A Cubic Yard of Compost = ?

You visit your local nursery and ask how much compost it’ll take to amend soil or top dress your lawn. The clerk asks for measurements of your lawn, does a few calculations and voila! You hear you’ll need approximately 1 cubic yard of the stuff. Oh sure, one cubic yard. Sounds good, but now you’re asking yourself if you have room to store 1 cubic yard of compost. How can you know just how much space one cubic yard of compost will use? We’ll give you an easy way to envision the answer to this question shortly, but first -

It could be this ‘unknown’ element of compost buying that intimidates many homeowners; driving them to purchase the higher priced bagged product that had been gathering dust on a shelf for weeks. Don’t let yourself be lured by the apparent ‘easy choice’ when bulk compost is clearly the better option.

Bulk compost is a fresh, nutrient rich product; produced locally with quality organic materials. Because there aren’t any plastic bags to rip open, it is the most environmentally desirable product for lawn and garden. Plus, it costs less! Of course ‘out-of-the-bag’ compost can’t be easily tossed in the trunk of your car like the bagged stuff, but your local nursery or landscape center will usually be happy to help out by delivering the product to home or garden. How great is that!

Oh, yeah, we promised you an easy way to estimate the amount of room a cubic yard of compost will use. Look at your dishwasher. One cubic yard = 27 cubic feet, the same size as the average dishwasher.

If you live on the Central Coast, Harvest Blend Compost is the natural choice for lawn and garden improvements. Check out our dealer map for a location near you.

For more info on the uses and benefits of compost, visit www.GotCompost.com

To speak with a Harvest Blend Compost Field Rep, call (805) 925-2771 and ask for Jim or Chuck

Thanks for choosing Harvest Blend Compost. Naturally!

February Gardening Tips

The middle of February? Already?! We’re still feeling the sting of winter weather, maybe even using it as an excuse not to work in the garden. If you’re a dedicated gardener, you haven’t been wasting these precious weeks. And if you have neglected your planting beds, you definitely have time to prepare for spring.

Take a look at your trees, both shade and deciduous fruit trees. How about roses? These plants could undoubtedly use some help – a good pruning should do the trick. If you’re not familiar with correct pruning techniques it’s well worth the investment to hire a tree specialist. Hacking away at any old branch can spell trouble for these weather worn plants, possibly damaging future growth.

And did you know that February is bareroot season. Fruit trees, berries and roses are available for planting at a lower cost now than in the spring, when we find them in containers.  Be sure to dig a hole larger than the root spread of the tree, mixing in plenty of Harvest Blend Compost with the dirt, to use as backfill when planting. Click here for tips on using compost to plant and care for trees and shrubs.

Are you planning for your vegetable garden? You can start beets, lettuce and spinach indoors to plant out later when the weather warms a little. If you don’t have the latest seed catalogs lying around the house, click here, scroll down the page and you'll find links to some of our favorite suppliers.

Warm days/cold nights.  While February may see some warm days, nights will still be cold and there’s even danger of frost, so be prepared to protect tender plants. If you are unable to bring the plants indoors, try to group them together in a protected location up against the home or even under the eaves or a carport and cover them with a light blanket, sheets, tablecloth, polypropylene material or custom plant blankets or other cloth for the night. The south and west sides of the home are normally the warmest. If the container is too big to move, you can mulch around the container or wrap the base with a blanket or other cloth.

Covering a plant with cloth is one of the most effective ways of protecting a plant during extremely cold weather. Make sure the cover extends all the way to the ground so that it can trap in the heat. Plants do not produce heat but the soil does. Rocks and clothespins are effective ways to help keep the cover on and better insulate the plant from the elements. Be sure to remove the covers daily when the temps rise since the added weight of a wet cloth can break delicate branches. Wood stakes or tomato cages around the plant can keep the covering up and off the leaves. Small plants can also be covered with cardboard boxes placed upside down over the plant.

Don’t use plastic materials to cover your plants. Plastic can burn the leaves it touches on a cold night and it also cuts off air to the plant. In addition it acts as a greenhouse taking plants from nightly lows to much higher temperatures during the day. This rapid temperature change can cause serious freeze damage or can be fatal to plants.

