Compost, made from decomposed grass clippings, leaves, twigs, and branches, becomes a dark, crumbly mixture of organic matter.

Learn how composting works. Even a newbie to composting can make good quality compost. It can be compared to cooking as art or part science. The following 7 factors will help you master the art of composting.


1. Materials
After a time anything that was once alive will naturally decompose. But, not all organic items should be composted for the home. To prepare compost, organic material, microorganisms, air, water, and a small amount of nitrogen are needed.These items are safe to compost at home:
* grass clippings
* trimmings from hedges
* vegetable scraps
* leaves
* potting soil that has grown old
* twigs
* coffee filters with coffee grounds
* tea bags
* weeds that have not went to seed
* plant stalks

These items are Not safe to compost at home:
* weeds that have went to seed
* dead animals
* pet feces
* bread and grains
* meat
* grease
* cooking oil
* oily foods
*diseased plants

2. What To Do To Make It Work
There are small forms of plant and animal life which break down the organic material. This life is called microorganisms. From a minute amount of garden soil or manure comes plenty of microorganisms.

Nitrogen, air, and water will provide a favorable environment for the microorganisms to make the compost. Air circulation and water will keep the microorganisms healthy and working. The nitrogen feeds the tiny organisms. You may have to add a small amount of nitrogen to the pile.

Putting on too much nitrogen can kill microbes and too much water causes insufficient air in the pile. You just cannot add too much air.

3. Beneficial Microorganisms
Bacteria are the most effective compost makers in your compost pile. They are the first to break down plant tissue. Then comes the fungi and protozoans to help with the process. The arthropodes, like centipedes, beetles, millipedes and worms, bring in the finishing touches to complete the composting.

4. Smaller is Better
The materials will break down faster if the microorganisms have more surface area to eat. Chopping your garden materials with a chipper, shredder, or lawnmower will help them decompose faster.

5. Size of The Pile
The activity of millions of microorganisms generates heat in the compost pile but a minimum size 3-foot by 3-foot by 3-foot is needed for a hot, fast composting pile. Piles that are any larger may hamper the air supply needed in the pile for the microorganisms.

6. Moisture and Aeration
If you can imagine a wet squeezed out sponge with its many air pockets, then this would be the ideal enviroment for the microorganisms in the pile to function at their best. Pay attention while your pile is composting, to the amount of rain or a drought you may have. Water in a drought and maybe turn the pile in a lot of rainy days. The extremes of these two may upset the balance of the pile. The use of a pitchfork would come in handy at this time.

7. Temperature and Time
Keep your pile between 110F and 160F and the beneficial bacteria will love it. Not too cool nor too hot.
The temperature will rise over several days if you keep a good ratio of carbon and nitrogen, maintain lots of surface area within a large volume of material, and maintain adequate moisture and aeration.

-Importance of Compost-

+Compost has nutrients, but it is not a complete fertilizer.

+Compost provides nutrients in the soil until plants need to use them.

+ It loosens and aerates clay soils

+ Retains water in sandy soils.

-Using the Compost-

+ A soil amendment, mix 2 to 5 inches of compost into gardens each year before planting.

+ A potting mixture, add one part compost to two parts potting soil.

+ Make your own potting mixture by using equal parts of compost and sand or perlite.

+ A mulch, prodcast 2 to 4 inches of compost around annual flowers and vegetables, and up to 5 inches around your trees and shrubs.

+ A top dressing, mix finely sifted compost with sand and sprinkle evenly over lawns.

The final thing I would suggest once you have mastered the art of composting is to look very seriously at making your very own aerated compost tea. This elixir will give you results that are hard to believe.

flower gardening is increasingly popular. Flowers can brighten the day of each person, they smell nice, and is a hobby. Flower gardening is very simple way, inexpensive, and very pleasant. Flower gardening can be done for decorating a page, just as a hobby, or even professional.
There are several decisions to be made prior to flower gardening can be started. You have to decide whether you want to seasonal living for one season and must be planted every year, or perennials that survive the winter and back again in the summer. When buying and planting, pay attention to what kind of flowers thrive in your climate as well ass the sun requirements.When flower gardening, you must determine what type of look you want before planting. For example, mixing different heights, colors, and types of flowers together in a "wild-plant style" will give you a prairie garden and can be very charming. If short flowers are planted in front of your garden and work up to the highest rates in the back you will have a "stepping stone style".
You can order seeds for flower gardening from catalogs or buy them from nurseries. Most people will go to the nursery and buy actual flowers and then transplant them. Once you have prepared your garden area and bought flowers, it is a good idea to put flowers on the bed to make sure you like the arrangement and that they will be spaced correctly.
One of the easiest processes in flower gardening is the planting / if you have seeds just sprinkle them around the flower beds. For planting transplants dig a hole just larger than the flower, pull the container off, and set the flower on the right side of the hole. Cover with loose soil and press down firmly, lalusiram with water.

Maintaining a flower garden is even easier than planting one. Although they may make themselves, bags of fertilizer applied in early spring is a good idea. Pinch back any blooms after they start to fade and keep them good and watered. To save yourself work during the next season, flower gardening, clean your garden of all debris and spread out organic nutrients like peat moss or compost. Do not forget to give up land for the right mixture of fertilizer and rake smooth when finished. If you have perennials planted be careful not to disturb their roots in this process.

Flower gardening is as easy as 1, 2, and 3: simply decide what to plant, grow, and water, water, water! Flower gardening diraguka no longer gain popularity and provide a very good reason, anyone will be willing to spend their time to those who enjoy beautiful gardens and green.

