Action Alert: City Council to vote of Front Yard Garden Ordinance

Why Make Compost?

Compost is one of nature's best mulches and soil amendments, and you can use it instead of commercial fertilizers. Best of all, compost is cheap. You can make it without spending a cent. Using compost improves soil structure, texture, and aeration and increases the soil's water-holding capacity. Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils retain water. Adding compost improves soil fertility and stimulates healthy root development in plants. The organic matter provided in compost provides food for microorganisms, which keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition. Nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus will be produced naturally by the feeding of microorganisms, so few if any soil amendments will need to be added.

Most gardeners have long understood the value of this rich, dark, earthy material in improving the soil and creating a healthful environment for plants. Understanding how to make and use compost is in the public interest, as the problem of waste disposal climbs toward a crisis level. Landfills are brimming, and new sites are not likely to be easily found. For this reason there is an interest in conserving existing landfill space and in developing alternative methods of dealing with waste. Don't throw away materials when you can use them to improve your lawn and garden! Start composting instead.

Our hands our being forced to deal creatively with our own yard waste, as one by one, cities are refusing to haul off our leaves and grass clippings. About one third of the space in landfills is taken up with organic waste from our yards and kitchens, just the type of material that can be used in compost. With a small investment in time, you can contribute to the solution to a community problem, while at the same time enriching the soil and improving the health of the plants on your property.

Want the super quick version of how to make compost? Visit our Composting Tips page.
The Compost Decomposition Process

Compost is the end product of a complex feeding pattern involving hundreds of different organisms, including bacteria, fungi, worms, and insects. What remains after these organisms break down organic materials is the rich, earthy substance your garden will love. Composting replicates nature's natural system of breaking down materials on the forest floor. In every forest, grassland, jungle, and garden, plants die, fall to the ground, and decay. They are slowly dismantled by the small organisms living in the soil. Eventually these plant parts disappear into the brown crumbly forest floor. This humus keeps the soil light and fluffy.

Humus is our goal when we start composting. By providing the right environment for the organisms in the compost pile, it is possible to produce excellent compost. We usually want to organize and hasten Mother Nature's process. By knowing the optimum conditions of heat, moisture, air, and materials, we can speed up the composting process. Besides producing more good soil faster, making the compost faster creates heat which will destroy plant diseases and weed seeds in the pile.
Compost Materials

Almost any organic material is suitable for a compost pile. The pile needs a proper ratio of carbon-rich materials, or "browns," and nitrogen-rich materials, or "greens." Among the brown materials are dried leaves, straw, and wood chips. Nitrogen materials are fresh or green, such as grass clippings and kitchen scraps.

Mixing certain types of materials or changing the proportions can make a difference in the rate of decomposition. Achieving the best mix is more an art gained through experience than an exact science. The ideal ratio approaches 25 parts browns to 1 part greens. Judge the amounts roughly equal by weight. Too much carbon will cause the pile to break down too slowly, while too much nitrogen can cause odor. The carbon provides energy for the microbes, and the nitrogen provides protein.

Leaves represent a large percentage of total yard waste. If you can grind them in a gas or electric chipper shredder or mow over them, they will reduce in size making them easier to store until you can use them in the pile, and they will decompose faster - an issue with larger leaves. They are loaded with minerals brought up from the tree roots and are a natural source of carbon. A few leaf species such as live oak, southern magnolia, and holly trees are too tough and leathery for easy composting. Avoid all parts of the black walnut tree as they contain a plant poison that survives composting. Eucalyptus leaves can be toxic to other plants. And avoid using poison oak, poison ivy, and sumac.

Pine Needles need to be chopped or shredded, as they decompose slowly. They are covered with a thick, waxy coating. In very large quantities, they can acidify your compost, which would be a good thing if you have alkaline soils.

Grass Clippings break down quickly and contain as much nitrogen as manure. Since fresh grass clippings will clump together, become anerobic, and start to smell, mix them with plenty of brown material. If you have a lot of grass clippings to compost, spread them on the driveway or other surface to bake in the sun for at least a day. Once it begins to turn pale or straw-like, it can be used without danger of souring. Avoid grass clippings that contain pesticide or herbicide residue, unless a steady rain has washed the residue from the grass blades.

Kitchen Refuse includes melon rinds, carrot peelings, tea bags, apple cores, banana peels - almost everything that cycles through your kitchen. The average household produces more than 200 pounds of kitchen waste every year. You can successfully compost all forms of kitchen waste. However, meat, meat products, dairy products, and high-fat foods like salad dressings and peanut butter, can present problems. Meat scraps and the rest will decompose eventually, but will smell bad and attract pests. Egg shells are a wonderful addition, but decompose slowly, so should be crushed. All additions to the compost pile will decompose more quickly if they are chopped up some before adding.

compost pail

To collect your kitchen waste, you can keep a small compost pail in the kitchen to bring to the pile every few days. Keep a lid on the container to discourage insects. When you add kitchen scraps to the compost pile, cover them with about 8" of brown material to reduce visits by flies or critters.

