THE DIRT

To mulch or not to mulch? That is the question! For those who love to garden, it’s time to roll up those sleeves and get your hands dirty with some good, old-fashioned summer gardening tips. Spoil your soil. Nothing will hinder plant growth more than poor soil—in order for your veggies to flourish, you need to focus on providing them with the most nutrient-dense soil possible. Take care not to compact the soil too much, and add in a nutrient-rich soil amendments like compost. The SMSC Organics Recycling Facility offers some excellent options for compost and compost blends! Mulch, mulch, mulch. Mulch helps blanket the soil in your garden, shielding plants from too much sun and preventing moisture loss from evaporation. We recommend spreading a 2-inch-deep layer of mulch near your plants or veggies. Here at the SMSC Organics Recycling Facility, we have several different colors of mulch to choose from! (Are you sensing a trend yet?) Control the weeds. The summer heat doesn’t discriminate when it comes to enabling plant growth, and many types of weeds can go from tiny to gigantic in a short period of time. Weeds steal vital nutrients and moisture from your plants and vegetables,…
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While composting provides a variety benefits to the environment, the process of making compost can sometimes release unpleasant odors. These odors are a mix of dilute, invisible, gaseous compounds that can range from virtually unnoticeable to strong depending on feedstocks and management. Though the odors can sometimes be unpleasant, they are never toxic. So what causes these odors anyways? Compost is a rich soil amendment that is created during the process of organic material being broken down. This is a natural process called decomposition. Decomposition begins when feedstocks, water, and oxygen are combined. Tiny microorganisms then consume the feedstocks and give off water, carbon dioxide, and heat as a byproduct. This process can happen either aerobically, with air, or anaerobically, without air. Though material can still decompose without air through anaerobic respiration, it is not as successful as aerobic respiration and can also release some unpleasant odors. Compost is at risk of “going anaerobic” if the water content is above 65 percent or if the compost pile sizes are too large. This type of respiration will also produce sulfur compounds, which give off a rotten egg smell. Proper composting will go through aerobic respiration. In this process, carbohydrates are broken…
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Preparing your lawn for spring is much simpler than you might think! Most of these tasks are a one-time, if-needed application. Other than that, you don’t have to do much. Here is a simple guide to giving your lawn exactly what it needs to thrive this spring: 1. CLEAN Use a rake or a blower to clear up any leaves, twigs, or other garden debris that may have been left behind from winter. You can also rake up any matted areas of your lawn to help with airflow and to help encourage growth. 2. APPLY A PRE-EMERGENT If your lawn has a tendency to sprout crabgrass, it is important to apply a pre-emergent herbicide to help control crabgrass BEFORE the soil’s temperature reaches 50-65°F. Late April or early May is the best time to apply. Weed seeds will start germinating at this temperature so it is important to prevent this—crabgrass can be very challenging to get rid of. Note: It is only necessary to use a pre-emergent for crabgrass if you actually have crabgrass. Not all lawns do, and if you are properly applying a pre-emergent every spring for 3-4 years, you should not have a crabgrass problem anymore and…
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Vermicomposting, or worm composting, is the biological breakdown of organic wastes through specialized earthworms and microorganisms. Worms eat and digest kitchen scraps and other types of organic matter, leaving behind vermicompost. This is a combination of digestion by the worms as well as decomposition that occurs after the material is left behind by the worms. The decomposition process continues until you are left with compost that can be used as a soil amendment and source nutrients for plants. When any organic material is added to the soil, it improves its moisture-holding capacity and the soil’s porosity (open space between soil particles). You can easily vermicompost in your home in a clean, odor-free way as long as you manage the process properly! Essentials you will need include: An aerated container Moist bedding A few thousand red worms or earthworms Water Kitchen scraps A good way to determine what size container you need is to have roughly one square foot of surface for every pound of garbage. A shallow bin with more surface area is preferable over a deep one because worms tend to stick to the surface when feeding. You will need to keep the worm population healthy in order to…
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The SMSC Organics Recycling Facility accepts organic material all year long. In 2017, the SMSC Organics Recycling Facility received over 137,000 tons of material—equivalent to the weight of 9,133 semitrucks! You might be asking, where does all of this material come from? The SMSC Organics Recycling Facility takes in material from a variety of waste haulers, landscapers, municipalities, and residents every day, all year long. Here at the SMSC Organics Recycling Facility, we accept organic material. This means that the material must be carbon-based and will voluntarily break down under the right conditions. A good rule of thumb to know if something is organic or not is: “If it has been living in our lifetime, then it is organic.” This includes things like fruits, vegetables, logs, brush, weeds, food, etc. Types of Material Brought Into the Facility Multiple haulers bring in food waste from nearby communities, grocery stores, restaurants, and school districts in order to sustainably dispose of their organic waste at our facility. Grocery stores often send expired foods as well as fruits and vegetables that are past their prime. We also get table scraps from school lunchrooms and restaurants. In 2017 alone, the SMSC Organics Recycling Facility took…
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