How to Make Compost Tea (With Photos)

by: Jill Richardson

Wed May 11, 2011 at 17:58:24 PM PDT

Furthermore! Urban Composting, Part 1 (A How-to Guide)

by: TheFatLadySings

Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 05:51:57 AM PDT

Bokashi is a method of kitchen composting developed in Japan where the typical home is the size of a US bedroom and the typical kitchen could fit inside my shoe. Composting is facilitated by anaerobic microorganisms and takes place in a covered bucket under the sink.

I have been using this method off and on for several years. It cuts the amount of rubbish I need to cart to the street nearly in half, and eliminates nasty garbage odors.  

Tales from a D.C. School Kitchen, Part 5: Food Service Turns a "Green" School into an Enviro Hog

by: euclidarms

Sat Jan 23, 2010 at 03:10:45 AM PST

I recently spent a week in the kitchen at H.D. Cooke Elementary School here in the District of Columbia observing how food is prepared. This is the fifth in a six-part series of posts about what I saw.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

"Healthy Schools" Pushes Food Gardening

by: euclidarms

Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 07:45:52 AM PST

Compost Musings

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Nov 15, 2009 at 09:20:30 AM PST

Then, last week, I mentioned the problem to my friend Judith, a sustainable farmer. She told me that our compost was putrifying. The problem was too much nitrogen (i.e. food scraps) and the solution was more carbon (i.e. newspaper, wood chips, etc). And she said it was going anaerobic, which meant it needed more oxygen. She said that newspaper and leaves tend to clump together, making it hard to get oxygen in there. Her recommendation: wood chips, twigs, mulch, etc.

This past week, my boyfriend followed her advice and mixed a bunch of wood chips into the bin. The bin, by the way, stinks pretty badly. It doesn't smell earthy like compost should. However, I did see a very positive sign in there: Black Soldier Fly Larvae.

When I saw them, I did a happy dance! Then I ran into the house and excitedly called his 7 year old daughter out to see them. I'm not sure if she understood my excitement (I explained that they like hot compost, so it's a sign that the bin's doing something right PLUS the are good composters themselves PLUS we can feed them to the chickens we plan to get PLUS they put out pheromones to deter houseflies AND since adult black soldier flies don't have mouths, they don't come into human houses looking for food). She looked at the larvae and called them gross, and then said the compost bin stunk and went back in the house. Well, she's right about that. Here's a pic of the black soldier fly larva:

Seattle Residents: I Have Almost No Trash

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 23:56:13 PM PDT

Zero Waste enforced in San Francisco with new composting laws

by: nourishthespirit

Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 18:22:40 PM PDT

Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

• Bill & Nicolette Hahn Niman argue that pasture raised meat should be seasonal. Okay. I agree. But they don't tell you which season.

• The outrage spawned by the hit piece on free range pork in the NYT has become a back and forth. The author James McWilliams answered his critics (which includes this blog) in The Atlantic. Paula Crossfield on Civil Eats says, "McWilliams didn't start a conversation, but instead just threw a rotten tomato."

• This title says it all: 30 Unexpected and Unusual Things You Can Compost." Like condoms. Who knew?

• Alternet says that choosing between factory farmed red meat and chicken is like choosing between an SUV and a Hummer. Agreed.

• Hallelujah! Tom Laskawy says schools don't need vending machines, they just need money. Yes!!!!

• Natasha Chart talks about biochar. And about the fact that the ag industry wants credit for sequestering carbon without being charged for their emissions. Yeah, and I want a pony.

• Civil Eats suggests getting a farmer tan during your spring break.

• The EPA finally decided that global warming is a problem. I'll put that in my "duh" pile along with the news that the sky is blue and chocolate is tasty.

• More proof that we humans can be easily manipulated. When there's a salad on the menu, you're more likely to order fries.

• Brilliant point made by Mark Bittman:

  You can't trust the supermarket companies to sell you only good, wholesome food. Yet they'll try to convince you that everything they sell is exactly that. So: skip the labels, watch what you buy, and strive for goodness, no matter where you find it.

• Yay! Wolves are thriving in Oregon! I'm such a huge fan of having top predators in the food chain - sooo much good comes from it, even if we humans don't appreciate it much when the wolves kill our livestock (as in the article). Can someone please send a few wolves to Illinois? They are freaking OVERRUN with deer.

• Toronto's considering mandatory green roofs. I hope they go for it.

Roots, Shoots and Fruits

by: Miep

Sun Mar 01, 2009 at 21:04:23 PM PST

Unfortunately, this doesn't constitute very good management for a store that only sells $300 or so in produce a day. You wind up either having a lot of stuff that doesn't look very good, or a lot of stuff that goes out the back door. Neither is good.

But it's never easy to run a quality produce department without running yourself into the ground financially; it's an art. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't work, you have a lot of extra biomass you need to do something with. And when it does, you still have some, too.