#what to compost

[hyunpic]

#hyunjin #skz #stray kids #OH MYYY Y Y YY Y Y Y YYYYYYY why do i feel like those petals he’s crushing like 👍 WHAT IF I JUST FULLY COMPOST AWAY IT WOULD BE EASIER

[egophiliac]

IMPORTANT QUESTION

My friends and I have started calling you the irl version of Lilia and we wished to know if you can cook because we are worried for the home if you cannot

(This is a light hearted joke)

I can (more or less) follow a recipe, which gives me the advantage! >:D ...although it is true then when left to my own devices I default to "dump in a bunch of random spices and see what happens". I...I just really like cayenne and turmeric okay --

other than that (and all the other many things that are different about us) Lilia and I are, y'know, basically identical.

#art #for a given definition of art anyway #twisted wonderland #it's canon that silver didn't know food could taste good until he came to nrc #if i remember right in his bloom birthday card lilia went on a long explanation about how he's been trying to cook healthy meals lately #(read: burned and yet somehow semi-raw vegetable mess that is basically already a compost heap) #and then at the end is like 'ha ha i don't eat the swill i make! that would be bad!' #'i just make everybody else eat it while i eat whatever' #sounds about right #i did once somehow manage to bake a cake for about 2 hours longer than it was supposed to bake for #and it was still underdone #it was a box mix so god only knows what happened there

[skruttet]

The Swedish writer and translator Johannes Edfelt (1904‑1997), acquired as a birthday gift from the artist on December 12 (from the auction site, though surely they mean the 21st?), 1954. Watercolour and india ink on paper.

#lot of good stuff here #the coquettish 'little audrey glamour'.... the compostion featuring snorkmaiden and misabel is so good... what looks like two sniff/fuzzy #creatures cuddling? the fillyjonk and the snufkin and the whomper and aa just all of it! #tove jansson #moomin

[anipgarden]

Supporting Your Plants for Cheap

This is my fifth post in a series I'll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

Once you start gardening, you’ll find a lot of things go into it, and it can be a bit daunting to think about--especially if you’re trying to keep things low-cost. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be as hard--or as expensive--as it initially appears.

Composting

There’s several different ways to compost, any of which are helpful indirecting food waste and nutrients out of landfills and into your soil--which in and of itself can help increase biodiversity by making the space more livable for microorganisms and insects, which then cycles around to the rest of the habitat.

The classic one you see is hot composting. Most of the time, when I see hot composting set ups online, or hear people talking about them, it’s like listening to a wizard cast an intricate spell and prattle on about ratios and temperatures and special ingredients while standing over a detailed self-built setup made of the finest wood money can buy. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be complicated. First off, there’s lots of ways to make compost bins--some can be more expensive than others, but there’s definitely options asides from buying pre-made tumblers or getting an engineering degree. I’ve seen people use metal trash cans dug into the ground, make compost pile setups out of old pallets, or just pile stuff up and leave it. While using different ratios of certain items can help them decompose faster, it’s ultimately not something you need to worry about a lot. If it can break down, it’ll break down--it just might take awhile. Composting this way can also help provide habitat--some insects like bumblebees have been known to make nests in compost heaps. In addition, it provides a robust ecosystem for decomposers like worms and other organisms, and bats and birds will be attracted to open-top piles to eat flying bugs that live off the compost. Amphibians enjoy them for humidity, warmth, and feasting on insects. Do note that sometimes snakes may also rest in and lay eggs in compost heaps, so be careful when turning them.

Do note, though, that if your compost pile looks like that you're getting roaches and rats and raccoons out of your goddamn mind. Bury the food scraps.

Personally, when I compost, I use a worm bin--they’re a fantastic option for limited space and limiting smells. I keep mine outside in a big rubbermaid tote with holes drilled into the bottom, sides, and lid. I put a layer or two of weed block on the inside, so it’s still able to drain but keeps the worms from trying to escape during rainy days. There is an initial cost of buying the worms, getting enough bedding materials, and getting a new bin if you don’t have an old one suitable for use. But with occasional feeding, it should sustain itself and provide valuable worm castings that can be used in the garden. Please do note, however, that earthworms are considered invasive in some places.

Look at that worm bin-y goodness. This is a pic of my bin, from earlier this month!

Though I’ve never done it, I’ve heard of people having good results with bokashi composting--a method that’s done in a bucket, and is relatively easy to do indoors.

