Composting in Canada during long and cold winters can be challenging but highly rewarding. For eco-conscious households, sustainable composting practices offer a smart way to reduce food waste year-round. In cold climates, the microbial activity needed to decompose organic matter slows down, but that doesn’t mean composting must stop. With the right tools, methods, and seasonal awareness, you can…

In selecting a pet, one often thinks of fuzzy, warm beings as the best. They provide a certain amount of love that human beings like.  I have a very sweet cat named Cleopatra. She’s full of personality, warm and fuzzy! For our second ‘pet,’ I, however, selected something slimy and wiggly in a ‘factory’ placed in the basement to keep the cat company. It’s 1,000 African Nightcrawler Red Wigglers. Children would LOVE these squiggly little dudes but I’m a little grossed out, actually.

Why should anyone have a bin or a tower of worms for pets? Worms are just another way to ‘upcycle’ the vegetable peelings, egg shells, newspaper, card board boxes, and fall leaves into nutritious food and natural fertilizer for gardens, potted plants, grassy yards! If you consider that you have already paid for the waste being used, the result of the worm’s work is just gravy….so to speak. The worms I have like to be in an environment with temperatures between 55 and 80 degrees. They actually have an optimal worm bin temperature at which they produce castings them most quickly but I'm not worried about that as long as they aren't freezing or frying! Since I don’t have a good way of insulating them in the winter so they don't freeze and no good place for them to be outside and cool enough in the summer so they don't fry, they live in the basement. They are working away, silently and without odor creating castings. I think I will have to change the saying 'Busy as a Bee' to 'Busy as a Worm'!

The composting worms are not the typical northern night crawlers that we dig up in our Colorado gardens. The red wigglers are from warmer climates and work more quickly munching on food scraps. The worms in the garden are important but they need to stay in the garden doing their work. They also indicate when your garden is healthy or returning to health...important, as I said!

There are lots of ways to build a compost bin on your own. plant.plate.CREATE! has pinned a variety of ideas on Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/plantplatecreat/composting/). Knowing these, I chose to purchase a product called Worm Factory (http://www.naturesfootprint.com/worm-factory). Because one of the words in the title of this business is 'create', design is very important. In order to find a system that I found attractive, acceptable, easy to use, and fitting with the interior design of my home, a factory became the selection. The four bin tower was about $89 with free shipping on Amazon. I also purchased an additional four trays so I could build the system to it's maximum. They were $36 with free shipping. When I made the order, I had my worms that were quickly outgrowing the 2.5 gallon bucket in which they were living. Something was needed fast. I would encourage you to find a local retailer if you are just starting. Get the system set up first and then buy the worms. I don't always do things in order and it is still working with the loss of maybe one worm (1 out of 1000).   

The worms were purchased from a local permaculture enthusiast who was reducing his stock. They were $30 for a theoretic one pound. Theoretic because I think he gave me two pounds of worms. If you know a gardening enthusiast who has some, the stock does need to be reduced or divided over time. Your friend may be able to give you some and help you set up their bedding! Worms can also be found online and arrive at your home or can be purchased from a store selling fish bait. Consider the temperatures outside when ordering. If it's a day in Colorado like recent days, waiting until later in the spring for the online purchase is recommended! Worms are mostly water and will freeze....as mentioned above. 

Technically, this worm casting process is called vermicomposting. Here are the two reasons why it can be exciting to do:

Leachate is the liquid resulting from decomposition and processing of the worms.  Bins and towers need a way to catch this. Because of some of the micro organisms, this should never be used on vegetable and other edible plants but is fine for house plants or pots of non-edibles. To use it as fertilizer, it must be diluted 10 parts water to 1 part leachate or it can be harmful. 

Worm Castings are the product of the worm's work. Basically it’s worm poop! This can be used on vegetable gardens and with plants that are being used for food. It’s a great product to make compost tea to use as a natural liquid fertilizer. The castings can be mixed into pots of plants or thinly spread on lawns to promote healthy growth and healthy soils. The castings work to add nutrients, elongate time between watering, and promote a reduction in soil compaction. Vermicompost helps the plant stengthen in order to resist pests and disease.

