#43 - Sep 2020 - Garden Stuff - © Sandy Lang - slang@xtra.co.nz
GREEN WASTESeptember/October: Winter’s past. Spring’s here. Yeah…!
Tree chip: They come here for it from the Hutt and from Wellington and beyond. “Great idea,” they say, “But a curse on those who dump their green-waste there. Nobody wants that…!" Fly tipping (a finable offense) was an issue at the mulch pile in the past but is less so now because...
Hutt City Council recently introduced kerbside greenwaste collection. Thank you HCC...! Their 240 litre greenwaste bins are emptied monthly for about $95 a year (the additonal cost if you choose to have a greenwaste bin is loaded on to your rates bill). I understand all of HCC's greenwaste is now composted - none goes to landfill. Why is this important...? Methane: Composting is aerobic – it simply recycles recently-photosynthesised CO2 back to the air. But greenwaste buried in a landfill is not aerobic. There it breaks down anaerobically, emitting methane, CH4. which is is 23-times worse than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. Think twice before you put greenwaste in your red-lid landfill bin. But my preference is to deal with greenwaste at home... Eco-pile: Try an ‘eco-pile’. Composting is for the energetic – an eco-pile is for the lazy. •Locate it in an out-of-sight corner of the garden. It’s where you’ll dump all your prunings and vegetable kitchen waste - not meat/bread or you encourage rats/mice. •Having lots of twigs, it has many air spaces. It rots aerobically (CO2 not CH4) and slower than compost (cooler). •But the spaces make homes for a myriad leggy animals (arthropods). The rotting material is their food. •Larger animals, geckos etc, move in to hunt the leggy animals. In case a mouse/rat moves in (unlikely) put a trap nearby. •Add to your eco-pile year on year. Fairly soon it stops getting bigger. The ‘rot rate’ matches the ‘add rate’. •You’ve created a mini ecosystem. It’s how nature disposes of its green-waste. Free and sustainable… A plus: An added benefit of an eco-pile is, it retains all the soil minerals taken up from your soil by your garden plants. Indeed it adds to these minerals by adding in the minerals contained in the food scraps derived from fruit and vegetables bought from the shops.
Green-waste: Most households create four sorts of greenwaste.(1) Prunings – Leaves, twigs (up to 2 cm). Snip to 60 cm. These are the basis of your eco-pile.
(2) Lawn clippings – A big lawn, a deep pile, it goes claggy. Your eco-pile will take some. •Sprinkle surplus clippings (5 cm) under trees/shrubs. Clippings soon rot. They feed slaters, that feed blackbirds, that sing. They also feed the soil and suppress weeds.
(3) Kitchen – For peelings and inedible plant bits, keep a lidded plastic box on the bench. Empty it on your eco pile. Soon rots down.
(3) Branches - Those over 2 cm make good kindling/logs. Good for wood fires. Snip to 30 cm (bow-saw thick bits). Dry 6 months in a box in the garage. •No wood burner? Give to your neighbour who does – make a friend. Some pay $1,500 a year for firewood. ___________________________________
GREEN WASTESeptember/October: Winter’s past. Spring’s here. Yeah…!
Tree chip: They come here for it from the Hutt and from Wellington and beyond. “Great idea,” they say, “But a curse on those who dump their green-waste there. Nobody wants that…!" Fly tipping (a finable offense) was an issue at the mulch pile in the past but is less so now because...
Hutt City Council recently introduced kerbside greenwaste collection. Thank you HCC...! Their 240 litre greenwaste bins are emptied monthly for about $95 a year (the additonal cost if you choose to have a greenwaste bin is loaded on to your rates bill). I understand all of HCC's greenwaste is now composted - none goes to landfill. Why is this important...? Methane: Composting is aerobic – it simply recycles recently-photosynthesised CO2 back to the air. But greenwaste buried in a landfill is not aerobic. There it breaks down anaerobically, emitting methane, CH4. which is is 23-times worse than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. Think twice before you put greenwaste in your red-lid landfill bin. But my preference is to deal with greenwaste at home... Eco-pile: Try an ‘eco-pile’. Composting is for the energetic – an eco-pile is for the lazy. •Locate it in an out-of-sight corner of the garden. It’s where you’ll dump all your prunings and vegetable kitchen waste - not meat/bread or you encourage rats/mice. •Having lots of twigs, it has many air spaces. It rots aerobically (CO2 not CH4) and slower than compost (cooler). •But the spaces make homes for a myriad leggy animals (arthropods). The rotting material is their food. •Larger animals, geckos etc, move in to hunt the leggy animals. In case a mouse/rat moves in (unlikely) put a trap nearby. •Add to your eco-pile year on year. Fairly soon it stops getting bigger. The ‘rot rate’ matches the ‘add rate’. •You’ve created a mini ecosystem. It’s how nature disposes of its green-waste. Free and sustainable… A plus: An added benefit of an eco-pile is, it retains all the soil minerals taken up from your soil by your garden plants. Indeed it adds to these minerals by adding in the minerals contained in the food scraps derived from fruit and vegetables bought from the shops.
Green-waste: Most households create four sorts of greenwaste.(1) Prunings – Leaves, twigs (up to 2 cm). Snip to 60 cm. These are the basis of your eco-pile.
(2) Lawn clippings – A big lawn, a deep pile, it goes claggy. Your eco-pile will take some. •Sprinkle surplus clippings (5 cm) under trees/shrubs. Clippings soon rot. They feed slaters, that feed blackbirds, that sing. They also feed the soil and suppress weeds.
(3) Kitchen – For peelings and inedible plant bits, keep a lidded plastic box on the bench. Empty it on your eco pile. Soon rots down.
(3) Branches - Those over 2 cm make good kindling/logs. Good for wood fires. Snip to 30 cm (bow-saw thick bits). Dry 6 months in a box in the garage. •No wood burner? Give to your neighbour who does – make a friend. Some pay $1,500 a year for firewood. ___________________________________