And our favorite, Compost as mulch, protects soil from colder temps. For more on compost and its uses, visit www.GotCompost.com

Mulch with Compost - protect soil during winter

Brrrr…temps are lower than ever! Mulching garden beds insulates soil & plants from the cold.

When we hear the word ‘mulch’ we think of a product; you know, like the multitude of bagged varieties you find on the shelves of our local garden centers. But did you know that mulch is an application? Yup, to ‘mulch’ your garden simply means you place a layer of organic or inorganic material on the surface of the soil. This is a good time of year to mulch our gardens since mulch acts as insulation for tender plants, roots and soil during cooler months. Mulch also protects soils against erosion; conserves water by slowing evaporation; controls certain plant diseases and decorates landscapes.

Mulching is one of the most widely used practices in residential landscapes. Many types of mulch used in planting beds are wood-based; made by grinding waste wood, e.g. pallets, tree branches, etc. The wood mulch is dyed to make it more attractive and to look more like bark, but has a very high carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio. Other types of mulch include synthetic sheeting, ground greenwaste and our favorite - compost.

Research has shown that compost when used as mulch can greatly improve soil fertility and plant growth. In studies comparing compost and ground wood used as mulch on ornamental plantings - mulching with compost increased soil organic matter, microbial activity, nutrient availability and tree growth. Increased microbial activity in soils has been linked to the suppression of many root diseases.

In comparison to wood mulch, the compost had a comparatively low C:N ratio and may act as high quality organic fertilizer as it decomposes. In contrast, high C:N mulch made from recycled wood caused nutrient deficiencies and reduced plant growth. The high carbon content of the mulch stimulated the growth of soil microbes which gobbled up the limited supply of nutrients, leaving nothing for existing plants, resulting in Nitrogen immobilization. Although the nitrogen-depleting effect of mulch lessens over time as it decomposes, this nitrogen immobilization by microbes may harm plants that haven’t established extensive root systems.

To be available to plants, nitrogen must be in an inorganic form, such as nitrate (NO3- ) or ammonium (NH4+). Plants aren’t capable of converting organic nitrogen to these inorganic forms. Fortunately, microorganisms commonly found in soil and compost convert organic nitrogen into inorganic nitrogen, a process called mineralization. Plants may then take up the nutrients released by this process.

Soils in urban and suburban landscapes often lack nutrient rich organic matter because topsoil is usually removed, disturbing soil during construction. Research results demonstrated that mulching with compost increases organic matter, microbial biomass, nutrient availability, and plant growth. The use of compost as mulch supports a healthy soil food web;  restoring ecological processes to degraded soils, while diverting valuable natural resources from landfills.

To learn more about compost and its benefits, visit www.GotCompost.com or call Harvest Blend Compost @ 805-347-9998 for helpful recorded info.

Harvest Blend Compost builds healthy soil!

Perennials Hibernate, Too!

Of all the seasons, winter has always been the toughest on our garden plants, since the elements become too harsh for tender plants to survive. When warmer temps plummet into near freezing numbers we find it’s best to prepare our landscape for the season ahead. Among our entire landscape, our perennial flower beds need the most attention.

As we know, perennial flowers are those that bloom year after year, making them a vital component of any landscape. Since perennials retreat underground during winter months, now is the perfect time to prepare the soil around them (carefully.) Putting our perennial flower beds to sleep is pretty much like hibernation for these plants. They lie dormant all winter, gathering nutrition and moisture from amended soil. Warmer spring soil allows them to burst forth, stronger and healthier than ever after a long winter’s nap.

Here is a step-by-step guide to putting your perennial flower beds to sleep:

Cut back all the flowers to the ground. Flowers, stems, leaves, cut everything you see down to ground level. Remember that these types of plants are tubers and bulbs. That’s why they stay alive even if everything visible is cut back; the heart of the plant is alive underground. We like to mark each plant/bulb with Popsicle sticks or (upside down) plastic spoons. This way, we won’t plant on top of existing bulbs in the spring.

