COMPOST

 

The Nature's Head  

is the latest design, the best value, and the most reliable choice for portable, self contained, urine separating dry toilets -- on the water, on the land, or on the road.

 This toilet or head, (the marine term for toilet) was designed by two long time sailors who sought to create a more user friendly version than anything else on the market. While we designed our product to withstand the harsh marine environment, it can be used anywhere you need a toilet, especially anywhere that plumbing or electricity is difficult or non-existent -- on RVs or campers, in vacation cabins, workshops, barns, yurts, even trucks.  Most importantly, this toilet doesn't have the foul odors associated with all other holding tank systems.
The low volume air circulation fan built into the head provides the added benefit of recycling the air in your bathroom which helps make your whole environment smell better. Because it was originally designed for marine use, its rugged design and materials (all stainless hardware) it has been proven to be  extremely durable no matter what your environment.




 

 COMPOSTING: A GUIDE TO MAKING COMPOST

By eartheasy 

Solutions for Sustainable Living

Composting Benefits  

Soil conditioner. With compost, you are creating rich humus for lawn and garden. This adds nutrients to your plants and helps retain moisture in the soil.

Recycles kitchen and yard waste. Composting can divert as much as 30% of household waste away from the garbage can.

Introduces beneficial organisms to the soil. Microscopic organisms in compost help aerate the soil, break down organic material for plant use and ward off plant disease.
 
Good for the environment. Composting offers a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers.

Reduces landfill waste. Most landfills in North America are quickly filling up; many have already closed down. One-third of landfill waste is made up of compostable materials.

What to Compost  

                                                                Table Scraps

                                      Fruit & Vegetable Scrapes

Eggshells

Leaves

 

Grass Clippings

Garden Plants

Lawn & Garden Weeds

Shrub Prunings

 

Green Comfrey Leaves

Pine Needles

Flower Cuttings

Seaweed & Kelp

 

Wood Ash

Chicken Manure

 

Coffee Grounds

 

Tea Leaves

Newspaper

Shredded Paper

Cardboard

Corn Cobs and Stalk

Dryer Lint

Sawdust

Wood Chips

 

You can also add garden soil to your compost. A layer of soil will help to mask any odours, and micro-organisms in the soil will accelerate the composting process.

Do not compost meat, bones or fish scraps (they will attract pests), perennial weeds (they can be spread with the compost) or diseased plants. Do not not include pet manures in compost that will be used on food crops. Banana peels, peach peels and orange rinds may contain pesticide residue, and should be kept out of the compost. Black walnut leaves should not be composted. Sawdust may be added to the compost, but should be mixed or scattered thinly to avoid clumping. Be sure sawdust is clean, with no machine oil or chain oil residues from cutting equipment. For kitchen wastes, keep a container with a lid and a handle under the sink. Consider using a stainless steel compost pail with air filter, or the ceramic model. If you don't mind occasional smells, use an old ice-cream pail. Chop up any large chunks before you toss them in. When the container is full, take it out to your composter, or, use an indoor composter such as the NatureMill.

With yard and garden wastes, different composting materials will decompose at different rates but they will all break down eventually. If you want to speed up the composting process, chop the larger material into smaller pieces. Leaves and grass clippings are also excellent for compost, but should be sprinkled into the bin with other materials, or put on in thin layers. Otherwise they will mat together and take longer to compost.

How to Compost

Start your compost pile on bare earth. This allows worms and other beneficial organisms to aerate the compost and be transported to your garden beds.

Lay twigs or straw first, a few inches deep. This aids drainage and helps aerate the pile.
 
Add compost materials in layers, alternating moist and dry. Moist ingredients are food scraps, tea bags, seaweed, etc. Dry materials are straw, leaves, sawdust pellets and wood ashes. If you have wood ashes, sprinkle in thin layers, or they will clump together and be slow to break down.
 
Add manure, green manure ( clover, buckwheat, wheatgrass ) or any nitrogen source. This activates the compost pile and speeds the process along.
 
Keep compost moist. Water occasionally, or let rain do the job.
 
Cover with anything you have - wood, plastic sheeting, carpet scraps. Covering helps retain moisture and heat, two essentials for compost. Covering also prevents the compost from being over-watered by rain. The compost should be moist, but not soaked and sodden.

