Our biggest wedding yet!!
Composting
Although not many households compost, it really cuts down on your output of waste. Instead of having a trash can full of food scraps, you can turn those foods scraps into black gold as the gardener’s call it. As the food breaks down, the food becomes less distinguishable and eventually is a black loose dirt that is spreadable on your garden.
Now you can not compost meat or dairy, but any veggie scraps, or even grass clippings you have can go in. These are considered the “green” part of the composting cycle. Then, you have the “browns” which need to be added to give the pile some body, so you don’t just have one big sloppy mess. This would be fallen leaves, cardboard, paper, or anything that is a little bit more woody (like for us, some of our flower stems count). If you are really good you will have a ratio of about 3 brown: 1 green, but no one’s perfect and neither is composting.
Basically, everything from inside that gets composted goes into a separate trash can with a lid. We eat a lot of veggies and drink a lot of coffee, so it adds up quickly and then is taken outside to the pile. We compost all of our napkins and paper towels (unless they were used to clean up grease or for soap making) and every once in a while I throw a cardboard box in there to make up for the browns I need. We let the pile accumulate until winter when it gets covered with a tarp and we move onto the next year’s pile. In the spring, we will turn the old pile to get it working again and then should be ready to use by fall.
So it takes a while, but it is worth it. You can also get a compost tumbler that hurries the process and contains the compost, although it doesn’t stink like you think it would. Another option is worm composting where you buy some worms that can digest all of these scraps and turn them into worm castings, which are also just as valuable for the garden.
On a more massive scale, Smith Farm Market drops off all of their unsold produce which they dump on our property. We turn it with the front end loader, still cover it in the winter time, and then use the tractor to move piles of it for hand spreading. This stuff is much better than fertilizer because you are increasing soil life and the healthiness of your plants. For more information check out Rodale’s Encyclopedia of Composting or check online. Or if you have any questions, feel free to ask. We are all about trying to get more people to compost and it makes sense even if you just have a flower bed and no garden!
What’s included this week?
1. Cherry Tomatoes
2. Focaccia bread from Lucky Cat Farm- great sandwich bread or to dip in eggs overeasy!
3. Eggs from Roshon Farms- same as last time, we just don’t have enough chickens to get everyone eggs. They are all natural chickens just like ours!
4. Bell peppers
5. Potatoes
6. Garlic
Recipe of the Week
Potatoes Au Gratin
4 potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 onion, sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 1 quart casserole dish. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add smashed garlic, then mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.
Although not many households compost, it really cuts down on your output of waste. Instead of having a trash can full of food scraps, you can turn those foods scraps into black gold as the gardener’s call it. As the food breaks down, the food becomes less distinguishable and eventually is a black loose dirt that is spreadable on your garden.
Now you can not compost meat or dairy, but any veggie scraps, or even grass clippings you have can go in. These are considered the “green” part of the composting cycle. Then, you have the “browns” which need to be added to give the pile some body, so you don’t just have one big sloppy mess. This would be fallen leaves, cardboard, paper, or anything that is a little bit more woody (like for us, some of our flower stems count). If you are really good you will have a ratio of about 3 brown: 1 green, but no one’s perfect and neither is composting.
Basically, everything from inside that gets composted goes into a separate trash can with a lid. We eat a lot of veggies and drink a lot of coffee, so it adds up quickly and then is taken outside to the pile. We compost all of our napkins and paper towels (unless they were used to clean up grease or for soap making) and every once in a while I throw a cardboard box in there to make up for the browns I need. We let the pile accumulate until winter when it gets covered with a tarp and we move onto the next year’s pile. In the spring, we will turn the old pile to get it working again and then should be ready to use by fall.
So it takes a while, but it is worth it. You can also get a compost tumbler that hurries the process and contains the compost, although it doesn’t stink like you think it would. Another option is worm composting where you buy some worms that can digest all of these scraps and turn them into worm castings, which are also just as valuable for the garden.
On a more massive scale, Smith Farm Market drops off all of their unsold produce which they dump on our property. We turn it with the front end loader, still cover it in the winter time, and then use the tractor to move piles of it for hand spreading. This stuff is much better than fertilizer because you are increasing soil life and the healthiness of your plants. For more information check out Rodale’s Encyclopedia of Composting or check online. Or if you have any questions, feel free to ask. We are all about trying to get more people to compost and it makes sense even if you just have a flower bed and no garden!
What’s included this week?
1. Cherry Tomatoes
2. Focaccia bread from Lucky Cat Farm- great sandwich bread or to dip in eggs overeasy!
3. Eggs from Roshon Farms- same as last time, we just don’t have enough chickens to get everyone eggs. They are all natural chickens just like ours!
4. Bell peppers
5. Potatoes
6. Garlic
Recipe of the Week
Potatoes Au Gratin
4 potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 onion, sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a 1 quart casserole dish. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add smashed garlic, then mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.
Thank you for your support,
Gretel and Steve
Gretel and Steve
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