Wood Ashes from a wood burning stove or fireplace can be added to the compost pile. Ashes are alkaline, so add no more than 2 gallon-sized buckets-full to a pile with 3'x3'x3' dimensions. They are especially high in potassium. Don't use coal ashes, as they usually contain large amounts of sulfur and iron that can injure your plants. Used charcoal briquettes don't decay much at all, so it's best not to use them.

Garden Refuse should make the trip to the pile. All of the spent plants, thinned seedlings, and deadheaded flowers can be included. Most weeds and weed seeds are killed when the pile reaches an internal temperature above 130 degrees, but some may survive. To avoid problems don't compost weeds with persistent root systems, and weeds that are going to seed.

Spoiled Hay or Straw makes an excellent carbon base for a compost pile, especially in a place where few leaves are available. Hay contains more nitrogen than straw. They may contain weed seeds, so the pile must have a high interior temperature. The straw's little tubes will also keep the pile breathing.

Manure is one of the finest materials you can add to any compost pile. It contains large amounts of both nitrogen and beneficial microbes. Manure for composting can come from bats, sheep, ducks, pigs, goats, cows, pigeons, and any other vegetarian animal. As a rule of thumb, you should avoid manure from carnivores, as it can contain dangerous pathogens. Most manures are considered "hot" when fresh, meaning it is so rich in nutrients that it can burn the tender roots of young plants or overheat a compost pile, killing off earthworms and friendly bacteria. If left to age a little, however, these materials are fine to use.

Manure is easier to transport and safer to use if it is rotted, aged, or composted before it's used. Layer manure with carbon-rich brown materials such as straw or leaves to keep your pile in balance.

Seaweed is an excellent source of nutrient-rich composting material. Use the hose to wash off the salt before sending it to the compost pile.

The list of organic materials which can be added to the compost pile is long. There are industrial and commercial waste products you may have access to in abundance. The following is a partial list: corncobs, cotton waste, restaurant or farmer's market scraps, grapevine waste, sawdust, greensand, hair, hoof and horn meal, hops, peanut shells, paper and cardboard, rock dust, sawdust, feathers, cottonseed meal, blood meal, bone meal, citrus wastes, coffee, alfalfa, and ground seashells.
Following is a chart listing common composting materials
Type of Material Use it? Carbon/ Nitrogen Details
Algae, seaweed and lake moss Yes N Good nutrient source.
Ashes from coal or charcoal No n/a May contain materials bad for plants.
Ashes from untreated, unpainted wood Careful Neutral Fine amounts at most. Can make the pile too alkaline and suppress composting.
Beverages, kitchen rinse water Yes Neutral Good to moisten the middle of the pile. Don't over-moisten the pile.
Bird droppings Careful N May contain weed seeds or disease organisms.
Cardboard Yes C Shred into small pieces if you use it. Wetting it makes it easier to tear. If you have a lot, consider recycling instead.
Cat droppings or cat litter No n/a May contain disease organisms. Avoid.
Coffee ground and filters Yes N Worms love coffee grounds and coffee filters.
Compost activator Not required, but ok. Neutral You don't really need it, but it doesn't hurt.
Cornstalks, corn cobs Yes C Best if shredded and mixed well with nitrogen rich materials.
Diseased plants Careful N If your pile doesn't get hot enough, it might not kill the organisms, so be careful. Let it cure several months, and don't use resulting compost near the type of plant that was diseased.
Dog droppings No n/a Avoid.
Dryer lint Yes C Compost away! Moistening helps.
Eggshells Yes O Break down slowly. Crushing shells helps.
Fish scraps No n/a Can attract rodents and cause a stinky pile.
Hair Yes N Scatter so it isn't in clumps.
Lime No n/a Can kill composting action. Avoid.
Manure (horse, cow, pig, sheep, goat, chicken, rabbit) Yes N
Great source of nitrogen. Mix with carbon rich materials so it breaks down better.
Meat, fat, grease, oils, bones No n/a Avoid.
Milk, cheese, yogurt Careful Neutral Put it deep in the pile to avoid attracting animals.
Newspaper Yes C Shred it so it breaks down easier. It is easy to add too much newspaper, so recycle instead if you have a lot. Don't add slick colored pages.
Oak leaves Yes C Shredding leaves helps them break down faster. They decompose slowly. Acidic.
Sawdust and wood shavings (untreated wood) Yes C You'll need a lot of nitrogen materials to make up for the high carbon content. Don't use too much, and don't use treated woods.
Pine needles and cones Yes C
Don't overload the pile. Also acidic and decomposes slowly.
Weeds Careful N
Dry them out on the pavement, then add later.
Sod Careful N Make sure the pile is hot enough, so grass doesn't continue growing.
Compost Site Selection

Any pile of organic matter will eventually rot, but a well-chosen site can speed up the process. Look for a level, well-drained area. If you plan to add kitchen scraps, keep it accessible to the back door. Don't put it so far away you'll neglect the pile. In cooler latitudes, keep the pile in a sunny spot to trap solar heat. Look for some shelter to protect the pile from freezing cold winds which could slow down the decaying process. In warm, dry latitudes, shelter the pile in a shadier spot so it doesn't dry out too quickly.

