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Saturday, September 26, 2015 An Advertising Feature of The Topeka Capital-Journal

Jamie Hancock Garden Column – Keeping the school year on the right track – Creating a family compost bin – Open House Directory –

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2 | Saturday, September 26, 2015 | The Topeka Capital-Journal | At Home

Composting in the Fall Jamie Hancock

jamiehan@ksu.edu It is finally beginning to feel like fall with the cool nights. The break in the heat has me wanting to work in my gardens again. Yeah! I have been cutting down overgrown perennial plants and pulling weeds. (Yes, even Horticulture Agents have weeds.) My compost pile is getting some new additions with grass clippings, garden refuse, and soon, dried leaves. The nice thing is that by following a few simple steps I can have great compost in the spring. Here is the information you will need to make great compost too.

Why compost?

Compost returns organic matter to the soil in usable form. Increased organic matter provides essential nutrients for plant growth, helps break down heavy clay soil by opening air spaces, and aids in moisture retention in sandy soils. It also keeps yard waste out of the landfills.

What is compost?

Compost is a mixture of soil and decayed organic matter. When processed correctly it becomes weed seed free, smells rich and earthy not offensive, is rich in nutrients, and has no recognizable components.

Converting your garden, fruit, and vegetable wastes into compost is something you can do very easily. Shredding large prunings and downed limbs is another way of recycling damaged or overgrown plants in the landscape.

Compost is the result of the activity of

billions of tiny organisms that utilize the two main components of organic matter, carbon and nitrogen. They consume the carbon for energy and the nitrogen for growth and reproduction. The portion they can’t digest remains as humus, or partially decomposed organic matter. As these tiny organisms feed and reproduce the compost pile will heat up. The inside temperature may rise to 150 to 160 degrees F inactivating weed seed and harmful disease organisms.

Getting started  Find a spot in your yard where water will not stand and is out of the way.  Compost can be in a loose pile or in an enclosure such as: woven wire or wood slat fence, cement blocks, scrap lumber, or wood pallets.  For most households, a pile 5x5 feet or 5 feet in diameter is sufficient. A 3x3 feet bin will also work very well. (You’ll be amazed by the amount of material you can process. A single 3x3 feet compost bin can handle about a hundred bags of leaves, most of the weeds pulled during the season, grass clippings gathered occasionally, and some kitchen waste – all in just one compost bin!)  Organic materials to compost can be: grass clippings (without herbicides), weeds, garden refuse, hedge clippings, straw, corncobs, sawdust, old hay, or mulch raked from flower or vegetable gardens. Avoid using severely diseased vegetable or flowering plants. Avoid kitchen scraps such as egg shells, meat or bones, peanut butter, and salad dressings. They may attract dogs or other animals.  Start with a 2-3 inch layer of soil or sand. Add a layer of organic matter (fine material 2-3 inches like thin grass, or

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Keeping the school year on the right track

By Shanna Sloyer Special to The Capital-Journal

With the school year underway, I find myself swimming in piles of homework papers, forms, and reminder notices, tripping over kicked-off shoes, and bending over every few feet to pick up discarded jackets. It also seems that life has gone from zero to 60 overnight, and keeping track of who has to be driven where at what time is suddenly a full-time job. If the school year rush has you pulling your hair out, here are a few suggestions for helping your family stay organized while keeping your sanity.

Taming the paper trail Stick to the “only touch a piece of paper once” principle when it comes to permission slips, homework folders, lunch forms, and the like. Check backpacks each evening, and take care of any necessary paperwork before returning it to school with your children the next day. Save sentimental or exceptional homework papers and recycle the rest.

For papers that you will need in the short-term, such as reminders to bring snacks for the classroom party, have a magnet or bulletin board in a visible location where you can pin them. For items you need to save, buy an over-the-door

pocket organizer from a school supply specialty store for around $15, and hang it in an easily accessible spot. Create and label folders for each of your family members where you can store spelling lists, report cards, athletic schedules, unpaid bills, and coupons.

Create a family calendar There are many options on the market for large, reusable calendars. Whether you choose a wipe erase variety or get creative with chalkboard paint on the wall, having a central location for the activities and obligations of each family member is essential to getting everyone where they need to be on time.

Assign everyone a different colored marker or chalk, and write appointments, practices, fundraisers, and meetings on the calendar each month. At the end of the month, have a family calendar night where everyone comes together to create the calendar for the next month.

Avoid the morning rush Have kids pick out outfits for the next day to avoid “what to wear” struggles in the morning. Better yet, try this idea found on Pinterest. Label a plastic storage bin with drawers with the days of the week and have kids choose a week’s worth of outfits on Sunday night.

Pack lunches, snacks and bags each

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evening. Create a launching pad near the door where your clan will leave for school in the morning, and store bags, coats and shoes in the same place each afternoon for an easy exit.

Plan for meals After a long day, no one wants to come

home from work and figure out what to make for dinner. Try planning your meals for the week and posting the menu in a visible location. Not only will this make your evenings easier, it will make grocery shopping a breeze, cut down on food

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Creating a family compost bin

By Jenni Harrison Special to The Capital-Journal

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Organize: Handling the bill cycle Continued from 3A waste, and save you money. Several websites are available that combine grocery circulars with weekly coupons and recipes for meals that can be put together from sale ingredients. Check out dealstomeals. com, emeals.com, and gatheredtable.com to help you get started.

