It’s like you can actually take Fall and stuff it in your pile! Take those pumpkins, break them up, and fold them in. Rake your yard before you mow, and toss all that goodness in. Edge your yard and gardens, and toss the trimmings in. Clean the Summer out of your garden, and throw it on. If you’re going big, ask some neighbors for their pumpkins and leaves. Our pile was looking very happy after Halloween. Happy composting!

Learn more about composting:

• Composting Update :: Tis the Season!
• Composting Update :: Got Brown?
• Compost Update :: Root of the Problem
• Composting Update :: We Have Steam!
• Composting Update :: Now with Starbucks!
• Turns Out Charleston Digs Composting
• Best Season to Start Composting: Fall

One thing to keep in mind: If you have a compost pile near palmetto trees, watch out for their crawling roots. I went a little too long without turning our pile, and it looks like nearby palm roots have infiltrated the bottom 12 inches, robbing the pile of some of the oldest and best compost. I’m wondering if I should have put a barrier at the bottom of the pile to keep the roots out – any reader advice is welcome.

Here are some other compost notes:

• If you have river birches or other trees that drop leaves early, be sure to collect them for your pile. August always brings our birch leaves down in droves, so this is a great source of brown for our pile – I always rake before I mow.
• Turn your pile! For many reasons, you must do this regularly. Two strange reasons I do: to keep the palm roots from eating from the bottom up, and to keep the fiddler crabs from eating from the top down.
• Look for bugs…you want bugs. If you see worms, that’s good. If you see termites, that’s bad.
• During peek fruit fly season (now), you might need to make more trips to the backyard pile. Our kitchen composter it too tempting for fruit flies, so we take our scraps out right away.

That’s all for now. Here are some previous compost updates:

• Composting Update :: Tis the Season!
• Composting Update :: Eureka, Black Gold
• Composting Update :: Got Brown?
• Composting Update :: We Have Steam!
• Composting Update :: Now with Starbucks!
• Composting Update: Pumpkins are In

How is your garden? Go on, brag! Please! Inspire me to spend the time in my backyard garden by sharing your garden’s story. My story is one, unfortunately this summer, of invasion and neglect. The deer continually eat the cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. That mystery fungus, or maybe it’s a mold, swallowed the bell peppers. Of course, the basil and rosemary are thriving, and one little lonely pepper. Certainly no recipe from the backyard garden will be gracing our dinner table soon.

Perhaps next spring, I will be outside without a baby riding along in the Bjorn, and I will be able to play in the soil more. Until then, I will begin researching seeds and local nurseries. Abide-A-While is currently the most convenient to my home. Where do you purchase your gardening supplies?

I hope to read about your garden, its defeats and victories. My boys, one of whom remembers last summer’s harvest, has inquired as to why the garden is empty. I have only promised to spend a little more time on our garden, as I do believe a functioning garden belongs in the yard. But I won’t promise to make a concerted effort to keep out the deer. I still enjoy the sight of them, but I do wish their tummies were full after eating all the flowers from the perennial gardens!

Zoe is now two months old, and very busy making wet messes in her diaper. It took about two weeks for the diaper to fit properly. The potty diapers are so easy to flush. Now, the poo-poo’s are an entirely different story. Yes, it can be a very messy ordeal. Yes, sometimes I immediately toss the inserts into a diaper Dekor, which uses biodegradable bags. Yes, the white liners are stained, but rarely a leak outside the liner. Because her poo’s are still so wet, I am looking into using cloth inserts in the gDiaper.

The gross factor rarely bothers me, it’s my baby’s poo, and until foods like the grape enter her diet, I am not gagging. I have never had a problem with the velcro tabs, though there was an improvement added about two years ago. I have only clogged the toilet once, though I believe the culprit was a rogue wipe.

I write this with the hopes it won’t be too gross for anyone (Chad included.) I do try to save the wet inserts for times when the toilet already needs to be flushed. With my three year old going potty every fifteen minutes, it seemed prudent to combine flushes!

I do not mind the extra effort, I wanted to have children and feel a responsibility to lessen their impact. The time it takes to prepare for a day with gDiapers is minimal, certainly a drop in the bucket compared to how much time it takes for the disposables we use to decompose.

Certain occasions do seem to be better suited for disposable diapers: sitters, grandparents and daddy times, along with travel. For these times, we choose Seventh Generation diapers. I also have learned that the while gDiapers are manufactured in China, the inserts are made right here for us in the U.S.

I do think that gDiapers are the best choice for babies’ bottoms and would love to see more around town. One can order them online, or purchase them at Earth Fare and Dwell Smart. Did I mention she looks super cute in them too?

Composting is all about managing the balance between your browns (leaves, kindling, and other dead stuff) and greens (food scraps, produce, and other wet stuff). With the leaves starting to fall in the Lowcountry and leftover pumpkins rotting all around us, these are the salad says for compost piles. I can’t wait to go full circle and use our composted veggies to grow new garden veggies…so cool. Check out my notes after the jump.