Remove the mulch and weed your flower bed. Once you’re done cutting everything, it is time to get busy weeding. First, scrape off all the mulch on the flower bed then pull out all the weeds. Make sure you weed thoroughly, pulling out the roots of the weeds to make sure they don’t come back.

Aerate your flower beds. This doesn’t mean that you have to dig holes in the flower bed. You simply have to stick a pitchfork or small garden spade into the ground and wiggle it a bit. This will loosen your soil, making it easier for the nutrients to reach the roots. Just be careful, you wouldn’t want to hit any existing tubers or bulbs.

Now, spread a thick layer of compost evenly over the entire flower bed. Compost is very important because it adds vital nutrients and oxygen to soil, increasing soil organic matter and water holding capacity. Compost also serves as your flower bed’s protection against the harsh elements that winter may bring. When you spread your compost, make sure that you spread a very thick layer (3”- 4”) over the entire flower bed.

Depending on your location, the layer of compost may be all the protection your soil and bulbs require. If you choose, you may place mulch on your flower bed for some added protection. Once the compost has been spread, just add a fresh new layer of mulch. This will protect your perennials throughout the winter, allowing them to sleep comfortably during the cooler weather.

Follow these simple steps and come spring, you'll begin to see signs of color. Before long your perennials will be back, stronger and more beautiful than the year before!

STA Certified Harvest Blend Compost adds all the nutrients soil needs to increase SOM to the necessary 5% level. For a Harvest Blend Compost dealer near you, click. Or call Jim @ 805.925-2771. Harvest Blend Compost builds healthy soil – Naturally!

Visit the USCC's Strive for 5% Facebook page to learn more about the value SOM plays in creating healthy soil.

Compost Your Pumpkin!

Pumpkins are at the very heart of our fall celebrations. Halloween and Thanksgiving feature the plump squash, either as a decoration or delicious food, but there’s one problem with this big old veggie. What to do with it when the holidays are over?

Did you know that the Department of US Census Bureau reports that in the USA alone more than one billion pounds of pumpkins were produced in 2010? The $101 million dollar pumpkin industry is potentially disastrous for local landfills. Pumpkins are pretty bulky, so they not only take up a lot of space in the landfill, it also takes a good deal of fuel to get 'em there. If we care about our environment we need to find an alternative to sending used pumpkins to the landfill.

Compost vs Landfill
Pumpkins, which of course are 100% natural, will break down quickly as compost in your yard, providing you with valuable nutrients for your lawn or garden. Pumpkins are an easy addition to your compost pile. All you need to do is to remove the wax and candles and put the pumpkin into your backyard composter. Some composters say it’s better to smash or cut the pumpkin up first before you put it in the composter. The smaller the vegetable matter the quicker it will compost.

New Life for Jack-O-Lantern

Your Halloween pumpkins can enjoy renewed life as compost, bringing a grin to your face when discovering all the benefits compost delivers to your landscape. The organic matter has been transformed into nutrient rich food for your soil - making it the perfect soil amendment and lawn top dressing. Naturally!

Compost Facilities Can HelpThe City of Santa Maria recently implemented a green waste recycling program, aimed at diverting organic materials from the landfill. This is the ideal spot for our discarded pumpkins. Just remember to place your pumpkin in the brown curbside bin...you'll be doing a good thing for your community. Click here for a curbside pick-up schedule. 

If your city doesn’t offer this service contact your local compost facility to find out about alternatives. Let’s all pitch in to keep compostable organics out of our landfills! Everything we can do to reduce our contribution of compostable materials to local landfills is a reduction in greenhouse gas production.

For more info, check out http://www.gotcompost.com/ We're here to help you with all your compost needs. Naturally!

Cover Crops & Compost - Protect Your Soil

Why go to all the trouble of planting a crop you won’t be enjoying at the dinner table? There are some important reasons not to let your vegetable plots and planting beds go naked in the winter. Amending soil with compost and planting cover crops will keep soil healthy for next year's harvest by increasing soil fertility.

Using leguminous (from the pea family) seed for cover crops is referred to as "green manure." They’re used to manage a range of soil macronutrients and micronutrients. Of the various nutrients, the impact these cover crops have on nitrogen management has received the most attention from researchers and farmers, because nitrogen is often the most limiting nutrient in crop production.

