In the Garden: Sustainable gardening in time

back into the lawn. Vegetable scraps and fine garden waste can be composted.

For small lots with little space for big compost bins, I’ve heard about worm composting, digesters and the Bokashi method of composting. These break down organic matter into useable compost. Although designed primarily to deal with kitchen waste, I assume that they can handle the small amounts of yard waste from a tiny garden.

Gardeners generally find woody prunings and storm litter more challenging. Some of it can be left where it fell – nature’s own sustainability. That’s even the current ecology advice: Leave as much yard waste as possible until at least spring gardening clean up. However, that’s not always feasible. If you have the space, brown yard waste can be piled in a spot that’s out of the way. However, a major caution is that you do not want to have heaps of wood that could pose a wild fire hazard.