Eco friendly solutions in St Maarten / Sint Martin
After a quiet July, August was a busy month for the Green SXM Pilot Compost Project. The first batch of compost has been almost entirely used up, and chamber 1 of the composter is now full with batch 2. Once again, the compost is hot (above 140 degrees Fahrenheit) , and aerated using forced air from a blower, reducing the frequency of turning the pile.
Continue reading “Batch 2 is Cooking – Green SXM Pilot Compost Project: Month 3”
When starting out with small compost piles, you can follow ‘rule of thumb’ measurements rather than calculating the carbon to nitrogen ratio. Simply add one part green to two parts brown, and your compost should be roughly balanced.
Continue reading “Calculating Carbon to Nitrogen Ratios”
St Maarten, like many other small islands, relies on desalinated water. This is not only expensive, but requires extensive use of energy (and fossil fuels) to produce. We should reuse as much water as possible, and DIY gray water irrigation is a fantastic and easy way to establish new fruit trees. Continue reading “Easy DIY Gray Water Irrigation”
The area in front of the compost bins is either muddy or dusty, with a few opportunistic weeds inbetween. To help control this, we decided to add sargassum mulch.
Sargassum is best collected by hand just above the surf line – anything above is usually already smelly and full of flies and gnats.
As we were mulching a path, the sargassum wasn’t rinsed. We applied it 6” thick, working in small patches as collecting seaweed is a heavy job!
Continue reading “Sargassum Mulch – Green SXM Pilot Compost Project: Week 7”
Temperatures have remained between 133 and 155 degrees Fahrenheit. The composter is now just over half full.
A lot of our waste can skip the landfill and go straight to the compost. If you find yourself wondering ‘What Can I compost?’ here is a handy list! For more information on balancing greens (nitrogen sources) and browns (carbon sources), please see Composting 101.
Continue reading “What Can I Compost?”
Anyone who has tried to garden in rocky clay-based soils knows the challenge: you need to add organic matter to encourage both water drainage and retention. We needed an easy way to remove the rocks from the ground, as well as process the large amounts of compost necessary to build healthy soil. We built a DIY rotating compost screen that is robust enough to sift the soil and also doubles as a workbench.
Continue reading “DIY Rotating Compost Screen – Tutorial”
Composting is the process of turning organic matter into soil. The organic matter in home composting is usually a mix of vegetable trimmings, fruit peels, garden waste, and a small amount of cardboard. In the tropics, we can compost year round, and the warm ambient temperature helps keep the process moving swiftly. Continue reading “Composting 101”
There are many types of composting and various ways to make compost. These range from super easy (a tumbler) to super efficient (forced-air). All types have the same end result – valuable garden soil to help us grow our gardens and help combat soil erosion. Continue reading “Types of Composting”
Nothing on a computer will ever replace the feeling that looking through a book gives us. Gardening Books bring knowledge, joy and inspiration to your library. Here is a little bit about what I am currently reading:
Continue reading “What I am reading: Gardening Books”