Build the pile over soil or lawn rather than concrete or asphalt, to take advantage of the earthworms, beneficial microbes, and other decomposers, which will migrate up and down as the seasons change. Uncovered soil also allows for drainage. If tree roots are extending their roots into the pile, turn it frequently so they can't make headway.

Look for a spot that allows you to compost discretely, especially if you have neighboring yards in close proximity. Aim for distance and visual barriers between the pile and the neighbors.
Seasonal Schedule for Composting

An effective storage system is the key to successfully using the materials each season provides. In the fall, collect and shred fallen leaves. The best use for them now is as mulch for trees, shrubs, and garden beds. Excess leaves can be stored - leaves from 100 bags can be shredded and put in a 4'x4'x4' container. Some decomposition will take place over the winter, but not a significant amount. Continue to put kitchen scraps in the pile, but it's not necessary to turn in cold climes. If you want your compost pile to stay active during the winter, you'll want an enclosed bin with insulated sides. A black bin situated in a sunny spot can help trap solar radiation during cold spells. Keep the pile as large as possible so that heat generated from decomposition will endure. You can also stack bales of straw along the sides of your bin to help retain the heat.

In areas with a cold winter, spring is the best time to start the compost pile in earnest. There's an abundance of grass clippings and trimmings. Summer is the time the compost pile is working at its peak range of decomposition, especially if it has been turned once or twice. Cover and store the finished compost, or use it, and start another batch. With enough organic waste, you can produce several batches of highly managed compost during the summer.
Making Compost

Compost can range from passive - allowing the materials to sit and rot on their own - to highly managed. Whenever you intervene in the process, you're managing the compost. How you compost is determined by your goal. If you're eager to produce as much compost as possible to use regularly in your garden, you may opt for a more hands-on method of composting. If your goal is to dispose of yard waste, a passive method is your answer.

Passive composting involves the least amount of time and energy on your part. This is done by collecting organic materials in a freestanding pile. It might take a long time (a year or two), but eventually organic materials in any type of a pile will break down into finished compost. More attractive than a big pile of materials sitting in your yard is a 3-sided enclosure made of fencing, wire, or concrete blocks, which keeps the pile neater and less unsightly. Add grass clippings, leaves, and kitchen scraps (always cover these with 8" of other material). The pile will shrink quickly as the materials compress and decompose. Wait a year or two before checking the bottom of the bin for finished compost. When it's ready, shovel the bottom section into a wheelbarrow and add it to your garden beds. Continue to add greens and browns to have a good supply of finished compost at the ready. After the first few years, most simple piles produce a few cubic feet of finished compost yearly.

Managed composting involves active participation, ranging from turning the pile occasionally to a major commitment of time and energy. If you use all the techniques of managing the pile, you can get finished compost in 3-4 weeks. Choose the techniques that reflect how much you want to intervene in the decomposition process and that will be a function of how fast you want to produce compost.

The speed with which you produce finished compost will be determined by how you collect materials, whether you chop them up, how you mix them together, and so on. Achieving a good balance of carbon and nitrogen is easier if you build the pile all at once. Layering is traditional, but mixing the materials works as well.

Shredded organic materials heat up rapidly, decompose quickly, and produce a uniform compost. The decomposition rate increases with the size of the composting materials. If you want the pile to decay faster, chop up large fibrous materials.

You can add new materials on an ongoing basis to an already established pile. Most single-bin gardeners build an initial pile and add more ingredients on top as they become available.

The temperature of the managed pile is important - it indicates the activity of the decomposition process. The easiest way to track the temperature inside the pile is by feeling it. If it is warm or hot, everything is fine. If it is the same temperature as the outside air, the microbial activity has slowed down and you need to add more nitrogen (green) materials such as grass clippings, kitchen waste, or manure.

This would also be a good time to introduce the "Food Not Lawns" book promo tour that could be coming to Sac/Davis region this spring??

"Food Not Lawns, How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community"

by Heather Coburn Flores.

