Composting your yard trimmings and kitchen scraps is a great way to help your plants and reduce the amount of waste you generate.

HOW TO MAKE COMPOST

• • • Build or buy a compost bin, or just make a pile.
    • Mix two parts greens (grass, leaves and flowers) to one part browns (dry leaves, sticks and twigs).
    • Some kitchen scraps are acceptable (vegetable and fruit peels, eggshells, coffee grounds, etc.).  Do not use meat or dairy products – these can attract rodents, flies, and cause bad odors.
    • Turn and water regularly; keep your pile moist (like a damp sponge), and move the material around using a pitchfork or shovel.

WHY USE COMPOST?
Compost increases water retention, decreases the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and helps keep a useful resource from going to waste.

Limited space?  Check out vermicomposting.
Vermicompost is the product of the composting process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast, also called worm castings.  These castings have been shown to contain reduced levels of contaminants and a higher saturation of nutrients than do organic materials before vermicomposting.