the Imperfectly Happy home

Compost

Backyard Vegetable Garden

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An amazing backyard vegetable garden may be easier than you think! No matter the space you have available, you can be growing your own food and supplement (or replacing) your produce shopping. Whether you have a few pots on an apartment porch or a 1/4 acres available, it is time to grow a backyard vegetable garden.

So whether you’re hoping to be completely self-sufficient or just grow your own tomatoes, I have tips you can use today!

backyard vegetable garden guide

How to Have an Amazing
Backyard Vegetable Garden

Soil – The Foundation for any Backyard Vegetable Garden 

Soil really is the foundation of a great garden. If you are not sure where to soil backyard vegetable gardenstart, that’s ok, I have you covered. You can make your own compost, amend the soil you have or even create awesome potting soil.

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How to Use Orange Peels for a Better Garden

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How to use orange peels for a better garden! This summer’s flavor, as many before it, seems to be orange. So we have a ton of orange peels left over. I got to think that we could be the only family with that problem and thought you might appreciate some information about how we use orange peels in our garden…waste not, want not.How to Use Orange Peels for a Better Garden

If you aren’t already using all or some of these I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with all you can do to help your vegetable garden with left over orange peels.

How to Use Orange Peels for a Better Garden

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How to Use Rabbit Poop Fertilizer for a Better Garden

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How to Use Rabbit Poop Fertilizer for a Better Garden - 5 different ways you can use rabbit droppings in your gardening and compost.

Rabbit poop fertilizer can truly change a garden; and if you have rabbits you have an endless supply of droppings at your disposal. Why not make that waste into something you can use for an amazing garden?

Now I know that most gardeners dread having a rabbit in the garden. Rabbits are know to mow down veggies, burrow holes and generally not a friend to our gardens. BUT they can be. NO, I am not suggesting that you allow some bunnies to run willy nilly through your garden….but rabbit poop fertilizer should.

We have used rabbit poop in our garden from our pet rabbits and meat rabbits for years.

Rabbit droppings are little nuggets of nutrition with phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen. It can also contain trace elements of sulfur, calcium, copper and magnesium. Can we say organic super fertilizer?

The secret to our healthy vegetable garden?  Rabbit poop fertilizer! Let me show you how we use it!…

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Kitchen Composting Tips

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Kitchen Composting Tips for beginners and veteran composters. Great for apartment composters too!

Kitchen Composting Tips

Kitchen composting tips start when you’re preparing your meals. There is so much food waste taking place in our own homes and it is so simple to create something amazing from things that may have ended up in the garbage. But I have some kitchen composting tips that will help you keep stink and pests at bay…because who needs that in the kitchen?

What exactly is kitchen waste?

Kitchen waste is what is produced when we are preparing meals.  For instance carrot peels, apple cores, tops of veggies we don’t eat (or give to the animals). Basically real food (aka not processed) scraps that would otherwise end up in our trash.

Why compost our kitchen waste?

When we compost our kitchen waste we can turn it into amazingly rich garden soil for our plants.  Whether you’re going in a large garden or on your patio, compost is the “black gold” of the garden.  Additionally composting scraps means less in our landfills which is better for our environment and future.  Not to mention if something goes bad in the fridge, you’ll have a lot less guilt tossing it into your kitchen compost than that trash.

Kitchen Composting Tips

Tip #1 – Know what you can compost and what you can’t.
Most of your real food items are going to go into your compost  But I don’t recommend put cooked foods in.  The cooking process pretty much depletes the food of the good nutrients you’d wan them to add to your soil, so they really aren’t doing your compost bin any good except taking up space. Stick to your raw foods, and organic non-gmo foods are best; we don’t want residual pesticides in you or your garden! I have a list of 10 Things to Never Compost to help guide you….

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Troubleshooting Your Compost

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Troubleshooting Your Compost Problems

Troubleshooting your compost shouldn’t take too long and soon you’ll be creating your own garden black gold. Composting isn’t terribly difficult but sometimes you just hit a hiccup; these tips should help you find your issue and correct it. Whether you’re composting in a fancy composter, a pile or a converted garbage can – troubleshooting your compost is pretty much the same.

So find your issue in the list, and the use the solution to get things back on track. I’ve learned these the hard way, I hope you don’t have to!

Troubleshooting Your Compost

Issue One – Stinky Compost

Well the first question I’d ask is what does it smell like?

  • Ammonia – this is probably caused by too much nitrogen in your pile. Give your pile a good turning and add more brown material to it.
  • Rotten – Your pile need oxygen! Give int a turn. If you use garbage cans, like me, then try using a compost aerator. I personally use a small piece of rebar (like this guy).
  • Make sure you aren’t watering your compost too much – damp, not wet.

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