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Home & Garden6 Friday,September30,2016 www.abilene-rc.com
Startyourcompostpilethisfall
By James CooverKSREDickinsonCountyAg.Agent
In the fall, the Earth exhales. All of the carbon in plant matter that has been stored
up over the summer dies and begins to break down. Fall is a great time to begin composting because of all the leaves and dead plant matter that needs to be dealt with. Composting is a way of capturing part of that carbon movement for our own beneit. Compost added to soil provides nutrients and water retention to gardens and lower beds. Com-post, which is mostly organic matter, provides beneits to soil that cannot be compensated for in other ways.
A compost heap can be a loose pile of unorganized plant matter, but most people prefer to make theirs in some sort of enclosure. The enclosure can be made out of woven wire, cement blocks, old boards, or old pallets. A woven wire enclosure is made into a cylinder, while plant matter is thrown into the top. While a woven wire enclosure is simple
to make, it doesn’t allow the compost pile to be stirred like more solid enclo-sures. An enclosure made
out of cement blocks or boards should be made into the three sides of a box, while the compost pile just kind of spills out of the fourth side. Compost piles can also be made underground in a big hole. There are plenty of design ideas online, so I’ll leave it to you to be inventive with yours. Just be sure that no matter how you make your pile, it isn’t sitting in water. Compost piles need oxygen.
Compost piles made with too much material that is high in carbon content but low in nitrogen content will be slow to break down. Achieving a carbon to nitrogen balance will give the microbes all they need to act quickly. The ideal carbon to nitrogen balance is 30 to 1, but getting in that ball park is good enough. Carbon rich materials such as leaves have a carbon to nitrogen ratio of 60 to 1 while sawdust and newspaper is around 400 to 1. Nitrogen rich materials such as grass clippings have a ratio of 20 to 1 and veg-etable waste is 15 to 1. Animal manure is usually nitrogen rich but the ratio can widely vary. You will probably ind that you have much more carbon rich material than you do nitrogen rich material. Adding fertilizer as you stack your compost can help even the balance. Remember that this balance is on a dry basis, food scraps and grass clippings are mostly water.
Add material to your compost pile in layers and then gently mix the layers together. Add ive to six inches of plant material, an inch of manure (or a sprinkle of fertilizer), and then an inch or two of soil for each layer. Mix that layer together and water lightly before adding the next layer. The soil is to add the fungi and bacteria you need to break down the plant material and it helps with water regulation. Any backyard soil is ine because all soil is full of microbes.
If done correctly, the pile will start to break down over the winter months. You might even see steam rising from the pile on cold winter days because the microbe activity creates heat. If you can, stir the pile a little every month so oxygen can get into the inner areas.
If you keep it moist but not wet, well stirred, and with the right carbon to nitrogen ratio, it should be about ready for spring planting.
The University of Missouri has a good composting publication found at http://extension.mis-souri.edu/p/G6956 or contact the local Extension ofice. at (785) 263-2001 or email [email protected].
James Coover
WinterizingtipstosurviveweatherBy Gail Parsons
The Old Farmer’s Almanac is pre-dicting warmer than average tempera-tures, but a lot of snow this winter. Whether one wants to believe their forecasting methods or not, it is time to get ready for winter.
Ken Manning, owner of RHV Do-it-Best Hardware, has tips for winteriz-ing the house and yard to get through the season with fewer weather related problems
Grass“Grass goes dormant during the
winter, but the roots don’t,” he said. “Putting down fertilizer is important for healthy grass.”
The fertilizer used in the fall is different than what is used in the spring because it does not have nitrogen. The minerals in the fertil-izer feed the roots. Some varieties of winterizing fertilizer contain a weed control to give you a jump on next year’s dandelions.
EquipmentBefore putting the lawnmower into
storage for the winter, Manning said people should put a gasoline stabilizer in the tank so next spring the mower will still run properly.
“Also, if you have an RV, make sure you have antifreeze in it, as well as in your cars and trucks,” he said.