Once you start a composting system, keeping it stockpiled with organic material can become pretty easy for cheap. In general, if it comes from a plant, it’s safe to use. It’s also a good idea to avoid putting already-cooked things in a pile, as salts and sauces can kill beneficial bacteria in the compost while also attracting animals. Adding meat is also generally avoided to not attract animals. But below are some things that I’ve put in my worm bin quick, easy, and cheaply; or things I’ve seen friends put in their compost piles.

Cooking scraps/snack leftovers--things like cut up bell peppers, the ends of tomatoes, strawberry tops, apple cores, watermelon rinds, coffee grounds, and orange peels are amassed somewhat quickly in my house--my dad likes to cook. Around holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas? Corn husks, potato peels, sweet potato fibers, leftover greens and other trimmings are a feast for compost piles and worm bins.

Vegetables and Stuff that went bad in the fridge/pantry--we’re constantly victims of the ‘forgot it was there’ conundrum. Fridge cleanouts are great times to decide what can be tossed to the compost--moldy bell peppers, spotty celery, questionable carrots, onion halves, old eggs, bagged salads, and stale/moldy bread have all been tossed into the pile before! 

Grass clippings--though my worms don’t like grass clippings, they’re still great material for a classic hot compost set-up!

Fallen leaves--another classic addition to a hot compost pile. Some friends keep them stocked up and stored for later use.

Plant trimmings--what is plant clean up if not compost material? I’ve put cleaned-out sunflower heads and stalks in my worm bin, and they decomposed after about two months. If you get  blossom end rot on your tomatoes or peppers, they’re still fair game for the bin as well!

Shredded mail--just make sure to not put in the thin plastic that covers the address section on some envelopes. Otherwise? As long as  the paper isn’t glossy, it should be great for a bin or pile! Shredded paper or cardboard also makes great bedding for worm bins. Put those Amazon boxes to good use!

Pumpkins! Snag your neighbor’s halloween pumpkins in November and toss them in my compost! Last year my dad went around the cul-de-sac and nabbed all of the post-halloween pumpkins, the worms loved it.

Christmas tree needles--can’t confirm I’ve tried this, but it seems like it would work.

Mulch

Mulch is an excellent way to keep your soil moist, while also beginning and continuing to improve soil conditions as it breaks down into organic matter. You’ll have to water less, and it’ll prevent/slow down the growth of unwanted weeds (which is always the final straw to gardening for me, I get so overwhelmed I just stop going outside). Win-win situation, right? Except stepping into a Home Depot and finding mulch being sold for five dollars per square foot and knowing you have to cover a whole garden with it all can add up… pretty quickly, to say the least.

Fortunately, there are a few solutions to this, and likely from your own backyard!

Grass clippings are the first that come to mind. If you’re mowing your lawn, or have neighbors who are, collecting the clippings and spreading them over your soil is a cheap and easy option for some quick mulch. It’ll be very nitrogen-heavy, so keep that in mind, but it’ll still prevent weeds, retain moisture, and break down into organic material over the course of a few months. Do try to not use grass clippings you know are treated with pesticides, since the aim is to use this mulch to help increase your biodiversity, and having insects around plays a big role in that.

Fallen leaves are the next that comes to mind. If you’ve got a tree in your yard, or in your neighborhood, then you or someone around you knows the neverending avalanche of leaves or pine needles that drop come fall. As mentioned before, they can be used to make brush piles for creatures, or added into compost, but they have a fantastic third use as mulch. Add them on top of your beds!

Want free wood mulch? A program called Chip Drop might be the best solution for you! They team up with arborists to find cheap drop sites for shredded wood, logs, etc. that are produced as they maintain trees! If any local arborists tied to the program are operating in your area, instead  of paying to dump the resulting mulch at a landfill or some other dumpside, they’ll simply dump it at your place! Now, you won’t be able to control when the mulch gets dropped--I’ve heard of people coming home from work one day to find a chip drop in their driveway. But… free mulch!

Want wood chips but not a whole truck load? If an arborist is working in your area, and you can muster the courage, its worth a shot to ask! One time someone in my neighborhood was getting a tree removed, so my Dad and I parked near their car with a tarp in the trunk, some shovels, and an old storage bin. We approached nicely and asked if we could have some chips, and they were totally cool with it! At that point, how much you get depends on how big your trunk space is, and how many times you’re willing to ferry mulch back and forth out of your car so you can go back for more. But it is an option! Alternatively, you can ask them to dump the whole load in front of  your house, but at least you’ll know when and where it’s happening!

