The first harvest

The basil is massive, the strawberries are in, and we got our first batch of salad greens.  I am so excited to see all the new growth on our vegetables, it amazes me how much they grow each day.

I did an experiment with the salad greens. One container was mixed with composted material, and the other a basic potting soil mix.  The blend with the compost gave me the plate full, pictured above.  In the container with no compost, not one leaf was ready to be harvested.  My husband was kind enough to go digging in our compost heap to get some additional dirt to add to the second place lettuce.  I’m hoping by next week I get better results.

Composting is one of the best ways to reduce waste in your house.  Many local DPW’s are offering discounts on compost containers for outside the home. You also need a strategy for how to collect the scraps inside the home.  Growing up we used a gross plastic bin under the sink for scraps, which we took turns bringing out to the large outside compost bin.  In my own home, I use this ceramic container  Norpro Ceramic Compost Keeper, White   We have had it for about 3 years and it has taken a beating, but it still looks brand new.  For more details on this, please see my prior post about composting.

If you are new to composting, there are a great number of resources for information.  One of my favorite is Compost Mania, which offers both information and great products.  They offer products for both entry level to the larger scale composting family.  I have both a plastic container and also a home made container.  Please let me know if you have any questions about either.  We are looking to add a third container so we have more soil available for organic gardening next year.

It’s funny, I still remember how annoyed I was when I had to go empty the compost bin growing up. Little did I know that I would pass along this tradition in my family, and hopefully start it in another family or two.

I would love to hear if you have any suggestions for how you manage composting in your family.  I think it can be intimidating and it would be great to share some advice with other readers.