Replenish:

This is the last post- replenish- following a series of posts, because of Earth Day this week-we wanted to share some ways we are taking action to help take care of our earth. We hope at least one person has been enlightened and/or inspired as to how to practically be more earth friendly.

We are not claiming to be extraordinary people, but we have just chosen to be intential with the way we do things- and have seen what a difference it makes. If we can do these things- surely you can too!

re⋅plen⋅ish

~to make full or complete again, as by supplying what is lacking, used up, etc
~to inspire or nourish

The 6 Stricklands have decided to go all out and start a garden. We needed some compost to mix into the dirt to help give our soil some nutrients. We ended up buying some compost. Compost is a soil conditioner, mulch and fertilizer all wrapped into one.

When reading what exactly compost was made of- we decided "HEY! We could make our own compost pile!" So that is what we did!

Things that can be thrown into our compost:

Paper napkins
Freezer-burned vegetables
Pet hair
Post-it notes
Freezer-burned fruit
Wood chips
Lint from behind refrigerator
Hay
Popcorn
Old spices
Leaves
Matches (paper or wood)
Old, dried up and faded herbs
Paper towels
Grass clippings
Potato peelings
Unpaid bills
weeds
Hair clippings from the barber
Stale bread
Coffee grounds
Tea bags and grounds
Shredded newspapers
Egg shells
Alfalfa
Winter rye
Grapefruit rinds
Pea vines
Houseplant trimmings
Old pasta
Grape wastes
Garden soil
Jell-o (gelatin)
Aquarium plants
Sunday comics
Felt waste
Wheat straw
Peat moss
Kleenex tissues
Tree bark
Melted ice cream
Flower petals
Pumpkin seeds
Q-tips (cotton swabs: cardboard, not plastic sticks)
Expired flower arrangements
Elmer's glue
BBQ'd fish skin
Bone meal
Citrus wastes
Stale potato chips
Wheat bran
Guinea pig cage cleanings
Nut shells
Granite dust
Moldy cheese
Straw
Shredded cardboard
Fish scraps
Tea bags (black and herbal)
Apple cores
Electric razor trimmings
Kitchen wastes
Outdated yogurt
Shrimp shells
Crab shells
Lobster shells
Pie crust
Onion skins
Bagasse (sugar cane residue)
Watermelon rinds
Date pits
animal manure
Peanut shells
Burned oatmeal
Lint from clothes dryer
Bread crusts
Cooked rice
Banana peels
Fingernail and toenail clippings
Wooden toothpicks
Moss from last year's hanging baskets
Stale breakfast cereal
Pickles
'Dust bunnies' from under the bed
Pencil shavings
Fruit salad
Tossed salad (now THERE's tossing it!)
Brown paper bags
Soggy Cheerios
Theater tickets
Burned toast
Feathers
Animal fur
Vacuum cleaner bag contents
Old or outdated seeds
Greeting card envelopes
Dead bees and flies
Peanut butter sandwiches
Dirt from soles of shoes, boots
Sawdust
Ivory soap scraps
Spoiled canned fruits and vegetables
Produce trimmings from grocery store
Grocery receipts
Wood ashes

Not only does compost save space in our trash bin- we are stockpiling a nourishing supply of compost for our next year's garden! What a great way to replenish the earth!

Here is a picture of our compost pile.

Our pile started with last Fall's leaves. In our kitchen-we have a bucket that we fill with compost- when its full- a kid takes it to the pile and dumps it. Joel throws in grass clippings, I throw in weeds..ect. From time to time we will rotate it all, and water it. We can already see it all breaking down. I have seen lots of different ways a compost can be done. Look online and you can find something that might suit your needs if your interested in composting.