Compost.

Seriously.  Compost.

It’s green, it’s environmentally friendly, it’s guilt relief (when you end up throwing away a drawer full of rotting produce you forgot to use).  It’s rich and warm for the roots.  It breaks up the hard mountainous soil making way for air and nutrients.  It’s the most important soil amendment possible, at least 1000-times better than peat moss. And, unlike peat moss, it is readily renewable-fast!  But the magic word?  The word that makes it all seem to make sense?  Or-ganic.  Organic!

God composts, you know.

God?  Yes.  In a thick, green forest, when leaves and needles fall to the ground and are undisturbed, they decompose and enrich the soil below.  They become their own mulch and then compost and then fertilizer for the trees above (and the roots below).  Ashes to ashes, my friends.

In suburbia, we rake leaves up as soon as they fall (or vacuum them now sometimes, geesh).  Then we go buy chemical fertilizers trying to make things look healthy, lush and green.  We want healthy, lush and green – we just want to control it.  Or, in my case, my homeowner’s association wants to control it.

In my last house, I had no association giving me ‘friendly suggestions’ AND I had a giant backyard.  I had a compost sytem made of pallet wood.  Wondrous!!  I found this example recently. (This one is really nice and the blog post totally worth the read!  Great tips!)

Paying Hundreds of Dollars to Decompose My Scraps

For the past 6 years, I have had to buy it.  Buy it!  Compost-rotting stuff!  So I have been looking into these composters you can buy now and you have to add so much of their product (worms and starter and generating powder, etc.)  it is ridiculous.  What a scam aimed at middle-American, white-collar, home-owner-associated, bourgeois suburbanites. (It takes one to know one)

Homemade Compost: Back to Compost Basics

I am thinking of trying the poor man’s version, but keeping it pure.  You can, you know!  I found this possibility out there on the web: a homemade composter made of an old trash can.  Hmmmm……Imagine, a useful and actually very valuable place for old coffee grounds, crunched egg shells, saw dust, dryer lint, untreated grass clippings,shredded newspaper, straw or hay, prunings, leaves, old plants, banana peels, really any fruit or veggie peelings…and etc…

Don’t know though…may have to wait to start until after Heaven Fest – maybe late August…stay tuned.