Spring - Time to Start Thinking Compost!
Written by Larraine Roulston 

If you haven't already joined the 'Green Wave of Composting,' what better time to begin than during International Compost Awareness Week (May 7-13) 2006 theme: 'Get Flower Power...Compost!' 

As soon as you find a suitable location for your new composter, turn over the soil where it will sit and add a base layer of brush and leaves to allow airflow and drainage. 

In your kitchen, keep a sealed container to gather veggie/fruit peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds/filters, eggshells and any unwanted liquids.  When you dump them into the composter, add a handful of dry leaves. Compost is achieved by layering the browns (carbon from dried yard trimmings) and the greens (nitrogen from kitchen food scraps).  Periodically, cover the heap with a shovel full of earth to add more micro-organisms.  Other suitable organic matter include: pet fur, hair, feathers, cloths dryer lint, floor sweepings, toothpicks, flowers, plants, sawdust from untreated wood, cooled wood ash, bits of string, wool, cotton and rope.  Do not add meat, bones, oils or dairy products as they do not break down quickly and may cause an odour. 

As the process slows down in the colder weather your unit may be full by late fall.  Before the frost, lift it off the heap and turn the mound over adding lots of leaves.  Top with more leaves then cover with plastic to trap the sun's heat.  It will be ready for use next spring. Gather a couple of bags of leaves and together with your empty unit you are now prepared for winter composting.  Do not worry about the pile freezing.  It still works in the centre and the frost helps break down the organics. This speeds up the process in the spring when the volume decrease to half. 

When planting your garden, think of the food bank and share your harvest as part of the 'Plant a Row, Grow a Row' program sponsored by the Canadian Association of Food Banks, Composting Council of Canada, and Garden Writers Assoc of America.  To connect with the food bank in your area, call 1-877-571-GROW (4769).  For composting information, check the CCC website at www.compost.org. 

Apartment dwellers can create compost too with a worm bin (vermicomposter).  Red wiggler worms in an opaque container of damp shredded paper bedding will eat their weight in organics every day.  When you harvest the worm's castings (screen the soil) you will have an even richer form of compost to put on your household plants. For detailed information and to acquire red wigglers, visit www.cathyscomposters.com. 

Compost is more than a fertilizer...more than a soil conditioner - it is a symbol of continuing life. 

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About the author:

Recycling Resource Service
Larraine Roulston, Author of children's illustrated adventure books on composting. Freelance writer on environmental issues.

Contact: Larraine Roulston
Email: roulstonlp@sympatico.ca
Website: www.castlecompost.com