Trellises

Many plants need, or will appreciate, some kind of climbing structure. But trellises aren’t often cheap to find. To that, I say--we’ll create our own!

One popular option is to grow taller plants, and then plant climbing species are few weeks/years later so they’ll climb the taller plants! I’ve planted passion vine near a tree in my garden for it to climb, and I’ve seen people do similar concepts with sunflowers, corn, and other such plants! Sunflower stalks can provide support even after they’ve been cut back.

A combination of wood, some stakes, some nails, and some string can create a great frame trellis that can be used for beans, tomatoes, vines, etc--so I’m sure if could be put to good use for native climbers, especially since my dad’s used this structure for passion vines before. You may have to replace the string every year, but most of the time, the string is compostable anyways!

This may take a bit more setup and have a more upfront cost, but creating a trellis out of cattle panels makes a durable structure that can support all kinds of vining plants! 

Of course, there’s always the easy alternative of simply letting plants climb along your fence! This is especially easy if you have a chain link fence, but wooden fences are plenty suitable for some species as well! I’ve seen passion vines do great growing along chain link fences as supports, and one of my favorite sights as a kid was always seeing bushels of trumpet vines growing up and over fences on the drive home.

Why are we worrying about trellises? Creatures are attracted  to diverse landscapes with a variety of plants within them, so having a few climbers can be a great way to attract more wildlife! I know some plants in my area that pollinators are attracted to, or even rely on as host plants, are climbers that can get upwards of 15 feet tall, and will climb any surface you give them. A trellis provides you a great place to put extremely beneficial plants.

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about how different 'kinds' of plants can all be beneficial in a biodiversity standpoint. Until then, I hope this advice was helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, your success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

#biodiversity #solarpunk #gardening #outdoor gardening #composting #mulch #trellis #budget gardening #cheap gardening #ani rambles #out of queue #the biodiversity saga #i remember junior year of college me and my friends considered doing a cattle panel trellis #but then we couldn't figure out where to buy cattle panel #apparently the answer is 'tractor/farmer supply companies' #also so anyone reading these tags knows what took me 5+ years to learn #CATTLE PANEL DOESNT COME IN ROLLS IT COMES IN LENGTHS #all this time I was like 'man i wanna make a cattle panel trellis but it comes in like 40 foot lengths and i dont need that much' #and all my gardening homies were confused because theyve been getting it in lengths THIS WHOLE TIME #I WAS LOOKING AT FUCKIN ROLLED FENCING #i actually dont think any of the big box stores by me even fuckin sell cattle panel but thats beside the point #you can get it delivered though #(Delivered to the store for pickup i think) #someday i want a cattle panel trellis with like moonflowers or trumpet vine just a BURST of color and life

[chamerionwrites]

This is not an original observation, but “war crimes” truly is such a dystopian phrase.

Not that there’s no value in being able to describe (and prosecute) violence that’s especially beyond the pale, but the conceptual framework that implies there’s such a thing as good legal “civilized” war, that those acts of extreme violence are the exception to the rule as opposed to the logical outcome.

#CLEARLY this is not a shrug at the seriousness of war crimes but a condemnation of war #saying this is a great way to get a whole range of people really angry at you but imo we can acknowledge #that there have been regimes/armies/individuals with a particular penchant for brutality #AND acknowledge that when you build a violence machine what you get from it is violence. #it’s a Few Bad Apples vs this is a literal compost pile designed expressly to be an environment in which apples rot kinda problem. #no more war #my posts

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

jimmy’s new wings being called “gift of the fae” and the fact that there are fae popping up and demanding favors is making my fae folklore brain go brrrr

#mcyt #empires smp #jimmy solidarity #i cant make the words go rn but jimmy being favored by the fae is just. aaaa #makes me think his wings are some kind of magic now #like do you think they glow or something #or are like #you cant look at them directly because theyll give you a headache #AND ALSO LIKE #despite jimmy being yknow. jimmy he kinda did all the right things #he was super respectful to the fae #and they rewarded him #but also you def shouldnt trust gifts from fae #and they dont seem to be malicious but we saw in lizzies videos that they will do anything to get what they want #but what do they need these things for?? #first katherine and lizzie had to fill composters #then lizzie had to get them an array of aquatic creatures #and now jimmy had to get them a shitton of water #what is going on here what are they doing with all that

[balkanradfem]

I've been weeding the garden for the last 2 days and my hands look sooo nasty, I maybe should have been wearing gloves. Not only I managed to get dirt stuck so badly under a fingernail that my entire finger got inflamed and upset, but parts of my hands are now permanently black, cannot wash it off, and the skin around my nails is torn, inflamed and messed up, some of it is bleeding.

