Eco friendly solutions in St Maarten / Sint Martin
One of the hardest parts of growing cucumbers and zucchini in the Caribbean is dealing with caterpillars which eat the leaves of plants in the cucurbit family (Cucurbitaceae, including zucchini, cucumber, pumpkin, and melons). These cucumber and zucchini worms can go from nearly invisible to over an inch within a week, eating up a whole plant in days! Early intervention is key!
Continue reading “Cucumber and Zucchini Worms”
With shops closed and online retailers sold out or facing shipping delays, seeds are not as easy to find as they once were. Don’t worry, you can plant a Caribbean kitchen garden with many veggies found in the grocery store.
Continue reading “A Kitchen Garden from the Grocery Store”
The quintessential Caribbean Beach looks very different today compared to 30 years ago. Coconut palm lined sleepy beaches used to grace all the brochures. However, the non-native coconut palm is only part of the story. There are many ‘wild’ beaches without a coconut in sight. Caribbean Seashore plants in SXM are an important defense against erosion. Which have you spotted?
Continue reading “What is Growing on the Beach? A Guide to Caribbean Seashore plants in SXM”
The dangers of soil erosion are not just limited to the Caribbean, but small island states like St Maarten / Sint Martin are going to be the first to suffer the consequences.
We live in paradise, surrounded by white sand beaches and protective coral reefs. The reef provides more than just calm beaches, it is responsible for the food on our tables. If we destroy the reef, we destroy our beaches. Then, we destroy our tourism economy. We erode our coastline. We subject ourselves to the wrath of Atlantic storms.
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The team behind Macro Micros have created an upcycled compost tumbler that can handle a large variety of waste. This is perfect for those who want to compost more than the typical household compost tumbler allows. The rugged construction would work great for community composting! The next step up would be aerated static pile compost, which requires significantly more space, time, and investment.
Their clever design is stacked, allowing compost to be added to the top tumbler, then moved to the bottom tumbler for maturing. The steel drum is rodent resistant, and holds enough volume to reach thermophilic phase composting.
Contact them on Facebook if you are interested in having an upcycled compost tumbler made for you! They can be made from recycled oil drums or recycled HDPE rum drums.
One of the most frequent questions we get is “My apartment block has a small shared space and we would like to set up community composting, what do you suggest?”
One of the first steps is to get an idea of how many of your neighbors would like to contribute, as the solution for 4-5 households is quite different to the setup and management required for 20! Many systems are scaleable; you simply add more tumblers!
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Our tropical climate makes composting possible year round, but it does lead to one hurdle: how to stop food waste from fermenting before it is added to the compost pile. In cooler climates, compost collection services are common. However, in hot climates food waste should not sit at room temperature for more than a day. Bokashi composting in the tropics is perhaps the most effective solution.
Compost enhances soil and protects watersheds.
Compost can filter out storm-water pollutants by 60-95%.
Compost holds 5x its weight in water,
reducing storm-water runoff.
Compost protects the climate by sequestering carbon.
The benefits of wildflower and pollinator gardens are so huge that farmers have started using strips of wildflowers between conventionally grown crops. The wildflowers don’t just help with pollination, they also attract predatory insects and wildlife that help keep crop-damaging insects under control. Creating a Caribbean wildflower and pollinator garden can be a great way to brighten up your space!
Most PLA plastic is marketed as compostable. However, when you read the fine print, most compostable PLA (polylactic acid) requires industrial facilities to break down. We have successfully been composting small amounts of PLA in our Pilot Compost Project using aerated static piles, but we also want to know what a typical home tumbler can handle.
Not all PLA is compostable, or even biodegradable. However, PLA meeting EN 13432 should compost in ideal conditions (ie commercial composting) without leaving behind and residues which can be toxic to the soil. PLA with the TUV OK HOME Compost (Formerly vincotte) should compost in the conditions found in the typical home pile.
Continue reading “Composting PLA Plastic at Home”
Vermicompost, or vermiculture, is the process of using earthworms to break down organic waste. Simply put, the worms eat your kitchen wastes, digest it, and the end result is worm castings. (Aka poop, or black gold to the gardeners!)