With the vermicomposting, I've added another weapon in my arsenal of reducing my family's carbon footprint. I just added tray #4 to the tower with worms moving in and out of the current food sources. It has been 3 weeks. I'll report on my first harvest of castings when they are ready! I'm looking forward to having my own beautiful organic worm castings and natural fertilizers to reduce the cost of my organic gardening and have a healthy, beautiful outdoor environment that welcomes people, bees, birds, and all sorts of insects!

All the cheerleading about this process aside, what is the bottom line of this system and what will I be saving? Here's a list of my organic soil and fertilizer purchases over the past couple of years. I'm not saying I looked for the best prices but they are somewhat typical for our area:

Fox Farm Tiger Blooms : 3 Quart, Summer 2013 : $70 x 1

Roots Organics : 1.5 Cubic Feet, Summer 2014 : $28 ea. x 3

Age Old Organics, Bloom : 1 Quart, Summer 2014 : $13.50 x 1

Approximate total for one year: $167.50 before taxes

Worm bin: $155.00

There are other expenses involved in the gardening process but if I'm just comparing rough costs, this gives an idea of the year 'round potential for this little vermicomposting factory!

How is your garden? Are you winter composting?

A voice in your head is saying, “What do you mean, ‘How’s my garden?’ Who cares?  Bulbs are in. It’s cold. I’m done!?” Even though it’s cold outside, your garden is still working. It is preparing for spring as you prepare for your long winter’s nap!

My neighbor has been creating in situ winter compost for at least two years. When I asked her about it, she said, “Well, I’m not sure I’m doing it right!” I am a witness that, right or wrong, she’s doing something that is noticeably different than previous years when winter composting was not on her list.

There is science involved in creating compost. Not knowing should not stop you! Compost is best when it’s a mix of 1/3 greens and 2/3 browns. Internet and library resources have lists of items to use. Essentially, "greens" are peelings and vegetable scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds and "browns" are dried leaves and grasses. Some sources suggest paper and cardboard as browns but they add chemicals to compost and care should be taken. The mix of all of these in soil works with active microbes to create humus even in the winter.  If you don’t have the ‘right’ proportion, you can still create better soil.

"Greens" = Kitchen Peelings+Egg Shells+Coffee Grounds+Tea Bags

"Browns" = Fall Leaves+Dry Grasses

Go forth with a spade and try it!

Here are the steps:

Identify locations in raised beds or garden plot to dig without disturbing bulbs or roots of perennials.

Save leaves and seed-free grasses on top of raised beds covered with a tarp or in black garbage bags.

In the location identified, dig a 12” deep hole. Width depends on the amount of material ready to put in the hole.

Add 3”-4” of greens and browns.

Mix and chop the greens and browns into finer pieces. Cover with at least 8 inches of soil to keep the varmints out.

If the site can easily be covered, add a dark tarp to hold the heat and speed the process of decomposition. When covering, intermittent water will be required. 

To avoid reusing locations, mark them with a rock or popsicle stick. 

Keep adding the greens and browns in different locations throughout the winter until March. It can take one to six months for the products to decompose. In March the soil begins to warm which will speed the process. At this point, disturbing the soil may add oxygen into the piles and loosen them to accept water.The garden should be ready by Mothers Day for planting annual vegetables! 

Keep in mind, if it is very cold with no snow and the ground begins to dry, water is needed to moisten the soil. Microbes will slow or die if it is too dry or too wet. They also slow when it is cold but will start again on warmer winter days.

Mix and chop greens and browns into the exposed soil.

Cheryl Bicknell of plant.plate.CREATE! has been gardening at her Denver residence for 15 years.

Contact her at [email protected].

http://rootsnursery.com/how-to-compost-without-a-bin

How to Compost Without a Bin

The Winter Composting Project

Ive been working on this experiment. Instead of composting in a pile or a bin, Ive been throwing my garbage straight in the gardens. Sounds gross? I’ll tell you how and why I’ve been doing this.

