Tic Tock With Special Guest

 

"Tic Tock" With Special Guest...

My my, how time flies.

Composting 101

 Compost 101 • Things To Compost

We all have questions when first starting out as beginners in gardening. One of the first things budding gardeners often ask about is what can, and can't go into our compost heap out in the yard. In addition, perhaps you're wondering what can be composted by means of using a worm-box. The answers to both are outlined in the brief list that's to follow.

Things We Should Compost...

All fruit and vegetable trimmings except citrus (see below), crushed egg shells, old herbs and spices, corn husks, coffee grounds and filters, tea leaves and tea bags, old grains, grass clippings, leaves, shredded /torn up uncoated paper (bills, bags, clean grease free used paper towels...), dryer lint, hair and fingernail trimmings, and finally, urine (which is sterile) is a good source of nitrogen and can be sparingly added to your compost pile, but should never be introduced directly to your worm-box.

Items To Exclude From Your Compost

Bread products:  By adding baked goods to your compost pile you’re simply putting out a welcome mat for pests. 

Citrus Peels and Onions:The natural chemicals and acidity in citrus peels and onions can kill worms and other beneficial microorganisms, which can slow down the decomposition in your compost. Additionally, citrus peels take awhile to break down, which might delay how soon you can use your compost.

                        

Cooking oil: Smells like a free meal to animals and insects. It can also upset the composts’ moisture and PH balance.

                        

Diseased plants: Trash them! You could transfer any fungal or bacterial issues to whatever ends up becoming your finished compost.

                        

Heavily coated /printed paper: A partial list including; magazines, catalogs, printed cards and most printed or metallic wrapping paper. Foils don't break down and who needs a bunch of nasty printing chemicals in your compost?

                        

Meat products: Includes bones, blood, fish and animal fats. Another pest magnet. Milk products: Refrain from composting milk, cheese, yogurt and cream. These products will attract pests.

                        

Rice: Attracts varmints. Cooked rice can also be fertile breeding ground for the kinds of bacteria that you don’t want in your compost.

                        

Sawdust:  Know the source; it must be clean and untreated! Stubborn garden plants: Dandelions, ivy and kudzu are plants which will probably enjoy your compost heap as an ideal place to grow, rather than decompose so put these greens in your yard waste container.

Walnuts: Are no good they contain juglone (A yellow crystalline substance, extracted from green shucks of the walnut); which is a natural aromatic compound; toxic to some plants because of it's fungicidal and antibiotic properties.

                    

               

Gratitude...

I thought it'd be a good place to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude for the countless gifts I've had the great pleasure to enjoy in my life so far. For the many friendships, kind souls and incredible talents spanning all ends of the spectrum; from distant lands, far and wide to the places that I have called my home. I feel very fortunate for that matter, to have even had a place to call my home, when so many do not.

Taking time to reflect on my life experiences; career, relationships, talents and abilities... I've had a robust, full life surrounded by love and support. I have seen as we all can see what happens in the absence of that support; love, acceptance and encouragement. Life can become a brutal mess in a hurry for no apparent reason whatsoever, set aside when one's gifts are taken for granted.

I've been blessed to have had my health; freedom, a quick mind, talents, abilities, and I am truly grateful for the lack of a better way to put it, simple good fortune. I've had patient, kind, nurturing, loving parents, family, friends, loves, mentors and teachers. I've had the opportunity to learn skills and work at the top of my field in a very competitive industry and been lucky to have been able to make my way in this world, day after day, month after month, and year after year.

I would like to take a moment to express my thanks also for the loss and heartache, for without it I doubt I could fully appreciate the wonder of it all; the love, laughter, lightness of heart and bliss. I give thanks perhaps most of all for the kindness and grace I've been afforded by those I have wronged out of ignorance and selfishness, as this has taught me one of the most important lessons of all... to always be willing to forgive.

It's all to easy to take life for granted when your caught up in the flow of the busy hustle of dream chasing and when one finds oneself lamenting over the mistakes one makes in life it can be overwhelming. Calling to question one's own integrity when when looks back to the past and is wrestling with less than ideal decision making; it's very easy to get lost. Lord knows, truth be told I've felt lost for much of my life even when I thought I knew exactly where it was I wanted to be and which paths were best to follow.

In closing I'd like to remind you to be gentle and kind to yourself and to those you love and remember to be willing to forgive others and perhaps most importantly yourself. For I believe it is by doing so that we find the true gifts we have to be grateful for, and keeps us on the righteous path towards fearlessness, happiness and self acceptance.

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