Tomato Growing Tips » Composting Tips

Compost Tea for the Tomato Garden

John — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:26:26 +0000

Compost tea is one of the classic organic fertilizers. It's best when it's brewed from fully composted materials, but you can brew it with a composter like the Envirocycle compost tea maker and tumbler. Alternatives there are kits for making compost tea. Here's some tips on how to brew your own compost tea.

Mantis Compost-Twin Reviewed

John — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:48:20 +0000

The Mantis Compost-Twin is often thought of as the Cadillac of garden composters. Here's a look at the pros and cons of the Compost -Twin.

Mantis Composter Review
By Brandi Yates

The Mantis Compost-Twin Tumbler can hold up to 25 cubic feet of raw materials. The drum has a 10 bushel capacity (it is the only Composter on the market that has this much capacity). It also has an easy crank handle and gear mechanisms which make a fully loaded barrel easy to turn. So there is no back breaking work to it. It comes with its own stand to support its weight and has two side doors that make it easy to put mulch and other compost items inside the drum. The Compost twin is 32" high, which makes it easy to load, and unload. The frame is made from sturdy tubular steel and galvanized metal for the drum. Its overall size is 65" wide x 66" high and 41" deep. You will never have to purchase compost ever again after you have tried the Mantis Composter.

Grass Clippings as Mulch – Using Grass Clippings for Garden Mulch

John — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:46:26 +0000

Grass clippings are one of the most common forms of yard waste, and in the spirit of composting and recycling the question often comes up about using grass clippings as mulch for the garden. Here's a look at using grass clippings for garden mulch.

Composting Kitchen Scraps – What Can You Compost?

John — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:07:38 +0000

Kitchen scraps are a great source of composting materials for your compost pile. But you do need to take a little care in choosing the materials that you save from the kitchen for the compost bin. Some materials will only serve to attract pests to the compost pile while not really breaking down well into compost. Others may not attract vermin and other pests, but still are slow to break down and do little to help the composting process. Here's a look at some of the items that would be good to include in your compost crock or compost pail.

Worm Castings – Using Worm Castings in Your Garden

John — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:04:17 +0000

One great way to improve the soil in your garden is to use earthworm castings. There are a couple of ways to start worm composting (or vermicomposting as it's often known), one is to add somered wigglers to your compost bin, taking care that it will not heat up too quickly. The other is to use a worm composter like the Can o Worm Composter that will let you keep composting year round, even indoors if you like. Here'e and article where we take a look at how to use worm castings in your garden.

Title: Having Earthworms In Your Garden

Garden Gourmet Compost Bin – Gourmet Compost for Your Garden?

John — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:25:43 +0000

When any gardener starts composting, it usually begins with just a pile over in the corner of the yard. But at some point you'd like to have a compost bin that is a little more attractive, but not a lot of money. Here's a look at the Garden Gourmet Composter that is so popular these days.

The Garden Gourmet Compost Bin has even been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, so it's seen it's share of good press. It's a nice size (about 11 cubic feet) and is made of recycled plastic (at least 51% post consumer plastic.) It features a door at the bottom of the bin where you are supposed to be able to take out the finished compost.

Aerobic vs Anaerobic Composting – What's the Difference?

John — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:52:07 +0000

When we take a look at composters, often we are doing so because we want to get fast compost, as opposed to the slow "natural" way of composting. the technical terms for these two types of composting are aerobic composting and anaerobic composting. Here's a look at the differences between the two approaches and some ideas to speed up our garden compost bin.

Fertilizing Tomatoes – Is Manure a Good Tomato Fertilizer?

John — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:49:43 +0000

One of the most common natural fertilizers is rotted manure. Almost any organic gardening book will recommend it. But how well does it work on tomatoes, and if you have a choice, which type of manure makes the best tomato fertilizer?

Cheap Compost Bins – A Look at Inexpensive Composters

John — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:03:16 +0000

We know that compost is a great addition to any garden, especially our tomato gardens. But if you look at the composters available you'll find that some of them are priced pretty high, which makes it tough to justify based on the return you get from the garden. Another alternative is to make your own compost bin, but that can be a lot of work and if you aren't too handy then it's not that attractive. This article reviews some of the options for inexpensive composters. See if you can come up with a cheap composting solution for your garden.

We've have some pretty good experience with the Soilsaver Composter mentioned below as well.

Used Coffee Grounds – Coffee Grounds are Great for the Garden

John — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:48:33 +0000

The other day I was looking for information on the types of things that can be added to your compost pile. I ran across this article that highlights over 100 things you can add to a compost pile, and where to find free material to add to a compost pile.