Grow Your Groceries Gardening - Recycle Garden & Kitchen Waste

Grow Your Groceries Gardening is just that ... growing your own 'in season' edible plants at home instead of purchasing them from a shop, store and/or supermarket.

Increasing numbers of people are getting their hands dirty once again by growing some of their favourite foods in their back (or front) gardens.

Of course, as a Permaculturist, I am very happy that more and more people are trying to grow their own food, but if we are to preserve our precious environment we 'home gardeners' must learn to develop sustainable home gardening and recycling practices that deal with the organic waste material that will be produced from both our garden and our kitchen.

Why? Simply because greenwaste such as prunings, lawn-clippings, etc together with other organic waste such as kitchen scraps that ends up in landfill sites is usually an expensive and real-life environmental problem to manage.

This kind of waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas production and it can also add to the contamination of our groundwater supply if it leaches into it.

Almost half of our household refuse consists mainly of foodscraps and greenwaste (organic waste). Every household usually produces approximately one tonne of this organic waste annually and one tonne of such organic waste, if composted, could make approximately half a tonne of reusable fertile soil if landfill sites provided a greenwaste recycling service.

By recycling our own garden and kitchen wastes we can easily make our very own garden soil fertile and so reduce the need to buy and use artificial fertilisers in our garden beds.

Recycling our own garden's greenwaste back into our soil as compost is not as hard as you might think.

You will be helping out the environment by cutting out the cost of rubbish collection and transport to landfill sites.

Also by adding your homemade compost to your soil you will actually help cut down the costs of your water bill because you will be conserving water, another precious resource.

Composting occurs in nature and is the natural process of decomposition which helps to regenerate the soil.

It can be observed where leaves and other vegetation fall to the ground, to rot and decay. Their decomposition creates nutrients in the soil that are then taken up by the living roots system to feed the plants and promote growth.

Using a compost bin (or compost bay) mimics and hastens this process.

Kitchen and garden greenwaste is placed into a compost bin or compost bay and is eventually broken down by naturally occuring bacteria and fungi. This forms an earthy smelling dark coloured soil mixture which we call Compost.

There are so many benefits as to why you should use and make your own compost and the list below are just a few that I can think of straight up.

If you can think of any other benefits of compost please feel free to add them to the comments section at the bottom of this hub article.

Compost helps build healthy soils by providing a nutrient source for plants.

Compost encourages and supports living organisms, including earthworms, in the soil.

Compost reduces the spread of plant diseases therefore reducing the need to use pesticides in the garden.

Compost reduces the need for chemical fertilisers due to its slow release of nutrients into the soil.

Compost will increase the aeration of the soil due to the increased 'sponge-like' soil structure.

Compost will help to maintain even soil temperatures by insulating the soil and retaining water present in the soil.

Compost will help to reduce water lost through evaporation by increasing the water holding capacity of the soil.

Compost will help to reduce the soil salinity by providing a healthy environment to support and enrich plant life.

Compost will reduce the cost of maintaining a healthy and productive home garden.

To provide and maintain the right environmental conditions in your compost bin or compost bay the home gardener needs to ensure that these four basic essentials are present to be successful.

1. AIR

Micro-organisms that are needed to break down the organic waste material into compost are aerobic which means that they will need air to perform their job. This is why it is extremely important that you create air pockets by introducing coarse material such as straw and dry vegetation into the compost pile.

Turning the compost mixture occasionally (about every two weeks) adds oxygen which helps the bacteria to function and speeds up the composting process.

2. WATER

Just like plants and animals micro-organisms need mositure to sustain life. Your compost mixture should be as moist as a wrung-out sponge, damp but not drenched.

3. FOOD

'Brown Food' and 'Green Food'

There are two kinds of food that micro-organisms need to make good compost - the 'Brown Food' group which is high in Carbon and the "Green Food' group which is high in Nitrogen.

Make sure that your homemade compost contains material from both 'food groups'.

Brown Food -

dry garden prunings

leaves

bark

sawdust

egg cartons

paper

cardboard

straw/hay

Green Food -

lawn/grass clippings

weeds

fruit and vegetable scraps

tea leaves

coffee grounds

human hair

animal hair

4. TEMPERATURE

Hot compost is best because the heat is due to the presence of a greater number of micro-organisms and it will decompose faster than a cooler compost mixture with fewer micro-organisms.

I will dedicate another hub article on the subject of "How To Make a Hot Compost and How To Make a Cold Compost" as well as some problem solving suggestions if things do not go according to plan.

Organic mulch is shredded material spread in a protective layer approximately 10 centimetres deep over the soil and should not be placed too close to the stems of the plants to prevent stem rot.

Common organic mulching materials that you can use in your home garden include -

Chipped/Shredded garden prunings

Straw/Hay

Woodchips

Bark

Leaves

Mulch is best used over a nurturing compost layer and always wet the soil before you applying mulch. Organic mulch when spread liberally on the soil will -

Reduce evaporation of water.

Prevent soil erosion.

Add nutrients to the soil.

Help control invasive weeds.

Help to regulate soil temperature.

Provide an ideal climate for earthworms.

Protect micro-organisms and organisms working in the compost from the harsh sun.

A worm-farm is a simple way to turn non-fatty kitchen waste into high quality nutrients for your household food garden. The earthworms will digest most of your organic kitchen waste and the end result being their castings is a nutrious soil conditioner.

Commercial worm farms come in various sizes to suit different needs. Standard units are readily available at Garden Nursery Centre and Hardware and larger Variety stores.

You can make your own worm farm using self-draining containers such as polystyrene boxes or wooden crates (put a tray underneath to catch the liquid run-off or 'worm-wee'). This is excellent liquid fertiliser for your gardens but it needs to be diluted in water before putting on your plants.

We have recycled an old cast iron bath-tub which sits up off the ground in a steel frame as our homemade worm farm. We have a plug in the plughole and when released the 'worm-wee juice' flows down into a bucket underneath.

Purchase Red or Tiger composting worms.

On a 10cm bed of moistened shredded paper and finished compost or coconut fibre add 1000-2000 worms.

Cover the bed with felt, cardboard, paper, carpet offcut or cloth.

Store the worm farm unit away from extreme temperatures for a week to allow the worms to acclimatise.

After a week spread kitchen scraps and a handful of sand to the top of the bed. Finely chopped food will be eaten quicker. Add food as it is eaten.

If the food smells you will need to reduce the amount you give them and add some wood ash or dolomite and aerate it with a pitchfork.

Harvest a commercial worm farm by removing the lowest tray. In other worm farms you need to be able to move the worms to one side or out of the box altogether so that you can scrape the worm castings from the surface.

Worm castings can be used as plant food, potting mix and liquid fertiliser.

Favourite Worm Foods -

vegetable and food scraps

cooked rice

tea bags

crushed egg shells

paper and cardboard

juicing pulp

Least Favourite Worm Foods -

meat

fish

fats

dairy

onion and garlic

citrus/citrus peels

Steps to good garden planning are -

Plan what is the focus of your garden ie. vegetable garden, recreation area, etc.

Understand your local climatic conditions.

Improve the soil quality.

Select plants carefully that are suited to your local region.

Minimise your water usage.

Minimise the amount of lawn/grass areas.

Use Mulch and Compost freely - make your own and save money.

If the home food gardener was to implement the above mentioned practices by reducing the amount of organic material sent to landfill by composting, mulching and worm-farming at home it would be of major benefit to their's and our environment.

Happy Grow Your Groceries Gardening!

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