Does Your County Offer Free Compost?
brute
15 years ago
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laura1
15 years agopalmcityfl
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Free rain-compost barrels from your local car wash!
Comments (18)Wow, a lot of great ideas and uses for these. I have some comments/suggestions, too, but firt let me give an alternative source for people who can't get their local car washes to part with them. I bought two from a guy who gets them from a famous soda bottler. (Don't want to give them free publicity.) They originally had syrup in them, any residue of which might actually be beneficial in soil! I am using one of the barrels to keep my blackberry bush confined. I cut the top and bottom off the barrel, buried it in the ground with only a few inches showing- and yes, it was a lotta work!- then planted the bush inside it. One way berries spread is by root suckers. But the roots are so deep by the time they get "out of" the barrel, that they can't send up suckers. If I was to use the barrels for strawberries or other plants, I would do one thing differently as far as drainage. I would drill the holes about 3 inches up the sides, not on the bottom. That would create a reservoir to collect water that ran down too quickly, without actually soaking the rootball. The water would slowly be drawn back up by capillary action. This is the principle behind self-watering pots. I also would use the heaviest, clay soil I could find. To me, most potting soil looks like wood chips! Everybody hates clay "because it's so hard to work." But in the pots, you never work it- I haven't in my garden either for 34 years!- so that's irrelavant. Clay is not only the most nutritious soil, but it holds water best of any soil. I would also put a minimum of three inches of grass clippings on top of the soil, more if it fit. Between the clay soil, the mulch, and the drainage holes up the sides rather than the bottom, I bet people could water only a third as often. The final suggestion is using these barrles to collect rain water. Like Mandy, I am mechanically challenged, so I can't help with installing spigots and stuff. But I wanted to mention that you can in effect turn several barrels into one large reservoir, by connecting them at the bottom with PVC pipes. You would only have to let rainwater into one barrel, and the PVC would let it fill up All of them. You could then put a spigot in the last one "in line," and get water from all of them when your garden needed it. Oh, in these West Nile Virus times, you want to make sure to put screens over any openings....See Moredekalb county vs cobb county compost
Comments (2)When we pulled up we first went through the wrong gate (managed to drive by the huge pile of mulch/ compost without seeing it and instead drove through a gate). That aroused the worker, who took a few steps towards us, saw that we were now at the right place and waved to us....See MoreFree Compost in Ulster County?
Comments (4)Hi Smilla, I also live in Saugerties and have gardened here for 35 years. The only place I know for free compost is the New Paltz landfill, off route 32 north of NP. They have a huge pile of composted leaves, older on one side that the other. You have to load it yourself and bring a pickup or containers like those white plastic buckets. I used to be able to get mushroom dirt and manure free but nowadays, the mushrooms are grown in Pennsylvania and the horse farms sell the manure. If you have space, you can compost your own leaves and grass clippings (my neighbors give me their clippings) or just use the grass clippings as mulch. If you learn of any other places, I'd love to hear about them. Happy Gardening....See MoreBackyard Composter offer from Erie County
Comments (2)Husky, What do you think of your new compotser. I told David about the one you were getting and he surprised me and asked if I was getting one LOL! I think he is finally seeing all the benefits of composting. Penny...See Moregarry51
15 years agogoldenpond
15 years agocxjr25
15 years agonatives_and_veggies
15 years agogaryfla_gw
15 years agolaura1
15 years agowile_e_coyote
15 years agopeachpaws
15 years ago
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