Composting made simple

Have you ever googled composting? You can get so many ways to compost, add this, measure that etc, etc...

Composting is very simple, not time consuming, no need to measure anything, no special containers needed.

My Grandpa taught me a very important rule.

"Everything you need is already here for you naturally and free and that there is no need to alter what is already perfect"

To compost all you need is a small area in your yard. An area big enough for 2 piles( the size of your choosing) you need a space for 2 piles so that you  have enough room to stir and flip your compost. I don't use any containers, or covers.( Although I do have to keep the dog out) I just simply pile my ingredients in a pile, and when I'm outside I go and give it stir or quick flip.

 Nature just takes its course on the pile, with the rain, snow, and sun.

The ingredients of your compost is simple, I think about it like this, if its grown naturally, then its good for my compost.

All grass clippings, leaves, bark, weeds, any raw fruit or vegetable, egg shells, coffee grounds

Never put any animal feces, meat, oils, or anything cooked in your pile.

My Grandpa never used fertilizers or chemicals, never measured ph balance or anything else, as kids we would be out playing and stop in the garden for a snack, no need to wash anything off, just a little swipe on the shirt would do.

This is so easy and healthy for you and your plants.

 The kids will also enjoy watching it work its magic. Over time you will see it breaking down (usually about 3 months).

Its  a great science project topic and cuts down on landfill waste.

Indoor Greenhouse

Making the decision to live repurposeful has my head reeling and spining with tons of ideas, but I needed to focus and organize and choose a starting point.

 I decided to start with planting seeds for an indoor greenhouse. Truth be told, I've never had a green thumb, not because I couldn't grow anything, but because I never put forth the effort. I have always for some reason only thought that I had a 3 month growing window for a garden, and then all of a sudden a light bulb came on and I thought to myself..seeds don't have brains. All I would need to do is manipulate thier atmosphere and make the seeds believe that the shelf in front of the living room window is a great place to grow.

 So with the idea of an indoor greenhouse I headed to the internet. Seems as if alot of garderners and such have thier own way of doing things and some ideas I agreed with and some I didn't. However one thing we all can agree on is that you must start with a good soil. The soil must have enough nutrients, moisture, and aeration balance. I am starting a compost pile this year that will be ready in about 6 months. So since my compost isn't ready, I will need to go and buy some potting mix with which I mixed with clean dirt from my yard to provide my seeds with balance and when I transplant them they will be acclamated to the soil. Who knew there was such a thing as clean dirt, kind of an oxymoron right? I had a pile of dirty dirt sitting from an earlier project,



 so I took a screen that has been in the shed for 4 years, obviously I'm not using it nor will I ever and with that I have repurposed the screen to a dirt strainer. I grabbed my big bowl, topped with the screen and put little shovel fulls of the dirty dirt on the screen and filtered out the sand (clean dirt) to the bowl, while anything bigger than a granule gets left on top of screen for another purpose.



 I took my store bought potting mix and clean dirt and mixed equal parts together and then added water til just moist through out the soil, this will help in the soil settling and starting your seeds off. I bought seeds at the local store, none of which cost over $1.50 per packet. For this round of planting I chose beefsteak tomatoes, roma tomatoes, jalepeno peppers, green bell peppers, dill, chamomile, cilantro, green onion, lettuce, and cumin. I also needed to think about containers and then my recylcling mind turned on. I used the bottoms of plastic 2 liter pop bottles, some old aluminum pans that I was saving for the last 2 years and then I went and bought styrofoam cups, because I will repurpose those when I am finshed, yes there really is a purpose for old used styrofoam and they are very inexpensive at just a $1. I poked holes in the bottoms of all the containers, because you want to water from the bottom. I then put enough soil in each container to just within about 1/2 inch left to top of container. Place your seeds on top of soil, pat down and then loosely cover with soil. Thats it...Seeds are planted..Easy Peasy.. Next shelving in the right window, which for me is the livingroom window, it is a great size and faces south so it recieves lots of natural sun light and heat. You will need trays for under your containers that are about 1/2 deep to hold your water, I used some old aluminum trays and plates. I had 2 aluminum pans with plastic lids, I put the pan inside the lid and the lid is now the water tray..



Remember to never water from the top, I keep my trays with a little water in the bottom, its amazing that the seeds and soil only take what it needs. I can't wait to eat one of those tomatoes and... mmm... a cup of fresh chamomole tea will  be well worth the effort, although I can't say it was work, because I really enjoyed playing in the soil and realizing that for just pennies I will be feeding my family and my ultimate goal is to specialize in herbs and tomatoes. The thought of making tea and spagetti sauce, ketchup and stewed tomatoes, essential oils and so much more not only for my family but also for the public and being able to give people the option to not only choose healthy, but my goal is to always make it affordable because for some reason the only option we have in the supermarket is cheap and unheathly or expensive. I'm so excited to share this with everyone and I hope I can inspire you to repurpose one thing today.