Here are more specific reasons to plant compost and cover crops -- legumes, grains and grasses -- this season:

1.      Soil quality improvements--Soil tilth is improved whenever a plant establishes roots and grows into compacted areas. Water infiltration is improved as well. When a field lays fallow for a period of time, the surface tends to seal and water will run off. Cover crops protect the soil surface and reduce sealing. Also, beneficial organisms in the soil, such as earthworms, thrive when fresh plant material is decomposing. Organic matter levels tend to improve with the addition of cover crops.

2.      Erosion control--Cover crops reduce wind and water erosion on all types of soils. By having the soil held in place by cover crops during the fall, winter, and early spring, loss of soil from erosion is greatly reduced.

3. Fertility improvements--Legumes can add substantial amounts of available nitrogen to the soil. Non-legumes can be used to take up excess nitrogen from previous crops and recycle the nitrogen as well as available phosphorus and potassium to the following crop. This is very important after manure application, because cover crops can reduce leaching of nutrients.
4. Suppress weeds--A dense growth of winter rye or other cover crop can suppress weeds by soil shading. Allelochemicals (toxic plant chemicals) from cover crops suppress the growth of other plants.
5. Insect control--Beneficial insects, such as ladybugs or ground beetles, may be encouraged by planting cover crops.

So, In addition to protecting your beds from sun, rain and wind, compost and cover crops add/help build organic matter and hummus content, increase microbial activity, inhibit weed growth and increase your soil's fertility. In fact, plants leave 80 percent of their organic material in the soil, even after they're removed, thanks to their root structure. Why would you want to risk losing all that great organic material by just leaving it out to the elements?

What to plant?

Biomass crops are usually grains like wheat, rye, barley and oats. Grains should be planted in the fall while legumes and vetch can be planted almost any time except during winter freeze periods. A biomass crop also will protect your soil and add carbon to your soil. We just planted a cover crop after harvesting our last vegetable crop and ordered our seed from http://www.groworganic.com/organic-soil-builder-mix-raw-lb.html. Of course, we cleared the plot and amended soil with Harvest Blend Compost. It's easy to get your grain seeds and mixes into the ground. Just rake the soil and "broadcast," or toss, seeds randomly. In no time, you’ll notice little green sprouts making an appearance.

Finally, you can mix legumes, grains and other crops to get a variety. But be sure to pull all the cover crops up before they go to seed in March or May or you'll find yourself overwhelmed with weeds later on.  For info on amending soil with compost, visit www.GotCompost.com

Peabody School Completes Playground Renovation

On September 30, 2011 a dedication ceremony was held at Peabody Elementary, in Santa Barbara, CA, to recognize the completion of the school’s renovated playground. Representatives from Engel & Gray, Inc. were on hand to receive a certificate of thanks along with a large poster, containing messages and signatures from the students of Peabody.

Four months ago, Engel & Gray Regional Compost Facility delivered 160 cubic yards of compost to Peabody School, a participant of the City of Santa Barbara’s Food Waste Recycling program. Project manager, Jeff Holbrook, worked with Engel & Gray to arrange for delivery of the donated soil amendment, used to improve soil for a safe, revitalized playground.

Parents, students and teachers appreciate their food waste recycling program coming full circle. The students and faculty have regularly sorted their food waste and other compostables into 65 gallon bins, to be collected by Engel & Gray Regional Compost Facility in Santa Maria. Recycling Peabody’s organic materials into nutrient rich compost for use in renewing the playground is the ultimate in recycling – helping the community to successfully “Complete the Cycle”.
Santa Barbara has a waste diversion goal of 70 percent, and in 9 more years, an ambitious 85 percent.

With time, effort and education, students will learn to recycle and compost like it’s second nature. They will have years of hands-on experience sorting, recycling and composting their waste – and Engel & Gray, Inc will be on hand to serve and support the effort. Naturally!

For more all the details on compost use, click here

Cover Crops - Summer and Winter

Why should I plant a summer cover crop?

