Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Spring Compost Tips


Compost springs eternal - finally! The temperature is climbing and the sun is shining. I’m your friendly Backyard Compost Pile and it’s time to get this party started. Like the brown bear, I’m emerging from hibernation and I’m hungry! Here are some tips to keep me productive.

  • Turn me please! My contents have slowly compacted over the winter. Turning and stirring those brown leaves creates air pockets so I can breathe. 
  • Feed me! If you choose to rake or mower-bag your grass trimmings, deposit them into your compost pile. To be productive, I need a nice mix of brown and green material.
  • Give me snacks! That’s right, a daily snack of fruit and veggie scraps makes for a healthy compost pile.
  • Let nature run its course:  the springtime pattern of April showers and sunny days helps me grow.

      Check out this post for more Spring Composting Tips.






Guest Blogger Joy Landry, Public Relations Specialist

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

A Genius Composting Trick


My husband recently had a clever idea that resulted in me having an easier time composting through these cold winter months. As we were cleaning out the basement after Christmas, he unearthed an old lidded garbage can that we used next to our diaper changing table. We have kept this “baby” stainless steel garbage can even though our children have been out of diapers for years.

“We should use this in the kitchen to collect scraps for composting,” he declared. During the winter my love of composting battles with my dislike of cold wet weather quite often. I usually end up with a situation looking something like this:

I think it's time to take the compost out.


“That is brilliant!” 

I immediately replaced my much loved but much smaller kitchen collector with the little can. Not only does it match our garbage can and offer more space for scraps, but the new can has a foot pedal so I do not have to lift the lid if both my hands are full. This is especially helpful for my children who always manage to lose half their orange peels as the try to take the lid off the old bucket.

Matching garbage and compost cans: check.
Groovy kitchen floor: check.


An added bonus: it has a plastic insert that I can just lift out to take out the compost.

Although beautiful, I am not sorry our snowy days are behind us.

Have you ever "repurposed" something and loved it even more?