Compost is a decayed mixture of plant waste that is used to improve the soil in gardens and yards. You can make compost from yard waste. Any time of year it’s important to remember that most of what you throw away can instead be recycled, reused or composted. And your yard waste is no exception. Compost is a soil amendment and fertilizer for the garden. It is mild and won't burn plants like chemical fertilizers. By adding compost you'll improve the overall texture of your soil enabling it to retain and drain water better.
What’s the problem with yard and food waste?
Food and yard waste account for about 30 percent of your household’s waste stream. When this large volume of materials ends up in the trash (landfill), it uses up valuable space and creates air and water pollution.
Dumping lawn refuse into the street causes a number of problems, as well. Piles of leaves purposely blown into roads can clog storm drains, contributing to street flooding risks. And when grass clippings and yard trimmings treated with chemical fertilizers enter storm drains, they are deposited directly into our streams and rivers, posing health risks to people, wildlife and the environment.
If you have a yard, set up a backyard compost bin. Select a suitable space - a dry, shady, or partly shady spot near a water source and preferably out of neighbors’ sight is ideal. Most organic yard waste breaks down into compost eventually, but dry, woody plant debris can take months or even years to reach that rich, moist, dark end product so beneficial to garden soils. Composting occurs quickly when piles contain a balance of materials. Generally, green garden waste supplies nitrogen, and brown debris provide carbon. Slow-composting woody debris compost faster when activators are added, or when green waste. These ingredients, plus water, oxygen, heat, and composting organisms make compost happen.
Mixing green and brown yard debris together helps create compost quickly. Grass clippings, green leaves and wilted flowers mixed with an equal amount of dry dead leaves, twigs, straw, dried grass and other dry plant debris, produces a fast-composting heap. Regularly turning a compost pile produces compost quickly also. Move the material from the edges to the center with a garden fork when the pile starts to heat up, which should be in 24 to 48 hours. Turn the pile daily, until it is soft, dark brown and crumbly.
It is always a good idea to check your state and local Departments of Environmental Conservation. For further information on Composting, Recycling and Reducing Waste in New York State go to this Website.http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8799.html
Remember Earth Day is Friday April 22nd 2016. Dare to be a force of Nature. Keep it GREEN and Keep it CLEAN!
Happy Composting!