Windows and doorsGaps in the windows and doors
make it dificult to keep a home warm and increase the heating bill.
A relatively easy ix for the gaps is to install foam insulation strips. These strips are self-stick and easy to cut down to size.
Manning also recommends covering windows with plastic if the window has only a single pane of glass.
PipesDuring the coldest days of winter,
exposed pipes can easily freeze — especially those under trailer homes.
For exposed pipe, Manning recom-mends using a heat tape. This product lays over the top of the pipe, is se-cured in place by tape and plugged in.
“This will prevent ruptures during the winter,” he said.
The next step is to put on a foam piece designed to it over the pipe.
Carbon monoxide, smoke detectors
“Winter is ire time. Whether we are talking space heaters, ireplaces or the furnace,” Manning said. “Fall is a good time to check the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.”
HumidifiersIndoor heat has a tendency to dry
out the air, so many people turn to us-ing a humidiier to put some moisture back in the air.
Manning said now would be the time to make sure the ilter is new and you have an additive to put in the wa-ter to prevent the growth of bacteria.
Gail Parsons • Relector-ChronicleBeforethelawnandgardenmaterialsareputawayforthewinter,KenMan-ning,ownerofRHVDo-it-BestHardware,recommendsputtingdownonemoreapplicationoffertilizer.Nitrogen-freefertilizersmadespeciicallyforfallapplicationwillhelpkeeptherootsstrongasthegrassgoesdormantforthewinter.
Keepwarmairinside,coldairoutsideMetroEditorialServices
Rising energy costs coupled with the continued adoption
of eco-friendly lifestyles are two factors driving homeown-ers to seek ways to reduce
energy consumption in their homes. Reducing energy con-sumption is reason enough for many homeowners to make changes around the house, but saving energy sometimes means saving substantial amounts of money as well.
Energy-eficient appliances and eco-friendly building ma-terials can help homeowners reduce energy consumption. But homeowners looking for additional ways to cut cooling and heating costs can address air leaks around the house to make their homes more energy eficient.
• Identify air leaks around windows and doorways. Autumn is a great time of year to identify air leaks. Fall, and particularly late fall, tends to be characterized by cold air that makes it easy to detect air leaks. Feel for leaks around windows and doorways, ide-ally conducting such tests on cold, windy days when you can quickly detect if air is lowing in from the outside.
Leaks around windows and doors waste energy because the interior of the home is either colder (in the winter)
or warmer (in the summer) than it needs to be, prompt-ing homeowners to turn up their thermostats or rely more heavily on air conditioning units.
• Look for leaks elsewhere around the house. While win-dows and doorways are where many leaks are found, leaks also may be found around plumbing, electrical ixtures and dryer vents. Inspect such areas by feeling for drafts or looking for signs that insects and critters might be entering.
• Look up and down. Evidence of air leaks may be noticeable on both the loor and the ceiling. Dirty spots on carpeting and the ceiling may be indicative of air leaks at interior wall/ceiling joints and wall/loor joists. Fixing such leaks may be as simple as applying some caulk.
• Go with gaskets. The U.S. Department of Energy recom-mends installing foam gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on walls. Outlets and switch boxes on exterior walls
provide another place for air to leak into a home and drive up energy costs. Properly installed gaskets can cut back on air iniltration, providing an inexpensive way to save energy and money.
• Cover the kitchen exhaust fans when you are not cook-ing. Kitchen exhaust fans can help prevent ires and unfavorable indoor air condi-tions when preparing meals at home. But such fans provide opportunities for air to enter a home, so make sure they are tightly closed or covered when no one is cooking in the kitchen.
Air leaks around a house can waste energy and contrib-ute to high energy bills, par-ticularly during the winter and summer when temperatures outside tend to be at their most extreme. Homeowners looking to reduce their energy consumption and save money can inspect various areas of their homes for air leaks and immediately address any they
Metro Editorial ServicesAirleaksarounddoorwayscanwasteenergyandcosthom-eownerssubstantialamountsofmoney.
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