What should I put in my Compost bin?

We have 3 huge compost piles in our backyard...and many times when we have people over they ask how do you start one of those, what do you put in them, and why do you do this? I thought I would tell you how we have our compost pile and what we put in ours.

We don't have anything fancy around our piles I guess you could call them compost heaps. We start out with "greens" that would be grass clippings, weeds, kitchen scraps. I would call this "moist" ingredients because these have moisture. "Greens" provide nitrogen. We then add our "browns" this would be straw, sawdust, dead plants, and leaves. This will keep your pile loose so air can get in your pile. Lastly you will need to add your "blacks" This could be garden soil, manure from chicken, rabbits, cows, hogs, *Not* cats or dogs (these may contain parasitic organisms not healthy for your garden) The "black" is what really gets your pile moving it will help your compost to break down more quickly.


Things that should not be put in your compost bin...

Charcoal or ashes from your grill, meat and dairy products,( these could attract animals to your bin) oil, grease, weeds with seeds you will have a weedy compost bin unless you have enough heat to kill those seeds.

We stir our compost a few times a year..we do this with a pitch fork just lifting and turning the heap. You need to make sure air can get into your pile... a huge pile without air will stay a huge pile and not turn into compost.

I make compost tea every year to put on my plants here is the recipe...

I place a few hand fulls of compost in a burlap bag tie bag with a cord. I then place warm water in a 5 gallon bucket ( I some times use a old washed out paint bucket). I put the burlap bag in the bucket and place in the sun for a few hours. (I strain the compost with a old window screen) I then pour this tea at the base of my tomato plants they love it! I do this every couple of weeks.

I would love to hear about your compost bins.

Happy Gardening...

Lynn

Tomato or Fruit Tree White Fly Trap

Our tomatoes are looking really good...I just wish It would stop raining. Every year I build this white fly trap it may look goofy but it keeps those darn flies away.

White Fly Trap

1) tomato stake

1) 48 ounce juice can ( you can also use family size soup cans)

Yellow paint ( You can find this in a craft shop) ( We use Patio paint)

Foam Paint Bruch

1 Clear Plastic bag (Large enough to fit over your can)

Petroleum jelly (cheap dollar store brand)


If you stake your tomatoes you might get to skip the first step...because you need a stake next to your tomato plant. I place a large stake in the middle of my plant to help suport my tomatoes but if you don't you will need to pound in 1 stake near your tomato.

Paint the juice or soup cans with the yellow paint.

After paint is completely dry place the painted can over the stake.

Cover each can with plastic bag

Smear petroleum jelly outside the bag.

I don't know why this works but it does...replace the bag when it is covered with white flies. I have a friend that places yellow or red golf balls in a bag covers them with petroleum and hangs them in her fruit trees...Yes they look funny but it saves her fruit every year.

Happy Gardening...

Lynn

Planting in mounds or hills?

Planting in mounds or hill planting....are the same thing! Many people plant potatoes this way but you can also plant corn, muskmelons and watermelons this way. You can do this 2 ways.... First mound up your dirt and plant a seed wait for your seedling to grow and then mound up dirt as it grows. Second mound up your dirt and then put transplant in your mound or hill. The important part is to still place dirt around the plant while it is still growing. This keeps the plant sturdy...this works great with corn. During the end of summer our corn will bend over but the extra dirt really holds them up.

I couldn't remember if I have shared this great recipe? It is one of my favorites and now is the time you can get the flowers. It only keeps for a few weeks but it works for many bugs.

Easy Bug Juice:

1/2 Marigolds

1/2 cup Geraniums

1/2 cup Garlic

Chop this up fine

mix with 10 gallons of warm water let set then strain put into a spray bottle...

Happy Gardening...

Lynn

Vegetable plants for the beginning gardener

We went to my brother's yesterday and he has a small garden. We were out back looking at what he had planted. I hated to tell him many things he was trying to grow was not right for our area or zone (ours is 6). He has two children and they want to see something growing...so I gave him a list of easy to grow vegetables that he is going to try.

Vegetables for the beginning gardener


Beets

Bush Beans ( no trellis to build)

Cherry tomatoes ( I told him to use a tomato cage)

Garlic

Green Peppers

Lettuce (he was trying head which doesn't grow in our area I suggested leaf lettuce)

Onion

Radish

I can't wait to go visit in a few weeks and see how his garden is growing. It is always fun to watch a new gardener. He inspires me to write this blog for others that don't know how to garden and a few tricks on how to beat all those bad bugs!

Happy Gardening,

Lynn

Two-Cabbage Slaw

I thought I would share one of my favorite picnic side dishes.....

Two-Cabbage Slaw

4 cups shredded green cabbage

1 cup shredded red cabbage

1 medium green pepper chopped

1 medium red pepper chopped

4 green onions finely chopped


Dressing:

1 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

In large bowl mix first five ingredients. Then a small bowl mix the dressing ingredients.

Pour over cabbage mixture stir to coat

This serves 6

I hope you enjoy this recipe....

Lynn

Eggplant

One of my favorite veggies is eggplant...it took me a while to learn to cook it right and now we love it.

We have had problems with caterpillars on our eggplant. I now use dry cayenne pepper. We crush this with a roller making sure it is very fine almost like dust. I sprinkle the cayenne on the eggplant while there is still dew on the plants.

If you grow eggplant among your green beans this will protect your plants from the Colorado potato beetle. The beetles like eggplant even more than your potatoes but they will find the green beans as a repellent.

Happy Gardening...

Lynn

Blackberries don't like Raspberries?

We love blackberries but we have never been successful growing them and now I know why...we have always tried to grow blackberries near our raspberries...I have been reading that blackberries just don't grow very well near raspberries. They like the soil moderate acid 5-5.7
(raspberries like near neutral soil 6.5-7)

It is a good idea to grow mulberries, chokecherries and elderberries near your blackberries this will attract birds away from your blackberries.

I can't wait to start growing blackberries!!

Happy Gardening....

Lynn