More Ideas on Free and Low-Cost Compost

It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves.  ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Greeting fellow gardeners,

Due to high level of input about compost in my last posting, I thought I'd share a little more about obtaining it or materials to increase the amount of compost you generate. 

I realize that some of these suggestions imay sound strange, but can definitely pay off in the long run.

• Check your local Freecycle board (freecycle.org) or Craigslist site (craigslist.com) and check for postings offering free or discounted compost.  If you can’t find any ads, create your own.  You can express your interest in obtaining compost or items to jump start your own compost system such as aged manure, leaves or other yard waste.

• Speak with your friends, family and neighbors to express your interest in composting.  If they don’t have compost, see if they are willing to provide you with various materials to add to your existing pile.  In return, you can share the competed product with them as an incentive.

• If your town does not offer a yard waste recycling program, advocate to see if you can help jump start a program.  Do a little research, for example: check with your local refuse companies and enquire about their disposal process.  Take a visit to your local landfill when they provide open houses to obtain information about waste processing.  You will have to be persistent.

• Call around to local farms to see if you can obtain aged manure.  Some will give it to you for free or at a discounted rate.  Please inquire about their operations before hand.  Are they using antibiotics or other types of medications to treat their items?  What type of feed do they provide their animals?  They are valid questions so don’t be shy about asking.

• Check with local coffee shops to see if they are willing to give you their coffee grounds for free.  I have noticed most shops are doing this now and some have special spots in their shops where they placed used bagged grounds for your convenience

Finally, here are a couple of resources for frugal types interested in building their own compost tumbler:

http://kindacrunchykate.com/2011/03/09/how-to-make-a-compost-tumbler-very-inexpensively-a-photo-tutorial/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i-Qe75-DDQ

I hope you find these suggestions useful! :-)

Angela

A Few Words About Compost and Seeds

A garden was the primitive prison, till man with Promethean felicity and boldness, 

luckily sinned himself out of it.  ~Charles Lamb, 1830

Hello fellow thrifty gardeners. Recently, I took a work related field trip to our county’s newest recycling center and I just had to share my experience with my like minded, earthly friendly and frugal gardening acquaintances.

I have visited several landfills and other waste disposal centers in this state; however, I was truly impressed with this particular location. The center accepts all types of recyclable wastes such as standard household materials, electronics, hazardous chemicals, fluorescent bulbs, clothing, appliances, yard debris, etc. The building itself is cavernous, but extremely well maintained. 

But what really excited me was the large, free compost pile.  Yes, free compost my friends!  A frugal gardener’s favorite word. You simply have to provide proof of your county residency and bring your own containers and shovels and load the containers yourself.  Best of all, there is no limit to the amount you can take for residential purposes only.

In the future, I plan on creating my own homemade compost system when the hubby and I move to the countryside, but until then, I plan on utilizing this extremely valuable resource for potting, mulch and fertilizer in my garden this year. 

Please, check with your local county and townships to see if free compost, mulch or topsoil is available.  You will not regret it.

Taa….taa… for now.

Angela

P.S.  Attention Fellow Seed Collectors: Locally the home improvement stores, garden centers, and Dollar stores have begun to place garden seeds out on display.  Most have seeds selling from 10 to 50 cents a pack.  From experience I can tell you they sell very fast so you might want to take advantage of this right away.