You can get a head start on improving the quality of your garden soil for next season with some simple steps taken in the summer - boost the amount of organic matter in your soil with summer cover crops.  A summer cover crop will add significant amounts of organic matter to your soil, yielding a variety of long term benefits. Increased organic matter improves the water holding capacity of soil, improves drainage in clay soils and provides a range of macro and micro nutrients that optimize plant health. In a recent study conducted by a university Ag Department in the mid-west, plants that were grown in soils amended with compost did significantly better than those grown in un-amended soil.

Summer’s the perfect time to fix problem soil, so why not go all out! Work 1½-2” of compost into soil before planting your cover crop and you’ll have a vital foundation for future vegetable gardens. After compost has been added just scatter some seeds, water and before you know it you’ll have a carpet of green. A crop of hairy vetch and rye will add nitrogen equivalent to 13 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer and 57 lbs. of biomass to a 400 ft garden.
 

What are the best seeds to use?

There are several choices for cover summer cover crops in our area. Legumes of any kind make a great cover crop (peas, beans, soybeans, etc.) because they add significant amounts of organic matter and help fix nitrogen in the soil by taking it from the air and passing it into the soil through nodules on its roots.  Buckwheat is another great choice. It’s known for its ability to keep unwanted plants in check, making weeding even easier. It matures quickly and can be tilled or dug in in as little as 4-5 weeks. (Remember that even if the cover crop doesn’t reach full growth while in your plot, whatever green stuff is there when you turn it into the soil will make a difference.) It also has pretty white blossoms but be sure to cut them before they go to seed. Another fast grower is annual rye grass which yields huge amounts of organic matter after only several weeks of growth.
 

How do I do it?

If you can sow seeds you can grow a cover crop. Whenever you have an area that’ll be unused for more than a few weeks, a cover crop can go in. Scatter seeds over the area, rake them in - more vigorously for large seeds like peas- and then water just like you do the rest of your garden. If there is enough time for the crop to get several inches high turning it under is easier if you mow it first. The mowing also chops the plants into smaller pieces which will break down more quickly in the soil. The plants should be turned in when they are in about 75% flower or, for buckwheat, when frost is near, whichever is sooner.  A series of cover crops can be grown, one right after the other, if there is enough time in the season. 

What about winter cover crops?

You bet! Cooler temps limit the variety of cover crops we can successfully grow, but there are a couple that will do the job.

For organic matter -  Winter rye is excellent. It grows vigorously and produces lots of green stuff to turn under come spring. Just remember to turn it under at least 2 weeks (more is better) before you wish to plant your edible crops.

For nitrogen fixing -  Austrian winter peas or hairy vetch produce a surplus of nitrogen fixing legumes for spring turning. And those few that don’t get turned in will give you some lovely blossoms, interesting greenery and make for some very happy bees!

Where can I get the seeds?

Check with your local nurseries or garden supply centers. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, click on Peaceful Valley Farm Supply - they’re a great source of many different types of cover crop seeds.

Remember, building your soil through the addition of organic matter is one of the best things you can do for your lawn and garden. Naturally!

Keep in mind the benefits compost offers lawns. A fine layer of compost spread over grass is called top dressing. Experts recommend top dressing lawns twice a year; during spring and fall. For the more info on lawn top dressing, click here.

Add Organic Matter to Soil for a Healthy Landscape

If your soil and turf are healthy, you might think that the soil would be able to generate its own organic content. This is not necessarily true.

The ideal soil is open and crumbly, giving the grass roots plenty of room to grow full and deep. When digging, you should find a large population of earthworms and microbes; these are the good guys in your soil. When earthworms, microbes and roots die off they decompose, raising the soils’ organic levels for new soil life. This cycle is referred to as the Soil Food Web, where roots, earthworms, and microbes are constantly recycling themselves.

Truly healthy soil has between 3% and 5% organic material. That level can be maintained ONLY IF organic matter is added to the soil at the surface year in and year out. Plants, earthworms, and microbes need that extra matter to support healthy soil. In the woods and grasslands, that added organic matter came from dead leaves or dead grasses decomposing each year. We need to repeat that process in our lawns to be able to maintain a healthy organic content in our soil.