Get a handle on bills Whether you pay bills electronically or write checks, find a bill cycle that works for you. Record the date each bill is due on a spreadsheet, as well as when you get paid. Choose a date that will be bill day, and set your electronic transfers for that date each month, or designate that day to

sitting down and writing checks. If bill paying twice per month is more practical, choose two dates and assign which bills will be paid on each date. Creating a bill-paying station with pen, checkbook, stamps, and address labels, as well as a filing area for paid bills, will make what can be a tedious process a little easier.

Aside from having a calmer, more peaceful household, and knowing where all of your family members are on any given day, another benefit of getting organized is modeling skills our kids will need in the future. If we create an orderly home, it might just wear off on them too. I’m holding out hope that someday my kids will even pick up their own jackets.

I’ve been feeling wasteful lately when I’m disposing of unused veggies or food scraps and with three children in the house, there is a lot of waste. Composting has been on my to-do list for some time now, but that’s just the problem. Time. Effort.

Enter my assignment to write about composting. Just the motivation I needed to get started learning! So after consideration on the best approach to take, my husband and I decided to go with the easiest route of purchasing a composting bin than we could turn called a tumbler. With a bit of basic research behind me, we took a trip to one of the big box stores and found what we were looking for. At checkout, when asked if we would like “compost or dirt to go with that”, my husband responded with a smile, “we’re going to go make our own.”

True but there is a method to making compost.

Any compost bin or pile will require the same basic components of brown matter (carbon sources including dried leaves, dead flowers, newspaper, small wood chips) and green matter (nitrogen sources like veggie and fruit scraps, grass clippings or clover). The ratio for this should be 3:1. Maintenance is easy: just keep moist by watering and move the contents. Once

there is a black compost substance, scoop it out.

Compost piles

There are many recipes available for a compost pile. No two seem to be alike but are still very similar in their ingredients.

I discovered that when choosing to do a simple 3x3 foot pile, start on bare earth to allow worms and other organisms to penetrate your compost. A structure is not necessary, although a containment area built from old boards and chicken wire will certainly keep the pile neat. Start with several inches of twigs or straw for drainage purposes followed by a layer of brown matter and then a layer of green matter.

Cover to retain the heat and moisture and turn the outside towards the center every few weeks with a pitchfork or shovel. After the compost is established, new ingredients can be added by mixing, rather than layering.

Compost tumblers

You can compost with a store bought tumbler or make your own. Tumblers are often compact, can be relocated within the yard and provide quicker decomposing through the heat retention inside the container when given the right mix of brown and green ingredients. These devices begin as sterile environments so to get a jumpstart on the decomposition, add

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Compost: The waiting game Continued from 5A healthy soil, compost or a store bought compost activator. The downside to these devices is that you have to wait while the waste changes into compost. Consider a second tumbler to use for adding new waste while the first one is cooking.

Compost bins

Homemade from a heavy duty trash can or a store-bought bin, these are neater in appearance than compost piles but may take longer to produce results. With the same concept of filling and waiting, turn the waste to aerate and mix the undecomposed ingredients. Bins are a good choice if you are not in a hurry and are concerned about odors or pests that piles may produce.

Items to compost straw or hay weeds herbicide free grass clippings fruits and vegetable table scraps manure from grazing animals coffee grounds and filters cardboard rolls tissues black and white newspaper cotton rags dryer and vacuum lint eggshells fur

sawdust corn cobs non-glossy paper shrub prunings What not to compost meat or dairy products black walnut leaves or twigs charcoal eggs diseased plants grease, lard or oils anything containing pesticides dog or cat manure

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Above: A store bought bin that is neater but will take longer to create a nice compost.

Left: A store bought tumbling bin that can create compost faster.

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Hancock: Creating the perfect compost batch Continued from 2A coarse material 6-8 inches, like straw).

Add a 2-3 inch layer of manure or sprinkle compost activator 1-2 cups per square yard, or 1-2 cups of garden fertilizer per square yard. ď Ž Repeat this process and water each layer. Dish the top of the pile to catch rainwater. Dry piles will not decompose properly. ď Ž Turning the pile often will produce compost in about one month. Little or no turning will take four to six months.

There should be almost equal parts of carbon and nitrogen materials to prevent the pile from smelling. Carbon materials

are dry and brown. Nitrogen materials are green and moist. (These might both be grasses, hedge clippings, etc.) Foul odors can indicate an imbalance in these materials.

You will know your pile is working if it begins to shrink in about two weeks. If it has not, loosen the pile with a shovel or fork to provide more aeration or add moisture if the compost is dry. In four or five weeks, check to see if the inside is heating up. Push a wire or stick deep into the pile and see if it feels warm. If not, repeat the loosening and watering processes.

Quick Composting

Finely shredded materials premixed with soil and/or fertilizer, moistened and

placed in an enclosed bag or bin will result in compost in about one month. It is not necessary to turn the pile but, turning it will speed the process. In warm weather compost can be ready with this method in two to three weeks.

While creating your compost pile keep your eyes on the end result, great compost for your gardens in the spring.

Relish the beautiful fall weather and enjoy a hot bowl of chili.

Note: Houseplants and Fairy Gardens is the topic for Master Gardener night at the Topeka/Shawnee County Public Library on Oct. 8 at 7:00 PM. If you would like to know more about houseplants or what a Fairy Garden is and how to make one this is the night

for you.

Note: There will be a compost demonstration by the Shawnee County Extension Master Gardeners on October 10 at 9:30 AM at the MG vegetable demonstration garden at the SE corner of the Expo Centre parking lot near the train engine. Come and learn more about creating great compost!

Note: The Perennial Garden Layout seminar at the library scheduled for September 10 has been rescheduled for November 12. Watch for further details.

Jamie Hancock is a horticulturist with Kansas State Research and Extension in Shawnee County.

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