Feeding Your Garden the Natural Way With Garbage

Growing your own garden can be very rewarding when all is going well and your plants are producing like they should.  Sometimes, though, your garden may need a little boost and an easy and inexpensive way to do this is to make a compost bin.

Composting involves using what would normally end up your garbage can into a nice fertilizer for your soil.  It is regularly used in organic gardening because it is a healthier option than using chemicals that affect the quality of your food.

There are many options for composting.  If you have a yard, you can build your composting pile in a small corner, away from where you like to sit outside.  Start by placing digging up soil so the worms can get in, then top with twigs or straw so that air can flow through and water can drain.  If you will be using a container, be sure there are holes on the bottom for water drainage and then place your twigs or straw inside the container.  You should add worms to your container, which would be a fun family activity!

You will want to layer your composting materials, alternating wet and dry ingredients.  This will help the garbage break down more completely.  Once a week, you will need to turn these materials with a shovel or gardening tool and sprinkle with water.  If you add soil to the top of your compost, it will help to keep the garbage smell to a minimum.

Cover your compose pile or bin to keep in moisture and heat.

OK, so what exactly goes into the compost pile?  Here is a list of common kitchen scraps and yard waste that can be used:

YES

Fruit and vegetable scraps

Corn cobs

Crushed egg shells

Shredded newspapers

Leaves

Grass clippings

Wood chips

Toilet paper rolls

Coffee grounds

Tea bags

Chicken manure

Here is a list of items that should not go in your compost:

NO

Plastic

Meat

Diseased plants

Bleached or glossy paper

Pet waste

Cat litter

Fish

Dairy products

After 4-6 months, your compost should be ready to use.  It will have a nice crumbly texture, much like soil and can be added straight into your garden.  You will see how your garden will benefit from the nutrients and your children will learn how to use garbage in a creative and useful way!

A Strong Breakfast Builds a Strong Body and Mind

Remember the excitement that goes on in the house during the first days of school for younger children?  Everyone is up early and ready to start the day and that usually lasts for about a week or so.  Now that we are well into the school year, that excitement may have worn off a little and you may find yourself trying to keep yourself together while getting everyone out of the house.

On a perfect morning, everyone would be up and dressed on time, no one would have lost a shoe, and all of the schoolwork would be in the backpack.  That would be in a perfect world, but those mornings can be hectic and when it comes to breakfast, sometimes we find ourselves scooping handfuls of sugared cereal into plastic bags for the kids (and maybe yourself) to eat on the way to school.

Studies have been showing and proving that good nutrition is a very important part of a child’s ability to learn and pay attention in school.  They have also shown that children are not getting the nutrition they need and one of the reasons, among many others, is the lack of time to prepare a full breakfast each morning.

If your child does not receive breakfast at school, that is one extra step in your morning that can cause stress.  One solution is to make healthy, inexpensive grab-and-go breakfast foods and the best part is that you can get the kids to help you out.  It will be a fun learning activity for them and they will be more likely to eat it if they helped to make it.

This recipe uses ingredients that are easy to find and usually EBT and WIC accessible.

Breakfast Muffin Cups:

12 whole eggs

3 cups chopped vegetables (vegetables left over from weekend dinners work well too)

½ teaspoon table (iodized) salt

¼ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp black pepper

½ tsp Tabasco (if desired)

½ cup reduced fat cheddar cheese

(you can also add 1 cup cooked brown rice)

Preheat oven to 350

Beat eggs and add in other ingredients until well-mixed.  Grease the cups of a muffin pan and pour 1/3 cup servings of the mixture into the muffin cups.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the center is set. 

After muffins are cooled, you can store them in the refrigerator for one week or in the freezer for one month.  You can heat them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds or until warm to the touch.