The Bite:
Get bangin' bushes when you bring a little something extra into your bed (flower bed, that is) - new organic fertilizers and potting soils are better for the earth as well as your plants.
Your turn for bush patrol?
03.20.2007
Submitted by idealbite on Tue, 03/20/2007 - 2:01am.
The Benefits:
- They just plain work. Organic fertilizers and soils get your plants growing without synthetic chems.
- Planet-friendlier. Chem-based fertilizers can runoff, contaminating groundwater.
- Composting your own fertilizer is easy on the landfill (the average household produces about 200 lbs of kitchen waste per year) and even easier on your wallet (since it's, um, free).
Personally Speaking:
Jen's such an animal lover that she's even been known to save earthworms by helping street-bound ones back to soil after rainstorms. Fitting, then, that the earthworm castings from Black Gold kept her indoor herb garden growing all winter.
Wanna Try:
Compost
- EnviroCycle - aerate your compost and work your biceps at the same time ($158).
- Can-O-Worms - composter/hotel-for-worms, made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic ($100).
- Clean Air Gardening Indoor Kitchen Composter - composts by fermentation for faster fertilizer ($70).
- Foothill Worm Ranch and Happy D Ranch - worms delivered to your door ($25-$30/lb).
- Gardens Alive Garden Plenty - animal byproduct-free fertilizer from a company that knows eco-friendly gardens ($13/5 lbs).
- Black Gold - earthworm casting-enriched, great for all types of planting ($3/4 qts).
- TerraCycle - freakin' amazing plant-specific food made from worm castings, packaged in used plastic soda bottles (prices vary).
- Miracle-Gro - need a version easy to find in your local nursery or hardware store? Even the biggest supplier of inorganic fertilizers offers new organic versions, coming to a nursery near you (prices vary).
- Compost Guide - composting 101.
- DIY Bite: sprinkle used coffee grounds around your plants to give your plants their nitrogen fix. (You can even bring grounds home from the office or ask the manager at your local coffeeshop. You might get weird looks, but hey, it's free and saves landfill space.)
Edward Storey
Cocktail Fact
Some government agencies in the UK recommend composting important documents as a surefire way to avoid identity theft.
Bang For The Bite
Cheaper and effective, if 10,000 Biters compost ΒΌ of their yearly kitchen waste, in a year we'll keep the weight of the Statue of Liberty in trash outta landfills.
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