Is it safe to compost junk mail and bills? As you may know, newspaper is generally safe and something I have few qualms about.
Bills and junk mail are a different story, because the printed text and images are made with toner rather than ink. Toner is little more than finely ground plastic.
Determining the safety of printed products can get complicated, but here is a brief rundown of why I suggest you stay away from composting your bills, junk mail and home printed materials.
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Now that we know newspaper is as safe as anything else to use in the garden, here is a quick tutorial on how to make paper pots.
I generally use a soil block maker to start seeds and then another block maker for transplanting, but when I do make small paper pots, I use this wooden maker. However, you can use the same technique to make smaller pots using any concave-bottom-shaped vessel – some people use tomato paste cans, for example.
In this example, I’m making large paper pots – I typically use this size for tomato or pepper seedlings as their final up-potting before they get planted.
How to make large paper pots: Continue reading
THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE – THREE TYPES OF COMPOST
NOTE: Each year Arlington holds an EcoFest where people gather to learn about various environmentally related issues. This year I was asked to discuss compost with people. Below is a version of what I will distribute at the event.
Beautiful black gold – finished and screened compost
“The beauty of compost is that it only needs to be as much of an art or science as we wish it to be. It’s like walking. You can train for a marathon or you can simply put one foot in front of the other, and eventually you will get where you need to be.” – Wayne Morris of Bloomingdale, N.Y. Continue reading