However I am very satisfied with my work, strawberries are free of weeds and flowering, some tomatoes are transplanted outside, I have space to plant the peas, potatoes have started coming out of the soil, my hands will just have to get over this and grow thicker skin hehehe.

#i'm looking at my hands like #what happened to you #but it was just clayish soil #because i failed to take care of the garden last year #due to very bad mental health #there was so many worms though #and i have seen and touched so many weird bugs! #so basically the ecosystem is thriving #it was just very overgrown #and i can't have that because the wild plants are leeching all the nitrogen from the soil #but now they're all being composted #and will return the nitrogen #it will all be well

[vinceaddams]

A fresh baked potato is so good, but a leftover baked potato the next day is so so so so so bad.

#food #so hard and lumpy and unmashable and blergghh #what happens? where does all the nice texture go? #I hate wasting food but I don't think I can bring myself to eat this last potato #I think it'll have to be compost and then the worms can eat it #potatoes

[protoindoeuropean]

went to buy some tea and a new stash of teabags and the lace where i usually buy them didn't have the ones i usually take. and the guy at the counter said "yeah we decided to remove those ones from our selection" so i was like, ok i guess i'll have o try one the other ones ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and picked one that seemed the closest to the ones i previously used

anyway when i got home and made some tea it was a bit weird at first try, but it seemed like it was gonna work. then as i was about to throw the bag away i was like, is this the same material as the previous ones? because i chose those specifically because i checked that they're biodegradable (an unexpectedly difficult thing to do). and it seemed like it was the same material, but well, better check

and as it turns out, it's not and now none of the teabags they offer are biodegradable. so that was a scam

#j #like im no expert but i did check the company website and the only ones said to be “compostable” made from some kind of paper-type thing #were the ones i used up till now #these new ones are listed as made from pp-fleece which i looked up is not a biodegradable material #even though on the website itself you have to glean that yourself from them *not* mentioning any kind of compostable characteristics #idk what i'm gonna do now 🙄 i hate searching for places to buy specific things

[artigas]

i'm an ordinary girl. if i think too hard about how tchaikovsky channeled all of his adoration for his sister and all of his grief over her untimely death into the sugar plum fairy's pas de deux in the nucracker, i start crying just like anybody else

#personal #tchaikovsky #grief is the evidence of all the love we didn’t get the chance to express and he loved Sasha so much #what kills me is just how much you can hear it #you listen to this compostion and you can hear the pain of a brother who loved and lost his little sister #“a husband or a child can be replaced but who can give me a new brother?”

[strongermonster]

do you know how many bananas $40 can buy? because i do. it's so fucking many.

all last week i was feeling bleh but only in a 'tired and unmotivated' way, slept an unusual amount. friday my nose felt like the driest place on earth and my throat was fairly sore. got high as a kite on nyquil and went to the grocery store in this fervent (and possibly dehydration-fuelled) Need to have cut up frozen bananas.

FILLED a shopping cart with bananas (and one chorizo!), went home, passed out, feel fine again today (thank you so much immune system, you're doing fantastic sweetie), spent half an hour chopping up bananas into slices that filled 2 hugeass bags + one bigass bag of peels. i'm covered in banana slime. i smell great. i have 30 years worth of banana snacks in the freezer. all is well.

#jj stuff #i have no idea what to do with all the peels #the snow here is tit-high and i can't get to the compost bin #so i was thinking of blending them up and feeding them to the birds #but the internet says 'probably don't do that' so

[teleportationmagic]

Stalling out on my Cass & Steph & Jason soulmate AU again, so instead I will talk about how funny it is to take Steph, who's stance on killing is at least 70% defined by the social network, and throwing Jason into that social network.

Like, Jason's whole story is in no small part about how he will not sacrifice his moral beliefs for his father, despite how acutely he wants that connection back. It is also, in no small part, about how much of his moral beliefs come out of his desire to make Bruce see the ways in which he failed him.

So who better for a foil than a girl who literally dies because she stays true to those moral beliefs even as it sends bullets into her. That philosophy objectively fails her! and yet. she still keeps to it. not out of any particular moral objection but because she trusts the people around her, and doesn't want to break their trust.

