What Not to Feed Your Composter

Keep your composter happy by feeding it the right food.  For general composting, stay away from meats, bones, fish scraps, perennial weeds (the seeds may resprout), or diseased plants.  Be cautious about manures if your compost will be used for amending food gardening soil.  Also be aware that many non-organic vegetable and fruit peelings may contain pesticide residue and should be kept out of compost.

Finally, different wastes will compost at different rates.  Chop up larger, tougher materials for quicker composting rates.  As with your own eating habits, pay attention to what you are feeding your composter to enjoy the best results.

New Grow Bin System

A new hydroponics grow system is now available.  Suitable for apartments or indoor gardening, this grow system accepts up to 18 pots and holds over 10 gallons of nutrient solution.  Based on the big-brother grow bin, it uses a high-volume spray bar to provide energetic root growth.

Flow-Through Worm Bin

My engineering hat went on this weekend when I decided to design a mid-size flow-through worm bin for production of both worm castings and worm population growth.  Rather than build yet another worm box, I decided to tackle a flow-through design where the castings can be removed from the bottom of the unit without disturbing the worm's dinner table.

Read more: Flow-Through Worm Bin