Sage Garden - That's One Helpful Heap

Composting may not be the hottest topic of conversation over cocktails on a Friday night, but it should be! It’s the one secret every savvy gardener knows and every garden is sure to appreciate. So, if you’re looking to practice a more environmentally friendly way to garden or simply looking to give Martha Stewart a run for her money, composting is just the trick.

Every successful garden starts with a healthy soil and healthy soil depends on how well it is enriched with compost. Not only does it feed the soil with helpful microorganisms, compost serves as a soil conditioner and protective mulch. Simply put, by composting you are turning everyday wastes into the very soil that will make your garden a super star. Did I mention it will also put a little green back into your wallet? Talk about a multi-tasker!

Composting is simple, quick and honestly, not as stinky as you may think. So step over the stigma and jump in. Fall is just the time to try out a compost pile of your very own.

Sage Advice:

* Effective compost piles are made up of a variety of green materials (grass clippings, vegetable wastes, coffee grounds, etc.) and brown materials (topsoil, sawdust, dry leaves, shredded newspapers)

* Add only enough water to keep the pile as moist as a wrung out sponge and turn the pile often to keep air circulating

* Never add human or animal wastes or any type of meat products. These will attract animals and potentially introduce disease to the compost

* Composts with temperatures between 90F and 140F are composting efficiently

Did you know?
Approximately 30% of the United States' waste stream is made up of yard and food wastes.

Megan DiPerri
Megan DiPerri is a graduate of the University of Maine where she obtained a B.S. in Landscape Horticulture with a focus in business and design. A true plant nerd at heart and secret tree-hugger by night, Megan is dedicated and passionate about the environment. She is always looking to educate others on how going “green” is not only beneficial to the world around us, it’s the new wave of the future.

Her Green Living insights, "Sage Garden," will be featured regularly in future issues of Aetherial Living.

If you enjoy this article, or would like to know more about Megan, please drop her a comment at megan@aetheriaspa.com