Falling for Compost

Fall is one of the best and worst of seasons for me. David Letterman once quipped “Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.” Which are sort of my sentiments; I can’t wait for the leaves to fall and dry so my feet can drag through them and hear the crunch in the crisp cool air. However, gardening time is finishing up, I might get some peas out of the garden and some late lettuce, but basically, it’s over. No fresh produce in the garden, no watering chores at 6am in the morning. I get to rest like the ground until spring.

Well sort of… there is the compost pile, my pride & joy. I have been composting all the kitchen scraps, cutting, and flower deadhead all summer. Plus the score of the lawnmower bags that neighbors give me. The thing is we will have to do something with about 12 bags of leaves that always seem to accumulate around my apartment. My bin is already three-quarters full so I need to use some of this ASAP and make plans for the incoming material. Many towns in urban areas offer discounts on compost bins call your park & recreation, or waste disposal department, or department of public works. If your town doesn’t offer this ask why not, because they are missing out on federal grant money, and see if they have a reciprocal agreement with a neighboring town. This is a perfect time to get a compost bin started in your own back yard. Composting is easy. Add dried leaves (brown), fresh grass clippings (greens) and food scraps (nutrients) to the bin or pile, water and let nature take its course. You can create a choir for the kids to go and turn the compost bin every couple of weeks, but it isn’t necessary. I like to add a shovel full of dirt to the pile every layer of so, this adds grit to the pile so that it breaks down and helps retain moisture.

Why do you need green and brown layers of material in a compost pile? That is a good question and you can find lots of info at http://www.epa.gov/compost/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composting . These sites will help you get started. BTW: you don’t need to buy a bin if you don’t want to; you can just dig a hole and fill it, or make a compost pile. It all depends on the amount of room you have and your sense of ascetics. And perhaps you neighbor senses.

Anyway, next spring you will probably not need to buy as much compost or mulch to amend and cover the flower & vegetable beds and you will have to save perhaps a hundred cubic feet of space in the local landfill. You will have recycled the material into your own environment and it will do a lot of good.

If you just don’t want to compost may I suggest to find out where your yard waste can be sent to be made into mulch or compost? Most towns can help you with this too.