Very few residential landscapes have soil this rich with organic material. The truth is soil beneath our lawns typically contains less than 1% organic material. This is because over a ten or twenty year period not only was no new organic material introduced, but the main source of these materials such as leaves and grass clippings have been collected and transported to local landfills. What a waste!

Healthy soil needs a steady supply of new organic material. It’s constantly decomposing, adding nutrients for the grass and plants, and must be replaced. Decomposed grass clippings and other organic material don’t have much food value left, but they’re valuable in aerating the soil, storing water and in feeding key microorganisms needed for other tasks. Leaving grass clippings on the lawn might provide some organic material; it is not enough to consistently provide 3 or 5 %. This is why we need to add more.

How can we add extra organic matter, you ask?

The solution is simple, and one you may not be familiar with; top dressing. Top dressing a lawn is the process of adding a fine layer of quality compost to your lawn. The quick & easy method involves simply working the compost into the grass with the back of a landscaper’s rake or a stiff broom (making sure not to smother grass with compost) and watering thoroughly. In only a few days, you’ll notice your lawn taking on a strong, healthy appearance; greening up where before there were patches of brown grass.

The “Professional” method is the same process with one exception; aerate soil before adding compost. If you have an irrigation system you’ll need to make it’s marked with flags before aeration (don’t want to poke holes in pipes now, do we?) Then proceed as you would for the quick & easy method, making sure to water well when finished.

Organic Matter on Surface Is Lunch

When you top dress your lawn with compost, this organic material eventually begins to decompose. More important, the earthworms seek it out and pull it down into the soil and eat it. Happy earthworms = Healthy soil!

If you don’t regularly top dress your lawn, it’s high time to begin. It might sound like extra work, but it’ll pay off big time in contributing to the development of healthy soil; stimulating soil life to provide nutrients and opening soil structure so it holds air and moisture.

Harvest Blend Compost contains premium organic matter necessary to raise soils’ organic levels to the recommended 5%. Locally produced from quality, recycled organic materials, Harvest Blend Compost has passed the strictest testing methods to carry the Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) label. This means our products are free of weed seeds and pathogens, guaranteeing product safety for your lawn and garden.

Healthy soil translates into healthier grass. Growing in soil with 5% organic content, lawns can expand their considerable root systems, reaching deep into the soil to tap more dependable supplies of water and nutrients. They are more self-reliant, less dependent on us for nutrition and moisture. They do not suffer stress. The result is fewer problems with weeds, diseases and pests. Naturally!

For more info on Harvest Blend Compost and all its benefits, go to http://www.gotcompost.com/

Green: it’s not just for Christmas!

OK. The presents are opened; the remnants of that holiday meal are just waiting to be discarded. Wrapping paper and cardboard – crumpled and stuffed into garbage bags – is reduced to a faint reminder of the recent festivities.

Does this mountain of wasted packaging give you a twinge of guilt? If so, you’re becoming more environmentally responsible and you’ll want to look into reducing this load. What’s the solution? Recycling! And that means your live Christmas tree too!

"The City will begin its citywide curbside collection of Christmas trees Monday, Jan 3^rd through Friday Jan 7^th ", said Bob Engel of Engel & Gray, Regional Compost Facility in Santa Maria. "Trees will be processed, along with regular green waste, into nutrient rich Harvest Blend Compost to be used as a soil amendment for landscape and agriculture".

Engel & Gray asks that you properly prepare your Christmas tree for recycling: please remove all ornaments, tinsel, and stands. Trees with stands and flocked trees will not be accepted and cannot be recycled. Place your Christmas tree on the curb, at least three feet away from your trash container on your regularly scheduled collection day.Recycling is the environmentally responsible way to dispose your live Christmas tree. Sending them to the landfill is a waste of natural resources. Transforming fresh trees into compost, which is used to make healthy soil and grow more trees, is the perfect way to “Complete the Cycle”.

