Compost and peat moss have long been well known collaborators in making a good garden bed. And although this may still be the case, I urge you to look for other alternatives if you care more about the earth than a quick fix for your garden.

The reasons are as follows: Peat extraction from the earth causes a tremendous amount of co2 to be released into the atmosphere. “Around half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted each year as a result of peat extraction from UK sites for horticultural use.” (source) And that’s just in the UK! “The destruction of peat bogs in Indonesia, partly to grow supposedly “green” bio-fuels, releases more carbon dioxide every year than all of India or Russia, and three times as much as Germany.” (source)

Another major reason is that peat-bogs are an ecosystem that is slowly being destroyed due to our harvesting. Many birds and wildlife live in these areas that after harvested turn into wastelands. This is causing a growing number of endangered species and turning these thriving locations into wastelands.

Peat moss is a non-renewable resource, and we know how we feel about those :)

Some alternatives: Leaf mould, when it’s old and falling apart, is a perfect alternatve, although do not use evergreen needles. Tree bark that has been shredded down. Look at your local urban gardener/farmer store for some peat-free alternatives, there are plenty of products out there.

Remember, peat is used to help aerate and retain moisture without need or worry of pesticides. It’s used to pot plants, as a mulch for garden beds, and to help seedlings grow. You can blend compost with many things to recreate these solutions

Now this is a trick that I picked up from a published gardener while I was on a backpacking trip with Sierra Club Outings. I mentioned I did this compost blog and we started really getting into our favorite practices. This is hers that I now have fully encapsulated into my own.

You may have heard that there is a known lack of calcium within our soils causing our plants to suffer from a sort of calcium deficiency. In fact some fertilizers with a more than healthy dosage of potassium or nitrogen can be the causers of this issue.

So what do you do? Why you create the Egg-Shell Calcium Enrichment Treatment! ESCET! Or ‘escet’ if you prefer.

Now instead of throwing away or doing the normal composting with your egg shells, let’s try out a new technique. Have a small jar or ceramic container to place your egg shells (preferably washed, but not mandatory) then use an unobtrusive beating tool to smash down the egg shells into tiny bits on the bottom. My beating tool is a bottle opener.

ESCET

This way they will be compacted allowing for more room, as well as 1 step closer to becoming paste. When you are about half full with your container or at a level where you feel it sufficient we will commence with our finishing grind of the egg shells. This is best done in a style similar to grinding corn meal from corn kernels. But being that I’ve never done such a thing I will probably just put it in a big ceramic bowl, take the back-end of some tool I have and go to town. I will then dilute the paste into my watering vase and further the lives and lusciousness of my beautiful plants!

My ESCET Container sits proudly on top of my oven where I won't forget :)

For urban composters such as myself this technique is perfect because I can still compost, creating something wortwhile, while not having to worry about my space requirements, smell, or putting something outside when it may be freezing!

Another worthwhile benefit to note is that worm don’t enjoy feeding on half-broken egg shells in their bin. They much prefer things broken down before inhaling them. SO, use this technique for all of your egg shells and then add some to your worms with some water later in the month, they’ll thank you for it.

Let’s face it, if you’re on a balcony you’re going to need a container to throw your compost mix into that will grow the wonders of the world. You know plants and stuff. So it’s obviously very important to understand the basics of the pot choices out on the market today.

The most accessible and commonly used is the clay pot or terra-cotta pot. I’m sure we’ve all had experience with these but let’s go over some of the need to know.

• Cost: Cost effective
• Looks: Great natural beauty
• Weight: Heavy! Of course this is only an issue for the large pots, and doubly so if you are looking to change its location in the foreseeable future

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Who ever said you needed finish compost to do your gardening with? Surely not us here at Balconycompost.com! In fact we’d go as far as to say that concept is blasphemy. That’s right! Blasphemy. The most brilliant part about compost is that if it’s not done yet it will just keep on composting! Oh the wonders of nature.

So what are we getting at? If you’re still in your first few months of composting and perhaps don’t have any technically finished compost, aka humus, you can still do your gardening/re-potting/whatever. Of course it only makes sense (especially in potted plants) to use your most composted compost for it’s nutrients will be most readily available for your plants to dig their roots into.

Since we’re specializing in balconies and urban areas we are more concerned with how we utilize our compost in potted plants. To explain this in the best manner would be to utilize a drawing, (more…)

One of the main purposes of this website is to give it’s readers creative ideas on how to use their wonderful new compost soil to make beautiful balcony gardens. Create your own soil, create your own vegetables and herbs, create your own water? Utilizing rainwater catching practices is a great way to reuse nature’s water source. To have your own self-sustaining urban garden it would make sense to intelligently utilize this practice, wouldn’t it? Well here in Colorado things seem to get a little tricky. Let’s investigate shall we? From denverwater.org: Colorado’s water situation (in pdf) and Greywater and Rainwater Harvesting

Harvesting rainwater While this issue is very complex, the bottom line is that it is illegal under Colorado water rights. Although no specific statute has yet been written specifically directed at harvesting rainwater, the act of intercepting and diverting the water could be in violation Colorado water rights. As strange as it may seem, if a person were to capture and divert rainwater it could negatively impact the senior rights of another. (more…)