How composting works!

This morning over drinking my tuerkisch coffee I found this very interesting information about how much solid waste USA citizens generate every day. The article states further that per capita the amount of waste is a little more than 4 pounds. This is double the amount since the sixties, when we hovered around 2-3 pounds per person.
The article goes on, and I like to hear that very much, the amount sent to the landfills has steadily declined, due to the great efforts of recycling and energy-generation application.

Well, the folks at Topdressing are contributing their share to the reduction of landfill bound solid waste of organic matter. Since composting yard, garden debris and some food wastes (don't put fruits residues on your compost, this creates alcohol) reduces the waste sent to landfills and for you green peace members, environmentally conscientious citizens it will create a valuable soil amendment.

Topdressing has been practicing Natural Lawn Care for many years and established an educational website just for YOU the environmentally conscientious natural lawn care practitioner. They are taking in other landscapers leaves, tree surgeons wood chips and manure from various animal species. They adhere to the latest findings to accelerate the digestion of these organic products by

Composting is defined as: the biological process of decomposition of organic matter. This process of digesting organic matter is called composition, a natural process, which we can be accelerated by mechanical means. Mechanical Means is turning the virgin composting material by hand or front end loader of your yard tractor at certain intervals.
In the digestive process the following side products are produced:

- Carbon dioxide
- Water are produced
- Heat

The end result is compost.
Other factors aiding in the digestive process of virgin compost materials are from higher levels of living beings in the category of invertebrate animals:

- mites
- millipedes
- Insects
- Sow bugs
- earthworms
- snails

Microorganisms are responsible to aide in the chemical decomposition and are creating the heat which we need to control otherwise we destroy the nutritional value of the future compost. Some microbes require oxygen (aerobic) to function, while others do not (anaerobic).

This is it for today but: You can create your own compost pile. Please join us another day and we will go into more details about that aspect of composting. For further information of how you can successfully use compost join me on the educational website for natural lawn care www.topdressing.biz

Compost from leaves -

An apropos discussion in these early days of December. Leave Compost is the result of a natural process of decay and recycling of materials such as leaves and twigs. With all of the grass clippings, twigs and leaves from the yard, fall is a good time to make a compost pile. Approximately 33% of your compost pile can be of wood fiber but will take much longer to decompose.

By the time the next season rolls around, a lot of those leaves have begun decomposing and in the process, they’re feeding the trees and the cycle continues without any help from man. If you are living in the five county area of Philadelphia, PA and don’t feel like collecting your leaves or starting a compost pile the people at www.I-cut-large-lawns.com, or www.nestorlandscaping.com will do the work for you

Start filling it up with leaves and grass clippings and that's it you're done. " Compost is defined in the dictionary as "a mixture of decaying organic matter, as from leaves and manure, used to improve soil structure and provide nutrients. The leaves fall from the trees and decompose.

In the forest, when leaves fall from the trees, they all gather on the forest floor. In our Doylestown, PA for example, all the leaves that are gathered in the fall from the local streets, are mulched up and composted. Moving leaves to the pile, then chopping them up with a lawn mower or leaf shredder before they go on the pile aids composting considerably, as small particles decompose faster than large ones.

In the case you have oak leaves, the folks at www.do-it-now-landscaping.com suggest to add ground limestone also. You scatter the limestone if you are concerned about the ph level (acidity level) they may generate in your pile. Go ahead and place a 6-inch layer of leaves or grass clippings too.

You can also put some nitrogen into the leaves as you place them in the leave pile. If your concern is to use less artificial fertilizer you may go the organic or natural lawn care route and topdress your lawn.

For more information, please visit the natural lawn care education website www.topdressing.biz. In case you have a large lawn area to take care of the folks at www.earthandturf.com have some equipment to help you with the topdressing task.

Also www.abcgroffrental.com has John Deer Gators for rent which a www.earthandturf.com topdresser attached instead of a cargo area.

12/3/2006 13:58