More Holiday Waste Prevention Tips

You can help reduce the amount of waste generated in Santa Barbara County by taking a few of the following simple steps:

- Flatten, save, and reuse gift boxes, wrapping paper, bows and gift bags;

- Buy cards and wrapping paper made with recycled paper;

- After receiving new gifts, donate old items to a local charity or thrift store;

- Save and reuse holiday decorations (and gift bags) for future years;

- Cut up brown paper grocery bags to wrap parcels for mailing;

- Use comics, old posters, and shopping bags to wrap presents;

- remember: Styrofoam can NOT be recycled. Offer packing peanuts to local private mailing stores. Some companies are using starch based “compostable peanuts” that will dissolve in water or compost piles. Test peanuts by holding a few under running water – if they’re biodegradable, they’ll dissolve.

Now that you’ve recycled that mountain of organic materials, you’re on your way to a brighter, less cluttered New Year. Naturally!

for more info visit www.GotCompost.com

A New Year! Resolve to Keep it Clean

We've had an unusual amount of rain recently, which is both good news and bad news. Restoring depleted  water supplies is always a good thing, but how about the bad? Have you thought about the unexpected negative effects this rainfall may provide our lakes and streams? How on earth can organic yard waste contaminate bodies of water? On the Central Coast, rain flows across lawns or hard surfaces such as rooftops, paved areas, and bare soil. As it flows, this runoff water carries sediments, leaves, grass clippings, litter, and other landscape waste into streets and gutters leading to storm sewers. Unlike household wastewater, stormwater runoff receives almost no treatment. As a result any particles that enter the storm drain will probably end up in a stream or lake.

 

We have a problem when excess nutrients allow the growth of algae and rooted plants in lakes and streams. Too much algae in the water can use up valuable oxygen, kill fish, create bad odors, toxin production, and ugly surface scum.  Too many rooted aquatic plants can clog boat props, hamper fishing, pollute beaches and limit fish growth. Although plant material and nutrients slowly build up in lakes and streams, a neighborhood or community with poorly managed yard waste practices can be a major contributor to the problem and cause unnecessary degradation of lakes and streams.

What is Landscape Waste?

Sources of landscape waste include grass clippings, leaves, tree and shrub trimmings, organic mulch, and plant materials from vegetable and flower gardens. By weight, grass is the largest component averaging half of all yard waste. Leaves and brush each provide nearly one quarter. Other landscape wastes add less than 10 percent. On average, nearly 200 pounds of yard waste is produced per person each year.

Managing Landscape Waste. Controlling organic waste and reducing potential contamination of surface water can be accomplished in several ways. One way to control landscape waste is through source reduction. Amending soil with compost, grasscycling and lawn top dressing will reduce large amounts of landscape waste.

Grasscycling is the natural recycling of grass clippings by leaving them on the lawn when mowing. Leaving grass clippings saves time, money, and protects the environment. Mowing takes less time since bagging and disposal aren’t involved. The clippings add beneficial organic matter and nutrients to soil. This in turn reduces fertilizer and water needs, which can minimize nutrient runoff entering storm drains. Be sure to cut grass when the surface is dry, keep mower blades sharp and never blow, sweep or hose clippings onto the street.

Compost benefits
Amending heavy clay soils with compost improves water infiltration and drainage by improving soil structure. Compost also absorbs water and improves the water and nutrient holding capacity of sandy soils. To conserve moisture it is essential to have soil with good water retention. In addition to improving soil structure, decomposing compost will slowly release plant nutrients. Check out Google Maps for a Harvest Blend dealer near you.

Lawn Top dressing
Topdressing the lawn is the process of adding a layer of compost to the lawn surface. Top dressing benefits the lawn as it increases soil quality, adding nutrients and oxygen to plant roots. Sandy soils will be able to retain moisture better, and so the lawn will be more resistant to drought. Clay soils will drain better, thus improving root development. Another benefit of top dressing the lawn is that it will help to even out any lumps and bumps on an uneven lawn, making the surface safe for play. Top dressing also stimulates the grass to produce new shoots, resulting in denser grass cover, which helps combat the onset of weed growth.

Top dressing with aeration: aerating a lawn before top dressing will allow nutrients in the compost to reach the soil. This is the best treatment for hard, compacted soils. Professional aerators may be rented from equipment supply centers.