Turn. Every few weeks give the pile a quick turn with a pitchfork or shovel. This aerates the pile. Oxygen is required for the process to work, and turning "adds" oxygen. You can skip this step if you have a ready supply of coarse material, like straw. (See below)

Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio
All compostable materials are either carbon or nitrogen-based. The secret to a healthy compost pile is simple: maintain a working balance between these two elements.

Carbon - carbon-rich matter (like branches, stems, dried leaves, peels, bits of wood, bark dust or sawdust pellets, shredded brown paper bags, coffee filters, conifer needles, egg shells, hay, peat moss, wood ash) gives compost its light, fluffy body.

Nitrogen - nitrogen or protein-rich matter (manures, food scraps, leafy materials like lawn clippings and green leaves) provides raw materials for making enzymes.

A healthy compost pile should have much more carbon than nitrogen. A simple rule of thumb is to use one-third green and two-thirds brown materials. This allows oxygen to penetrate and nourish the organisms that reside there. Too much nitrogen makes for a heavy, smelly, slowly decomposing mass. Good composting hygiene means covering fresh nitrogen-rich material, which can release odors if exposed to open air, with carbon-rich material, which often exudes a fresh, wonderful smell. If in doubt, add more carbon! 

Tips for successful composting

~ Activate your compost.
'Activators' can be added to your compost to help kick-start the process and speed up composting. Common compost activator materials are: comfrey leaves, grass clippings, young weeds, well-rotted chicken manure. 
 
~ Flying insects attracted to your compost?
Small fruit flies, especially, are naturally attracted to the compost pile. They can be discouraged by simply covering any exposed fruit or vegetable matter. Keep a small pile of grass clippings next to your compost bin, and when you add new kitchen waste to the pile, cover it with one or two inches of clippings. Adding lime or calcium will also discourage flies.
 
~ Unpleasant odors from your compost pile?
This can be a concern in urban and suburban areas with small lots and neighbors living close by. Odors can be reduced, or eliminated, by following two practices: first, remember to not put bones or meat scraps into the compost; second, cover new additions to the compost pile with dry grass clippings or similar mulch. Adding lime or calcium will also neutralize odors. If the compost smells like ammonia, add carbon-rich elements such as straw, peat moss or dried leaves.
 
~ Is your compost pile steaming?
No problem. A hot, steamy pile means that you have a large community of microscopic critters working away at making compost.
 
~ Is your compost pile soggy?
This is a common problem especially in winter when carbon-based materials are in short supply. You can restore your compost to a healthy nitrogen-carbon balance.
To learn how restore your compost pile, read our article "How to fix a soggy compost pile".
 
~ Matted leaves, grass clippings clumping together?
This is a common problem with materials thrown into the composter. The wet materials stick together and slow the aeration process. There are two simple solutions: either set these materials to the side of the composter and add them gradually with other ingredients, or break them apart with a pitchfork. Grass clippings and leaves should be mixed with rest of the composting materials for best results. 
 
~ Problems with raccoons?
If there's a population of raccoons in your area, they will be naturally attracted to your compost pile. The best solution to this problem is to bar their entry to the compost. (Traps and poisons are more trouble than they're worth.) A wood or metal lid can be easily hinged to the bin described above on this page, or you can buy a commercially-made compost bin with secure fitted lids which are pest-proof, such as the Aerobin, UCT-9 or Jora JK270. 
 
~ A moveable feast.
The soil beneath a compost bin becomes enriched as nutrients filter down with successive waterings. You can place your bin on a plot of earth which you plan to use for a future vegetable or flower bed, or fruit tree. Each year, you can move the bin to a different area; you'll get a double benefit - the compost from the bin, and a bed of nutrient-rich soil ready for new plantings.
 
~ Additive only.
Compost should be used as a soil additive, and not exclusivley as the growing medium. Compost is a source of rich organic matter which provides nutrients for growing plants, but should be thought of as one component of a healthy garden bed. To learn more about developing healthy soil, read our article:
6 Tips for Building Soil in your Raised Garden Beds and Planters.
 
~ Take advantage of autumn's bounty.
The biggest challenge for small-scale backyard composting is finding enough carbon-rich materials to balance the regular input of nitrogen-rich materials which come from kitchen scraps, fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, grass clippings and other fresh materials. To learn how to make the most of autumn's bounty, read Autumn Composting Tips.