To compost, or not to compost?

Composting can be a great way to increase the productivity of your garden or plants. It lowers the amount of trash going to landfills and is a great fertilizer!



Contrary to popular belief, composting isn't even hard! I just started composting this summer and have been surprised at how easy it is to compost. You need a few things to get started with your compost:
1) something to put the material in. I bought a compost bin at Metro Paint out at Swan Island for about $40. You can make your own, or if you don't have too many pests, dig a hole in the ground with some type of cover.
2) a pitchfork or shovel--some kind of item you can use to turn the compost
3) leftovers! The best leftovers are leaves, cut grass, coffee grounds, egg shells, fruit or veggie leavings, basically anything un-processed from your kitchen or lawn. Stay away from meats, fats, oils and things with seeds if possible. The meat/fat/oil can attract unwanted guests like raccoons, and the seeds can lead to unwanted plants growing in your compost! I have heard rumors that coffee grounds are supposed to be a natural type of pest repellant as well, but you'll have to check it out yourself!

Place your leftovers in your bin and cover. Try to make sure you use your shovel to turn the items once a week or so. You don't want your banana peels sitting on top for the fruit flies to devour! Also, make sure that your compost has enough water. If it's too dry it will take longer to turn into dirt and if it's too wet it can get moldy.

Then, when your compost has been...well...composting for long enough, you can take it out and use it as a natural fertilizer. I will be using it for my garden this fall, to prepare it for next spring. You can use it in your flower beds and around trees to help them get the nutrients they need as well.

For more information on composting, I found this website to be helpful.

Removing Blackberry Bushes Without Chemicals

Blackberry bushes (particularly the Himalayan species) are a horribly invasive plant in the Northwest. Getting rid of these thorny monsters can be difficult, but since their main goal in life is to choke the life out of all of your other plants, it is necessary to remove them.

Perhaps the most common way to get rid of those blackberries is using pesticides. However, using pesticides can cause serious problems with the water supply in your area. Any pesticides you use will end up in the ground in the local watershed. If that contaminated water ends up in a nearby river (the Willamette, for example) can kill fish and other wildlife. It's best to try to kill them without pesticides. You have a few options if you are battling berry bushes in your yard.


You can:

1) Hire a landscaping company to hack them down, particularly in early spring when they start their growth spurt, and have them come back periodically until the bush dies. Make sure they do not use pesticides!

2) Cut them down to the ground in early spring, and then mow over them frequently until they die,

3) Cut them down to the ground and then dig up the "crowns" or clusters of roots, and

4) If you have a lot of room and goats, use the goats! They love to eat blackberries.

The final and most critical step is to plant something where the blackberries are currently residing. Make sure it is a native plant (check our previous blogs for a list, consider a native berry plant) and replace the old with the new. This helps inhibit the invasive species and encourages native plants to thrive!

Check out this article for the whole story: http://www.pesticide.org/pubs/alts/blackberry/blackberries.html

Yum! - Hold the pesticides please.

"In a February 2006 Occupational and Environmental Health study, home and garden insecticide use during pregnancy and childhood was associated with an increased risk of childhood leukemia. Homeowners often apply chemicals and then track them indoors, where long-term exposures to children and pets are likely."

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