COMPOST IT!Compost is one of nature's best mulches and replenishes the soil, and you can use it instead of commercial fertilizers. Best of all, it is cheap, i.e. penny pinching, what this site is all about. You can make it without spending a cent. All composting is, is the natural decomposition of organic matter. Walk through a dense forest and take a deep handful of soil from under your feet. Notice how black and rich it is. It didn’t get that way from fertilizers or manure. It got that way from all the decomposing organic matter. A forest takes care of itself by recycling. Using compost improves soil structure, texture, and aeration and increases the soil's water-holding capacity. It loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils retain water. Adding compost improves soil fertility and stimulates healthy root development in plants.  Don't throw away materials when you can use them to improve your lawn and garden! Start composting instead. Making compost from garden and household waste is one of the best things any gardener can do. It's easy and costs very little in time or effort. Making compost will help you reduce pollution - cut down that landfill! Your plants will grow healthier and look happier for it. It will save you money on fertilizers too. If it can rot it will compost , but some items are best avoided. Some things, like grass clippings and soft young weeds, rot quickly. They work as 'activators' or 'hotter rotters', getting the composting started, but on their own will decay to a smelly mess.Older and tougher plant material is slower to rot but gives body to the finished compost - and usually makes up the bulk of a compost heap. Woody items decay very slowly; they are best chopped or shredded first, where appropriate.You can make compost simply by adding compostable (anything that will rot) items to a compost heap when you feel like it. It will all rot eventually. You can even; Shred your old newspapers and mix in with your mulch or compost. It is excellent for retaining moisture and suffocates weed growth. Avoid using glossy stock or colored newsprint, black ink only.
Cardboard also makes good compost since it is biodegradable. Tear it into fairly small pieces, wet it and add it to your pile. Enhance your compost pile. To speed up decomposition process and enrich your compost pour a few cups of strongly brewed tea into the heap. The liquid tea will hasten decomposition and draw acid producing bacteria. Creates desirable acid rich compost. Want to know what else tea is good for find out here. Do you want a composter? Here is one of the best for price and quality that I
have found. Its the
Envirocycle Composter & Compost Tea Maker
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Another
additive for your compost pile is brown paper bags. So the next time the grocery
store says "Paper or plastic?" You say paper and then shred it, wet it and add
it to your pile. It will also attract earth worms and they are very beneficial
in the compost.
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