Composting

We carelessly throw away table scraps everyday, but these scraps can be really beneficial. Instead of throwing them in the garbage can, we can convert them into compost that will enrich the soil in our garden.

Composting is simple & is a way of recycling our food waste.

So, what exactly can be composted? 

Fruits & Vegetables  - peels & cores
Coffee grinds
Tea bags or used tea leaves
Egg Shells (rinsed & crushed)
Rice & Pasta
Stale Bread
Grass clippings
Dried flowers & plant clippings
dried leaves
shredded newspaper ( skip the colored paper as they have harmful dyes )

Keep a container with a lid in your kitchen to collect all your food scraps.

The method is to use two earthen pots, one a little bigger than the other. The hole at the bottom of the smaller pot needs be covered with a piece of rock. Place the bigger pot on top of the smaller one ( the bottom part of the bigger pot should cover the mouth of the smaller one).

Then place a layer of shredded newspaper & grass clippings in your bigger pot.

Once your container in the kitchen is filled with scraps, empty 1/2 of it onto the layer of newspaper & grass clippings. Layer with more shredded newspaper & grass clippings. Add the rest of the food scraps on top. Slowly mix everything together. The food scraps make the nitrogen layer & newspaper, grass clippings are carbon. The carbon layer should be added above & beneath the food scraps.

Loosely cover this mixture with a piece of wood or some plastic to avoid attracting pests. Mix every few days to provide oxygen to the pile which helps the ingredients break down. Your pile should always be moist, but make sure that it is NOT soaking wet !!!

Place this in a warm sunny location for the composting to be faster.

From container to ground

I've been growing veggies in containers for the last 2 yrs. From this year we have some ground to work with & made a little vegetable garden patch.

After many days of hard work & getting rid of some of the lawn, we finally managed to get some of the plants into the ground. We used some garden soil & compost as suggested by the person at the nearest garden center.
& also used dried grass clippings to mulch the plants.

The seeds were planted into small peat pots & later transferred into yogurt containers this spring. Most of them started to outgrow their containers....& some of them dried out completely & died. So, I planted whatever was left of my spring container garden & sowed other seeds directly into the ground. We'll hopefully get some good produce before the end of the season.

First  flower  on my  Bell Pepper plant

Cucumber  Plants

Mango  (still  in a  container)

Mango Plant !!!!!!!

Last year I planted a seed from a store bought apple & it sprouted!!! When it grew almost 5-6 inches in height, we had to move & I passed on the plant to a very good friend of my mother. Unfortunately she had to go out of town for a longer period of time & the plant died. Even if it would have grown well I guess it would be difficult for a single apple tree to produce fruit. From what I understand, an apple tree requires cross- pollination to produce fruit. So there must atleast 2 trees near each other for the pollination to occur & for fruits to be produced.

But in tha case of a mango, I read that one tree can produce fruit. I decided to try & plant a mango seed.

I used a store bought mango. After peeling & using the pulp, I carefully washed & cleaned the pit. Using a butter knife, I carefully split open the hard shell (outer cover) of the mango pit. Inside was a big bean-like seed.

I planted this seed into a medium sized pot filled with potting mix. After watering generously, I covered the mouth of the pot with plastic wrap & used an elastic to hold it in place. Covering with the plastic wrap will create a greenhouse effect & help the seedling sprout faster. Take care to keep the soil moist at all times & then cover again with the plastic wrap till the seedling emerges from the soil.

Now my plant is almost 8-10 inches tall.

Kitchen Garden 2012

Unfortunately my spinach didnt do well & they died completely...But I added some green onions, eggplant & cucumbers with my other veggies...

Spring Garden/Patio 2012

Here I have started some tomatoes, spinach, cilantro & green bell peppers...

My vegetable garden 2011

Today's pick...