DIY Life

At my house, we really try our best to live in an environmentally friendly way, for our health and the Earth's. We eat local, fresh food as much as we can, we never use chemicals on our lawn or plants, we don't clean the house with chemicals, and we have quite the raging compost pile.

It seems that we got a bit overzealous with the composting, in fact. Last fall, after carving a stunning Jack-o-lantern, we responsibly dumped the innards of the pumpkin into our composter.

Throughout the autumn, we had several pumpkins displayed on our walkway and stoop. When it was time to put up the Christmas decorations, we plopped the pumpkins in the composter. Follow me after the break; I'm going somewhere with this...

Spring has finally arrived and preparations for the spring planting season have begun. While you're cleaning out your flower beds or preparing your vegetable garden this year, why not commit a few hours to creating a compost pile in your backyard?

Why compost?

Some experts estimate that food waste accounts for 20 to 30 percent of garbage in landfills. Each time you scrape your plate into the wastebasket or garbage disposal, you're throwing valuable nutrients away, nutrients your outdoor plants need.

Composting creates a dark brown, crumbly material. Your garden loves compost for several reason -- it's full of food your plants desire, it's chemical-free, and helps the soil retain moisture. Though it can take years for soil to rebuild lost nutrients on its own, amending the soil with compost speeds up that process.

Get started on your own compost bin after the break.

In our continuing attempts to keep things out of the landfill, my husband and I have decided to up our efforts to compost. At the moment, we have a wonderful dog who eats many food items that we would otherwise throw in the garbage. For all the items that Jake doesn't eat, there are many more that we can compost.

To see all the items that you can and should be composting , check out this article on hgtv.com. Marion Owen is a master gardener who has put together a list of 163 materials to add to your compost bin. Here are the first 10 items that Ms. Owen says can be added to your compost bin:

• paper napkins
• freezer burned veggies
• pet hair
• potash rock
• post-it notes
• freezer burned fruit
• wood chips
• lint from behind the fridge
• hay
• popcorn

Every garden my family ever grew was given the benefit of pig and cow manure. The soil loves it, and so do the plants. Honestly, my dog Jake would be digging and scratching up a storm if I had the audacity to throw food in a compost bin without even consulting him first. Now all I have to do is remember that almost anything I touch can be put in the compost bin. Anything to keep my plants happy.

If you don't happen to have a compost bin yet, Francesca tells you how to build one using shipping pallets.

[via: curbly.com]