The premier guide for ecological living in the city through paradise gardening and shared resources by a co-founder of the original Food Not Lawns grassroots gardening project in Eugene, OR. With a foreword by Toby Hemenway and over 400 pages of text, enhanced by almost a hundred drawings by Northwest artist Jackie Holmstrom, Food Not Lawns offers a theoretical and practical handbook for ecological community transformation. (Chelsea Green, 2006, 334 p.) ISBN 1-933392-07-X

Order your author-signed first editions today by sending a check or money order for $25 plus $4.05 S&H ($29.05) to Heather Coburn Flores, 31139 Lanes Turn Road, Coburg, OR 97408. Estimate 5-8 business days for delivery."

more info @;
http://www.foodnotlawns.com/

Concept of Food not Lawns is that the turf grass monoculture lawns require petroleum based lawnmowers, fertilizers and herbicides (for killing those edible nutritious yellow flowered dandelions, por que?) and are taking up personal land space around homes that could be better used for growing a home garden with food crop biodiversity, better for ecosystem, residents and less resource intensive. The lawns into food revolution could also be our most reliable tool for overcoming the challenges of peak oil and the eventual downfall of petrochemical intensive industrial agriculture plantations systems..

What is the fear factor that motivates Sac city council members to endorse an outright ban on fruit trees? Fear of home garden independence? Would the great thirsty monoculture agri-corporations go out of business if everyone grows their own fruit trees and trades surplus food with their neighbors??

Another culprit in this home grown fruit tree ban could be the lawn based corporations like Tru-Green/Chem-lawn, subject of a protest last year in Sac over their selling of toxic petrochemical pesticides/herbicides as part of 'lawn care'..

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/news/daily_news_archive/2006/05_05_06.htm

TruGreen/ChemLawn's entire corporate structure is based upon people buying into the myths of suburban turf lawn monoculture as a visible achievement of the "American dream", though the toxic petrochemicals used for monoculture lawn maintenance are in reality a nightmare for the watershed..

several reasons to boicott Trugreen/Chemlawn;

"Children are at Risk: Research links the pesticides used by TruGreen ChemLawn to nausea, vomiting, dizziness and headaches and chronic illnesses such as lymphoma, leukemia, bladder cancer, and learning disabilities. Children are especially vulnerable to toxic pesticides.


Workers are Exposed: Pesticide applicators and the workers who launder their uniforms suffer the negative health effects of daily exposure to toxic pesticides.

Pets are Vulnerable: Your pet has an increased risk of cancer when exposed to lawn pesticides.

Our Environment is Being Poisoned: Pesticides can contaminate drinking water and can harm or kill birds, fish, and other beneficial wildlife."

more info @;
http://www.refusetousechemlawn.org/

People in FL have had enough of Trugreen/Chemlawn's toxic herbicide haze;

"TruGreen ChemLawn Urged To Phase-Out Dangerous Lawn Care Pesticides in Florida

(Beyond Pesticides, November 17, 2006) This week Toxics Action
Center launched its Refuse to Use ChemLawn campaign in Florida’s Sarasota region. Sarasota’s Division of ChemLawn received over one hundred phone calls over a three-day period this week from local activists urging the company to take immediate action to protect the health of children, pets, and the environment.

As part of the ChemLawn call-in, area residents are demanding that TruGreen ChemLawn discontinue their use of pesticides that are known possible carcinogens, offer a safe, non-toxic lawn-care program without the use of synthetic fertilizers, stop using children to market their products, disclose all ingredients in their pesticide products, and protect workers while phasing out pesticides.

The campaign kicked off over the weekend when activists hung 350 Refuse to Use ChemLawn pledge door-hangers in Lakewood Ranch, a deed-restricted neighborhood development known for its mandatory serviced lawns and toxic pesticides.

Toxics Action Center chose to work with Sarasota residentst because the region represents one of the largest markets for TruGreen ChemLawn in the nation. Many area residents are expressing their concerns about toxic fertilizer and pesticide lawn applications as a likely contributor to the Gulf’s worsening red tide problem. Although red tide is a naturally occurring algal bloom, fertilizer run-off is exacerbating it; the role of lawn service companies in this equation is unquestionable."

read on @;
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/news/daily_news_archive/2006/11_17_06.htm

Seems like Trugreen/Chemlawn have the greatest loss of business if people convert their turf lawns into fruit trees and garden vegetables and the trend catches on. Plant and tree biodiversity is the naturally foolproof alternative to pesticide/herbicide dependent turf lawn monoculture, and what else could poor Trugreen/Chemlawn corporation do if nobody needs their toxic petrochemical turf lawn products anymore??

To sum up, all this fearmongering of home gardens, fruit and nut trees while enforcing mandatory turf lawns by the Sac city politicos could be masking a deeply rooted fear of pesticide-free agricultural independence from both turf lawns and agri-corporations. Would SPD officers storm into homes and arrest people who recently planted a few plum trees in their front yards??