Using Landscape Waste as Mulch
Using an organic mulch can help gardens in many ways. Mulch reduces weeds by cutting off their oxygen, so they’re unable to grow. Mulch also maintains consistent moisture conditions in gardens. Water loss through evaporation is decreased and soil erosion is decreased by reducing the effect of heavy rainfall. Soil temperatures are modified by mulch. And last but not least organic mulch adds nutrients and humus to the soil as they decompose.

Tree and shrub trimmings are another source of yard waste. These materials are a greater challenge since they are woody and don’t break down easily. They need to be shredded or chipped for quicker decomposition and to reduce waste volume. Chippers and shredders may be available to rent at local landscape supply centers, so give ‘em a call. A 2- to 3-inch layer of shredded bark provides good weed control. Wood chips are slower to decay than shredded bark and can be used for pathway material in gardens. 

Limiting Landscape Waste

The best way to deal with landscape waste is to limit its production in the first place, or at least produce as little as possible. Choose trees and shrubs with their full growth in mind. Plants that need little or no pruning don’t produce much landscape waste. Sound yard waste management will benefit the landscape as well as surface and groundwater resources. No matter where you live, the size of your home, or the amount of time and money invested in the yard, everyone can do something to improve or maintain water quality.

Here are a few ways we can help insure clean water and a healthy environment through positive yard waste management.

• Add Harvest Blend Compost once or twice a year to build healthy soil and increase nutrients in the soil.
• Mow often enough to leave grass clippings on the lawn.
• Sweep grass clippings off of paved areas. Place them on the lawn or in a compost pile.
• Keep fallen leaves out of the street gutter or ditch, using them around the yard as practical or composting them.
• Do not dump yard waste down a storm drain or near surface water.
• Plan your landscape with the environment in mind, reducing intensely maintained areas.
• Recycle organic waste through sound composting practices and mulching.
• Mulch annual and perennial gardens with yard waste compost.
• Use organic mulch to suppress weeds, conserve soil moisture, and reduce soil erosion.

Have questions or concerns about compost use? Visit our website for more info. Naturally!

Pumpkins - Waste Not, Compost!

Pumpkins are at the very heart of our fall celebrations. Halloween and Thanksgiving feature the plump squash, either as a decoration or delicious food, but there’s one problem with this big old veggie. What to do with it when the holidays are over?

Did you know that the Department of US Census Bureau reports that in the USA alone more than one billion pounds of pumpkins were produced in 2009? The $101 million dollar pumpkin industry is potentially disastrous for local landfills. As you know, pumpkins are pretty bulky, so they not only take up a lot of space in the landfill, it also takes a good deal of fuel to get 'em there. If we care about our environment we need to find an alternative to sending used pumpkins to the landfill.

Compost vs Landfill
Pumpkins, which of course are 100% natural, will break down quickly as compost in your yard, providing you with valuable nutrients for your lawn or garden. Pumpkins are an easy addition to your compost pile. All you need to do is to remove the wax and candles and put the pumpkin into your backyard composter. Some composters say it’s better to smash or cut the pumpkin up first before you put it in the composter. The smaller the vegetable matter the quicker it will compost.

New Life for Jack-O-Lantern

Your Halloween pumpkins can enjoy renewed life as compost, bringing a grin to your face when discovering all the benefits compost delivers to your landscape. The organic matter has been transformed into nutrient rich food for your soil - making it the perfect soil amendment and lawn top dressing. Naturally!

Compost Facilities Can Help
If you don’t have your own composter, check with your local city garbage collection service. More cities are implementing green waste recycling as an additional service, and this is the ideal spot for our discarded pumpkins. If your community doesn’t offer this service contact your local compost facility to find out about alternatives. If you use pumpkins at Halloween, make a little extra effort to keep them out of the landfill.
Greenhouse Gas News reports that global methane emissions from landfill are estimated to be between 30 and 70 million tons each year. Most of this landfill methane currently comes from developed countries, where the levels of waste tend to be highest. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that municipal solid waste landfills are the second largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for nearly 23 % of emissions in 2009.

Let’s all pitch in to keep compostable organics out of our landfills! Everything we can do to reduce our contribution of compostable materials to local landfills is a reduction in greenhouse gas production.

For more info, check out http://www.gotcompost.com/ We're here to help you with all your compost needs.