Here’s an update on our pile:

• Over a year in, thing are going well. We have several hundred pounds of rich, dark, odor-free compost ready for next Spring.
• I’m still avoiding putting sticks in the pile, as it just complicated sifting.
• Speaking of sifting, I am already working on plans to build my own tumbler for next Spring.
• I plan on giving bags of compost to a couple neighbors who contributed. What kind of bags should I use? Maybe I’ll reuse something old like an old bucket or paint can.
• There seems to be shrinkage in the pile, so I wonder if I’m “losing” any goodness. I think it’s just part of the process.

I’ve known for a few months that the pile was cooking properly, but I finally built an impromptu sieve from scrap materials. After sifting a couple healthy scoops, I had produced a uniform compost that looked pretty good. Ultimately, I plan to build a simple sifter like this guy, and get a big batch ready for are vegetable garden.

Fall is officially here, so this is the perfect time to start a compost pile of your own (lots of browns from falling leaves!) Happy composting, and for more notes — keep reading.

Random composting notes:

• You technically can put sticks in there, but don’t. It will make sifting your compost much easier.
• Turn your compost and look for worms and other bus. Bugs are good. We have lots of bugs.
• If you live near the marsh, watch out for the fiddler crabs. We have so many, and they can eat a whole basket of scraps in one night if I don’t cover it.
• Whole onions don’t really break down – chop ‘em up.
• Really try to find and save leaves during the summer when possible. Without them, you pile will get soggy with organics.
• Watch out for dry spells, as your pile needs moisture to stay healthy. Just remember to water it along with the rest of your gardens.

Keeping a good balance of greens (nitrogen) and browns (carbon) is critical to a successful pile. In the Summer months, browns are hard to find – so anytime you get a fresh fall of green leaves, save them in a separate pile and add them later. So, I have a little tiny leaf pile next to my compost pile, which is sprouting all sorts of goodies from the bottom…more on that after the jump.

Here are some notes on our pile:

• It’s either time to start a new pile, or begin sifting out finished compost from this one. There is definitely some ready to use compost in there, but I have to separate it from the recently added organic material that has yet to break down.
• I turn the pile regularly, but don’t really get all the way to the bottom. So, we have tomatoes and pumpkins growing out of the bottom inch or so. I don’t have the heart to pull them, even though they are probably consuming some of the compost.
• I might make a square pile next time. The rounded edges make it difficult to turn thoroughly. The good news is that the brown leaves around the perimeter serve as camoflauge, which helps keep the pile from becoming an eyesore.

That’s it for now…happy composting everyone!

• Chad and I are avid gardeners. We truly enjoy planting perennials, shrubs and trees in our yard. Last Spring, I added some seasonal vegetables in a perennial garden. To my delight, green and red bell peppers and tomatoes grew with little maintenance. I began researching, and now have a raised plot dedicated to herbs and veggies.
• To grow our own food. Why not? Buy some local plants and seeds, bury them deep, and soon we will be topping our veggie burgers with tomatoes grown from the back yard.
• Excellent botanical science lessons for our children. We are looking forward to harvests!

• We are closing the loop. From kitchen scraps, to the compost, back into the earth and grown and cultivated again-the beginnings of recycling our food.
• Our heritage. My grandparents had vegetable gardens, many of us remember the Victory Gardens (there is a war going on now!) and Chad? Well, I’ll let him tell you about his grandparents.
• My veggies and herbs are being grown free of pesticides. Good old fashioned weeding by the hand and planting flowering perennials around yard keep away pests naturally. Besides, if the deer need a snack, I love to share!
• To continue learning as a gardener. What began as an experiment became the desire for a vegetable garden. Next winter, I’m sure my plans for Spring will be even more ambitious.
• Because I love this planet. I love digging in the soil and finding worms. I love planting a seed or plant and taking care of it as it grows. I love being a part of this planet and seeing what all it can do, outside, in my backyard with my family.

Even a planter with tomatoes will be a success here in the South. It is an easy and fun investment that takes far less fossil fuel than buying those grown miles away. Plus, a little pride for your own green thumb makes it taste even sweeter.

This is good news, and means that our pile is maturing. All the kitchen scraps and yard waste are finally starting to “cook” at temperatures near 140°, and are turning into nutrient-rich compost that we can use in our gardens. Check out the before and after turning photos – right under the surface lies the dark good stuff. You gotta love cradle to cradle recycling!

Here are some other compost notes:

• The pile has almost no odor, another sign that all is working properly.
• The Starbucks used coffee grounds are really helping – that’s good organic material.
• The chicken wire I used to make the enclosure (as opposed to buying a manufactured barrel or tumbler) has an unforeseen benefit: camouflage. The dry leaves around the outside edge help it blend into the surroundings.
• People keep asking what my strategy is, and it’s simple: try a little of everything. Add greens and browns in the right ratio, water it, turn it, keep meat/dairy/fatty stuff out of it, don’t put in sticks, add a cupful of top soil from time to time, throw in a cup of 10/10/10 fertilizer, add coffee grounds, etc. Just do it all!

That’s all for now…happy composting!

In years past, I would have let the yard get thick with fallen leaves until I mowed them into powder in late March. Not this year – I’m feeding “the pile”. So if you’ve got a compost pile too, join me by not letting those live oak leaves get away!