount, and are connected with other gardeners in our area. It sounded like a great way for Guthrie and I take our garden to a new level, and really get ready for a full season of planting, weeding, and harvesting (I hope!). There are currently three Hubs you can join in Mpls - Powderhorn-Central (woohoo!), Philips-Ventura Village, or Northside. To learn more, and download the order form here. We'll keep you updated with pictures of seeds and sprouts as we get back to gardening. Tough to think about with the new snow fall that has re-covered our garden, but we are very excited for spring!

Peace!

Compost Update

Here is a list of things that you can compost along with your food scraps from the blog Bonzai Aphrodite (she's pretty cool). The purpose of her blog is to express her "the fusion of cutting-edge urban lifestyle and a mindful, positive existence." Perfect. Here is her list:

1. Soy/rice/almond/etc milk
2. Coffee grounds
3. Fireplace ash
4. Nut shells (not walnut)
5. Toenail clippings
6. Dryer Lint
7. Human Hair
8. Pet Hair
9. Dust bunnies
10. Burlap sacks
11. Innards of vacuum bag (empty bag into compost)
12. Toothpicks
13. Cotton or wool clothes, cut into strips
14. Domestic bird and bunny droppings
15. Old potpourri
16. Sawdust
17. Dog food
18. Fish food
19. Flowers
20. Seaweed/nori/kelp
21. Peanut shells
22. Condoms! (latex only)
23. Paper towels
24. Paper napkins
25. Paper plates (non wax- or plastic- coated)
26. Trimmings from an electric razor
27. Tea bags/ looseleaf tea
28. Q-tips (not plastic ones)
29. Newspaper
30. Dead houseplants or their dropped leaves
31. Avocado pits (just chop first)
32. Feathers
33. Tofu/Tempeh
34. Pickles
35. Dead bus on the windowsill
36. Egg shells
37. Coffee filters
38. Balloons (latex only)
39. Popcorn kernels (the ones at the bottom of the bucket)
40. Aquatic Plants from aquariums
41. Matches
42. Old loofas (real, not synthetic)
43. holiday wreaths
44. Pencil shavings
45. Tampon applicators (cardboard, not plastic)
46. Bamboo skewers
47. Old herbs and spices
48. Cooked rice and pasta
49. Frozen fruits and veggies
50. Wine corks
51. Paper muffin/cupcake cups
52. Cotton balls
53. Beer and wine!

Just think of all of the landfill space you will save! And this is just the beginning! I am sure there is more, I'll keep you posted ;)

Peace!

Fifteen - Vermicompost!

We finally got our worms! We have been looking into vermicomposting for some time. Now that we are back in Minnesota, we thought this would be the best way to stop throwing any food scraps away (minus meat and dairy of course). Anything the worms do not eat, we put in the outside compost bin. The pound of red wigglers are sitting in our kitchen, hidden in their Worm Factory. We could have built a worm compost bin, but with this (made from 100% recycled plastic) the worms separate themselves from the ready compost, there is a spicket for worm tea, and it looks nice enough to keep out in our kitchen. Here's an example of a DIY bin.


Feeding worms is a bit like feeding a baby--we need to keep our food scraps small, and they don't like citrus, onions, or spicy food (I don't like the last two, so we are quite compatible). The worms are amazing! They will eat toilet paper tubes, newspaper, cardboard, pizza boxes, eggshells, tea bags, hiar, even burlap! Here is a great website for getting started.

Look at the post below for our video.

Peace!

Wormies!

wormies!
Originally uploaded by Laura & Guthrie

Here is the video of us giving our 1000 new babies a home.

Thirteen - Backyard Compost

Now that Guthrie & I have practically our own backyard, we've decided to start composting. We had a mix up with the worms, and with our vermicompost delayed, we needed to do something to start turning our food scraps into food for our plants.

There are many ways to make a backyard compost bin. They can been fancy and bought from the store or they can simply be made of chicken wire. At the school I worked at last year, I helped some students make a bin out of pallets that were tossed out at a hardware store. Here is the link to the directions for the one we built in the ATL. It worked great, though a little big for a shared backyard. Instead, we went with a rubbermaid container that was about 10 years old and was no longer needed at Guthrie's parents' house.

As you see, I started to drill many (MANY!) holes in it for air flow and for drainage (your compost will stink if you don't!).

During the week, we throw our food scraps in out handy bamboo counter compost bin which you can buy at many kitchen and home stores. We got ours as a wedding gift from Twin Cities Green (now Moss Envy). On their website, I don't see the bamboo version, but the cute ceramic one. Just make sure you buy some extra filters to go along with it. We only empty the container once per week, so extra scraps that don't go into the bin outside (or with the worms, that will come soon!) will sadly have to be thrown away, though we are really trying to cut back on waste. The size of the kitchen counter bin keeps us from adding too much to the bins as they really need to be balanced to be effective (and not stinky!).


There is almost too much information about composting here. Hennepin County also provides composting tips.  There is information all over the internet. The main thing is to get the right combination of green (grass clippings, food scraps, etc) and brown (dead leaves, twigs, paper, cardboard, etc). It is important to turn it and also it should be hot! You can see we started with paper (we add grass clippings, and more paper on top of the food waste) and then mixed it all up. We made sure we set the bin on top of some rocks so the excess moisture could drip out of the bottom. Hopefully all goes well!

According to the EPA:

•      Over eight percent of the waste that each person generates each day could be recovered for composting. That works out to over 140 pounds per person, per year.
•      Yard waste and trimmings account for nearly 13% of municipal solid waste in the United States. This waste consists of grass, leaves, tree, and brush trimmings - adding up to approximately 33 million tons each year. 
•      Approximately 12% of the municipal solid waste in the United States is food scraps. While it may seem like a small percentage, it equals nearly 32 million tons per year. 

Before you decide to cut back on your waste and start composting, check your city laws. In Minneapolis, for example, all compost must be confined for some sort of bin (this could simply be chicken wire) and cannot be within five feet of a property line or within two feet of the alley. As you see in the picture above, Guthrie and I need to move our box over a couple of feet to the left, oops!


Peace!