Simple Suggestion #256... Give back to the Earth

Our planet provides us with everything we need to live... but how often do we think about helping it out? We have the ability to return the favour, maybe not on a grand scale, but there are definitely things we can do...

Last week I spent several hours at my composter, good tunes playing through my headphones as I turned over unfinished compost and sifted out a full cubic metre of gorgeous black humus. It will be turned back into our garden this autumn to replenish the soil's nutrients for next year's plants. It's not that difficult, really -- and it's the least I can do to replenish the fine layer of soil that supports life on our planet, if only in my own back yard.

Composting requires a bit of space, plant-based kitchen and garden scraps for a nitrogen source, brown materials like leaves or wood chips to provide carbon, and air and water. Basically, I throw down a half bag of leaves, spread a bucket of kitchen/garden scraps on top, and cover with more leaves, repeating the cycle until a fair pile accumulates. I try to "stir" or "fluff" the pile every two weeks or so to give it enough air so that anaerobic bacteria can't make it too smelly, and keep it damp enough that everything will rot. I'm helping the earth by reusing the nutrients in plant leftovers to enrich the soil, and turning 55 bags of last fall's leaves into soil amendment right here instead of having it trucked away. Here's my stack of last year's garbage bags... with fall garden cleanup beginning, they'll soon be piled with organic garden waste in the other two bins of my three-bin composter, and I'll have more compost in the spring!

I realize that many people don't have the ability to make compost because of their living situations, but really, we give back to the Earth every time we make an effort to reduce our impact on its ecosystems. Edmonton's recycling and composting facilities ensure that the waste of those who can't compost at home goes to a process to either recycle glass, plastics, cardboard and metal from our blue bags, or to turn any compostable items that end up in the trash can into compost that is used by the City or sold to gardeners. So everyone is actually giving something back to our planet every time the City uses compost in our parks and gardens, or around road construction areas and boulevards.

Some other simple things we can do to help the Earth rejuvenate its life systems include grasscycling -- leaving our clippings on the lawn when we mow (the nitrogen from the clippings feeds and protects the roots of the grass), leaving our autumn cleanup until spring (so trees and plants can drop green nutrients into the soil), and avoiding the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides so that toxic chemicals and salts aren't being absorbed into our food chain.

Everything we do to contribute to the organic health and wealth of our planet's soil is something we ultimately do for ourselves. So giving back to the earth only makes sense. Especially when I eat an heirloom tomato and cucumber sandwich!

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Simple Suggestion #20 of 100... Compost

On Monday night, my back yard was a slightly more happening place than usual. A few friends and neighbours stopped by for wine and cheese with a little composting information on the side. We had a pleasant evening (though it got a bit drizzly toward the end) talking about the how to's of composting. Most of those present were already actively involved in composting, just checking up on their technique.

Unfortunately, a lot of myths prevail when it comes to turning our kitchen waste into a valuable additive for our soil, the main ones being that people think composting is smelly and will attract insects and other pests. But if you know what you're doing, it's an amazing, wholistic process that means your yard no longer needs store-bought fertilizers because you have the ability to amend soil and top dress lawn with something better.

Composting really is very simple. All a person has to do is save kitchen waste from fruits, vegetables, or anything that grows from the soil (greens) and combine it with dry plant waste (browns like autumn leaves, straw, sawdust, woodchips, etc.), add a bit of soil (to provide composting microorganisms), keep everyting moist... and let it all rot. Stirring the compost pile now and again allows enough oxygen for the bacteria and other life that help to decompose the pile, and covering it with leaves helps prevent odors, and keeps magpies from carrying food scraps away.

I won't go into any more detail as there are plenty of places online where you can find information about the best ways to compost. I will, however, shamelessly flog a book written by my friend, Suzanne Lewis. She's also a Master Composter/Recycler, and she gets into the nitty gritty of composting in her book, Composting for Canada (2010, Lone Pine, ISBN 9781551058436).

If her back cover blurb doesn't sell you on the value of compost, nothing will:

Compost has often been described as black gold: dig it into your garden soil and it is an organic fertilizer par excellence, elevating the organic matter in any soil. Use it as an organic mulch and it will help reduce watering needs and keep weeds at bay as it gradually breaks down and acts as a slow fertilizer. What could be more useful? Compost can be very simply made by even the most time-stressed gardener and its needs are few. It recycles kitchen and garden waste products into something that has infinite value in the garden. In fact, many municipalities are incorporating aspects of home composting on an industrial scale to help reduce quantities of waste going into landfills. Suzanne Lewis, master composter, brings together everything you need to know about composting: reasons why, what kind of containers, what to put in and what not to put in, care and treatment, uses, plus she provides tons of fascinating information to enhance what is in essence a very simple procedure.

One thing's sure: Suzanne knows what she's talking about. If you don't believe her, my garden is a testament to the value of composting, and you're welcome to come check it out. It just feels right to give good things back to the soil, which gives us good things, and for me, that's enough of a reason in itself to compost.

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