November is a great time for composting – the sudden influx of pumpkins and leaves will make your backyard pile a happy place. If you’ve been wanting to start a compost pile, now is definitely the time. It’s like you can actually take Fall and stuff it in your pile! Take those pumpkins, break them [...]

Even though we haven’t used a ton of our black gold bounty, we continue to add more and more organic waste to the family compost pile. We’ve been at it for many moons now, and it’s so much a part of our routine that I can’t imagine throwing our excess food into the garbage. One [...]

Thank goodness for the wonderful stores and markets where I am able to conveniently purchase food for myself and my family. I am being sincere. Thank you Whole Foods, thank you Harris Teeter, thank you Mt. Pleasant Farmer’s Market, thank you CSA, the Norman’s really need you. Without you, we would starve, as my bleak [...]

Many years ago, while changing my niece’s diaper, my dad asked which type of diaper I would choose for my own children one day. As I gagged and flinched and gagged some more while wiping her bottom, I was convinced I would be doomed to filling landfills for centuries with my children’s diapers. And yet, [...]

If you’re already composting, then you know this is the most bountiful time of year for your pile – the greens and browns are everywhere, especially if you carved pumpkins. If you don’t have a compost pile, then think about starting one – this is the best time! Composting is all about managing the balance [...]

Yes, pop the organic champagne and fire up the fair trade jug band — the compost pile we began last fall is fruitful — literally. Our table scraps haven’t gone to Bee’s Ferry for months now, and instead their worm-riddled nutrient-rich remains are ready to be mixed back into our gardens and flowerbeds. I’ve known [...]

Green, green, green, green…Spring is here, and everything is green. I love it, but my compost pile likes brown too. That’s why I took the opportunity after last week’s hail storm to rake up all the green leaves that were in my yard. But instead of putting them directly into the pile, I am letting [...]

Every day my boys and I take notice of the trees and flowers blooming in our yard. This season, we are also watching vegetables bloom and grow in our backyard. The reasons for adding a vegetable garden seemed only natural, and exciting, to us. Chad and I are avid gardeners. We truly enjoy planting perennials, [...]

Two weeks ago, I went out with the boys to turn the compost pile we started last fall. As soon as I flipped the first forkful, a haze wafted into the air. At first I thought it was bugs, but then I realized what was going on: we had steam! This is good news, and [...]

I’ve been slowly raking the live oak leaves as they fall, because I know my compost pile won’t see a bounty of browns like this until later this year. Having Spring-molting trees like live oaks gives Lowcountry composters like us a definite advantage, making it easier to maintain the proper chemical balance while our garden [...]

I’ve blogged about Whole Foods serving most of its goodies in containers made from plastic #5, which is not recyclable locally. Finally, our local outlet has an alternative: biodegradable food containers. (and my compost pile couldn’t be happier…hopefully!) So, Jen has come home a few times with the brown EATware containers, and they actually seem [...]

In my composting update last week, I mentioned that Jen has been bringing home bags of used coffee grounds from our local Starbucks. On Friday, five more bags arrived. Heavy moist bags of expired grounds might gross some people out, but the inner-composter in me knew this would be a windfall to the pile. Coffee [...]

We’re now into February, and the compost pile I started last fall is really coming into it’s own. Here’s a quick update. The pile is about 2-feet deep now. And except for the edges, it has an even consistency throughout. Jen has started bringing home used Starbucks coffee grounds from the Longpoint Road location. They [...]

OK, I know I’ve been writing a lot about composting lately…but this post isn’t like all that. I really just wanted to write about how all of our green actions influence those around us, and how that helps the green movement spread. In the short time since I’ve started my compost pile: My neighbor has [...]

Well, things have been going according to plan over at the Norman Family Compost Pile. It’s been a great experiment, and I’ve been getting advice from all over the place. And since sharing is what this blog is all about, here are some juicy tidbits: I need to water the pile more. It’s so dry [...]

Jen was about to pitch the pumpkins when I yelled, “Wait! We’ve got a compost pile now.” I really had no idea if you could add pumpkins to compost, but I had sent them to the landfill every year in the past…enough was enough. A quick Google search shows tons of pages urging readers to [...]

I procrastinated all Summer and never started a compost pile, so I was pleased to read that Fall is the best season to get one going. That was enough. I was on my way to Lowe’s for chicken wire and fence posts, and had one up in no time. Composting yard waste and kitchen scraps [...]