(The answer to who better as a foil is cass. but that's a whole separate post)

But that's in many ways a somewhat facile way to build a moral system, especially considering she dies for it. And while in canon we see her developing her own moral code come Batgirl, there's always going to be a part of me that wants to see how that gap would be bridged. And Jason is just a phenomenal way to get her to reflect on why she values that Bat's as a network at all, now that she's older and is both a little less desperate and also Has Choices.

In turn, Jason's with someone who's younger than him, and still figuring it out, and who still feels and acknowledges to some degree the horror of killing. Because if Steph kills, especially as a regular part of her work, it will not and cannot be an easy choice for her (though mind you, not as tricky as a lot of other characters in the Batfam.) There's something really juicy about Jason coming up with a person who's in a scenario so similar to him, but for whom killing hurts, deeply. Maybe he'd find himself a little more sympathetic to Bruce (and in this scenario, Cass). Maybe he blames her for the weakness. There's a lot of different ways it could go!

#stephanie brown #jason todd #like. hm. there is some stuff that's more complicated to Steph's moral code than just social pressure #Thinking specifically about Huntress/Spoiler blunt trauma where she specifically makes sure that Huntress doesn't kill her father #despite the fact that she's strangled the man before. What can we say #she contains multitudes #like again I always feel weird about using War Games canon because it's Steph writing is. weird. but yanno. #composting and all. #telespeak

[elurin]

schools in the US (at least the ones I attended) present such glowing view of earthworms and people get such a bad impression that they're always good for the environment and it makes me so sad. like. please. why are you teaching that in this state (mn). every earthworm in this state is invasive and some of them are ruining our forest ecosystems but you guys are out here convincing people its okay and even good to release earthworms into the wild. there's basically nothing that can be done about them once they are somewhere so we just need people to stop spreading them. please. why are we teaching the kids earthworms good for environment always. they're gonna pour their parents' extra live bait into the forest floor. their parents think the same thing so they might do it anyway. they are so slow to spread if we don't do it for them.

#earthworms #invasive species #minnesota #anywhere in north america that had glaciers probably has no native earthworms they're all invasive #if you have borreal forest the earthworms are probably super bad for them #i'm minnesota so thats what i'm sure about though. if you're in minnesota please keep your earthworms to yourself esp up north #if you're: #fishing #composting #mulching #gardening #please be careful #jumping worm is the current big problem and lots of people are working on it #if you can and you're in minnesota researchers are trying to track where they are and aren't this fall so you can check your yard #and let them know if you want!! #this post brought to you by: #really trying not to bring my earthworm thing up to people irl again #someone mentioned earthworms and like 4 people looked at me so maybe it is a problem #i am not an earthworm expert

[muclunga]

Ocean sympathizers♥️

One little thing I love about this fandom is people calling Ocean a problematic queen and being like “she’s awful…why do I like her?”. I think it’s because she’s genuinely well intentioned but just very naïve. The things she says, most of the time, she doesn’t say them to be mean. I think she genuinely believes what she preaches, but she doesn’t have any exposure to the real world or how it works. Her beliefs CLEARLY do not come from a place of privilege, as her parents most likely did not teach her these things (at least, not directly). She was neglected by her family- a family that contributes nothing to positive society. Ocean is self made, trying to be the change that she wants to see in the world. It’s very funny to me, because even though she’s Canadian, she’s giving me ‘the American Dream’ vibes. At the end of the day, Ocean is a child. A very smart but clearly unexperienced child who doesn’t want herself, or anyone, to end up like her parents. Its really sad when you think about it- the only way to motivate herself is to project her family’s poor choices onto her peers.

#rtc musical #ocean oconnell rosenberg #ocean rtc #democracy rocks #if its yellow let it mellow if its brown scoop it out with your hands and put it in the compost #the amazing karnak #karnak rtc #constance rtc #noel rtc #misha rtc #ricky rtc #jane doe rtc #penny lamb #what the world needs #what the world needs is people like me #ride the cyclone #tiffany tatreau #problematic queen

[polithicc]

my only meeting of the day got canceled 🩵🤍🤎💙💜💚💛🧡

#now I can focus on doing actual work all day #I NEED to finish the contracts today #that’s my only goal #after that I need to work on policy analysis #it’s gonna be just me and the state statutes on composting for a few hours <3 #also what a beautiful email to wake up to #my colleague had last min work thing with her boss come up