Going Organic and Beyond!: Black Gold

That's right, BLACK GOLD! No, not petroleum, compost. I had a huge pile of leaves and other vegetative waste I cleaned out of someone's back yard about a year ago. When I say huge I do mean HUGE! Now the pile is about a fourth of the size after natural decomposition with a lot of help from a colony of worms who took up residence. So now I have a good amount of the best garden fertilizer there is. I estimate it is composed of at least 75% worm castings, which is awesome.

"What's so awesome about that?" you might say. Worm castings, i.e. worm manure, has more nutrients than any other animal manure. It's like the ultimate performance enhancing supplement for plants. The best part is it's all natural and organic, not to mention it kept a large amount of waste from being deposited in a landfill, or polluting our air with smoke.

So the next time you need to clean up the yard, don't toss it out or burn it! Compost it. Just pick out a corner in your yard and start a compost pile. You can help speed up the process by chopping it up with a lawn mower and turning the pile over every couple of weeks. You can add your veggie and fruit scraps as well. Some other stuff you can compost are coffee grounds w/ filter, tea bags sans staple, crushed egg shells (not eggs), shredded news paper, rice, bread and cereal. Be sure not to add meat, bones or oils as it will stink and attract scavengers like raccoons, cats, and dogs.