This summer we converted an old compost bin into a new garden. It was kind of a smelly eyesore and placed right along the path where customers walk to get to the nursery. It had to go. But something kind of amazing happened before I decided what to do with that area. The seeds from last years tomatoes sprouted! and grew 10 times better than in the vegetable garden. So I let em GO, I didnt even stake them, just let nature do its thing.

This was my most exciting experience learning about good soil. Because everything I put in that garden grew faster than a chia pet on steroids. And the worms, oh the worms. you gotta see them.

Recently, we learned about Geoff Lawton. Sustainable permaculture? food forest? I dont have much experience with either, but these words give me a little jolt every time i hear them. And the information is just as exciting. In one of his permaculture videos, Geoff and his students practice what they call ‘chop and drop’. Its kinda like permission to be a lazy slob. Ive been freed! After you’ve pruned or harvested the plant, you chop up the plant debris, then drop it right below the plant you pruned it from. I am so DOWN for that idea.

But being free, its harder than you think!

We have this human NEED to CLEAN UP after ourselves. We like things neat and tidy, compartmentalized, in a category. But Nature doesnt do it that way, and frankly, nature doesnt appreciate it either. Nature litters all day long! Leaves and branches fall, animals poop and wind blows all that garbage around. Youd think nature would be a terrible neighbor. Yet it all comes out BEAUTIFULLY! All that stuff were tidying up, packing neatly in yard bags and paying for removal? It all makes incredibly rich organic soil. So keep your leaves, grass clippings, yard debris… and dump them back in your garden.

And dont stop there!

Kitchen waste can go straight in your garden too! I bet youre shaking youre head… ‘No way am i throwing garbage in my garden’. Did you see the worms yet??? ok ok, i’ll show you! This happened because I couldnt get under my tomato plant to clean out all the tomatoes that fell and rotted on the ground. What I didnt know was, what a drastic improvement rotten tomatoes could make!

So here’s the experiment Im working on.

THE ZERO GARBAGE Project. The goal of this project is to reduce the volume sent to the landfill while creating the richest soil my garden has ever seen. Why should the landfill get the good stuff, right?

Every sliver of compostable kitchen scrap now goes straight into the garden. Ideally what’s left, should be recyclable. I’ll tell ya, I feel a little naughty, standing at my doorway in the middle of December, tossing a banana peel into the garden. But its for a CAUSE! And since no ones out there looking at the gardens, winter is the perfect time to start composting. Even though it wont do much decomposing in the winter months, I feel that it should all have enough time to decompose before the summer months come.

What goes in vegetable scraps. Fruit. Herbs. Popcorn. Coffee and coffee filters. Tea bags. Napkins and Paper towels. Shredded Paper Newspaper and Cardboard. Stale bread and burnt toast. Dead flower arrangements. Pencil shavings and sawdust. Basically anything organic that breaks down. heres more of what goes in

What stays out

Kitty Litter, dog business. I read that feces of carnivors might contain disease organisms. ewww. i dont want that anywere near my tomatoes.

Lime, coal, charcoal. These are said to change the pH of the compost past the point of usefulness.

Meat, fat, grease, oil, bones. This is a little controversial. Some people say yes, go for it. Other say that fat and grease dont break down. Not only do the not break down, they coat everything else so that doesnt break down either.

Dairy products like milk, butter, cheese, ice cream or yogurt. This one is iffy. It said the pungent odor attract pests, but can be hidden in the middle of a compost pile to mask it. For our purposes here, milk would just be gross so lets skip it.

Heres more of what stays out

COOL COMPOSTING TIP! When the mess becomes unbearable. It really does look gross when too much garbage piles up, so I do cover it often. We have a pile of compost and a pile of woodchips. I’ll sprinkle light layers on top to cover the mess. This no only covers the mess, but it helps it break down faster! Ive read of people digging a hole or a trench, throwing scraps in, then covering lightly with the dirt from the hole.