Does our older child need a little more liberty? Your work from home or
maybe you just feel that you need another room for a special project
that you want to start? Then the solution is to construct a
new addition to your garage.By making an addition to your garage you can add to the living space in
your house, no matter what type of garage you own: detached or
attached to the house. The space above the garage can be converted into
a private living space for your older child, guests or a live-in parent.
You can convert your garage into your home office. You could very well
find here the peace and quiet needed for your work. Also, the new addition
can be converted into a music studio if you put some simple sound
proofing measures into place.

In order to start planning for your garage addition, first prepare
a budget and then hire a professional because this is a complex
project. Also, you may need to hire an architect to help you with
the construction plans.

There are many new trends surfacing in gardening, and water gardening is one of the main new interests. Water gardening can be in the form of waterfalls, ponds, fountains, all of which can be enhanced by rock work combinations and lighting, plants, and fish. Water gardening doesn’t have to be a pond or natural water source either, it can consist of just a plastic tub, basically anything that can hold water.

The most important thing to consider in water gardening is probably the spot chosen. Since plants and fish both need plenty of sunlight, places in direct light away from trees and bushes is the best place. This will also help prevent leaves and debris from collecting in the water.
When planning for a water garden first decide the size you want. This will depend on how much money you are willing to spend because water gardening can get expensive if you opt for a large garden full of plants, rocks, fish, and lights. Also consider the size of our property, and the amount of time you want to spend with maintaining your water garden.

When you choose what type of aquatic plants you wish to have, remember that the plants should only cover about half of the water. Plants can be free floating, submerged, or marginal. Which you choose is all a matter of personal preference. Some plants are good for their scent, some provide more oxygen than others and will keep the pool health, and some are just beautiful. Fish are not only nice to look at but they are also very beneficial. Fish help keep debris at a minimum and help in controlling larva and other insects.

One of the main difficulties in water gardening is keeping water clear of algae. Algae problems are usually caused from too many nutrients in the water from feeding fish too often or from over fertilizing plants. If ponds are made correctly and are maintained properly algae problems and control will be kept at a minimum.

All garden pools regardless of size will need maintenance throughout the year. With proper planning you can ensure a healthy balance between living and decorative features of a water garden that can almost care for itself with simple maintenance inputs from you.
You can get rid of algae by reducing on the nutrients that cause the algae by cutting back on feeding and fertilizing, planting more plants, installing a filter system, or replacing existing water with fresh water. There are some chemicals that can be used, like copper compounds, but overuse can kill plant life and fish.

Water gardening doesn’t take anymore time than regular gardening, but obviously isn’t near the same thing. You may be the type person who couldn’t grow a flower if you tried but would be excellent at water gardening. If you are looking for a way to occupy some time or to beautify your yard, water gardening is an excellent way.

Over the last few years home gardening has become an increasingly popular past-time and hobby. In fact, studies show that home gardening is at an all time high in America right now. In the United States 8 out of 10 households take part in some type of home gardening activity. Obviously from the number of people that are doing it, home gardening is one of the most popular recreational activities in nation.

Most people that try their hand at home gardening plant flowers; at least they start out planting flowers anyway. Roses will probably be the first thought into any gardeners mind, but roses will take extra time and work, and should probably be left to those who have gardened before. When planting flowers many choices are available, such as bulbs, perennials, and annuals.Edible plants are another big thing in home gardening. Perhaps the best thing about edibles is the reward of eating them. The list of edible plants that gardeners can grow at home is endless. Some of the most common edible plants in the vegetable arena are, potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, squash, and cucumber. Many gardeners opt for fruits, such as, watermelons, tomatoes, peaches, plums, apples, pears, and apricots. Small fruits, such as strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries usually require less work and less space, making them much more feasible for home gardening. Herbs, most often used as spices in cooking, are growing in popularity every day; some of the most grown include basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, and cilantro. One of the most important things to watch for when planting edibles is insects and disease, after all, you don’t want to miss out on the feast you will get to enjoy from healthy plants.

Many people don’t realize it, but landscaping is a form of home gardening. Landscaping covers many different areas and forms of gardening. You can even classify mowing your lawn as landscaping! Keeping in the line of grasses, landscaping nearly always involves decorative grasses, and the great thing about them is they don’t take much work for upkeep. Types of grass include monkey grass, pampas, buffalo grass, flame grass, and ornamental millet. Landscaping is not just limited to plant life, but also includes anything done to a yard for decoration, such as adding rocks or stones, putting a small pond, statutes, or a waterfall.

There isn’t much difference between home gardening and gardening anywhere else. Plants still need to be planted in a good location. The plants still need water and they still need the same nutrients. Home gardening shouldn’t cause anyone to get nervous. If you do decide to try homing gardening and finding out that you don’t have a green thumb, don’t get discouraged. Get some information, read up on gardening, and try it again the next planting season.

Does our older child need a little more liberty? Your work from home or
maybe you just feel that you need another room for a special project
that you want to start? Then the solution is to construct a
new addition to your garage.
By making an addition to your garage you can add to the living space in
your house, no matter what type of garage you own: detached or
attached to the house. The space above the garage can be converted into
a private living space for your older child, guests or a live-in parent.
You can convert your garage into your home office. You could very well
find here the peace and quiet needed for your work. Also, the new addition
can be converted into a music studio if you put some simple sound
proofing measures into place.

In order to start planning for your garage addition, first prepare
a budget and then hire a professional because this is a complex
project. Also, you may need to hire an architect to help you with
the construction plans.

Home theater audio system is gaining popularity all over. The interpretation of music has changed nowadays. People just don't want to hear the songs; they want to hear it clearly and too with special added effects. Everything changed with the introduction of the Dolby sound system in the 70's and ever since the way music was heard, changed. Now everyone wants to have their own home theater audio system. People want their audio systems to be trendy and in sync with the latest sound system. The home theaters have further added to its popularity. The popularity of these home theater audio systems is growing day by day and it's bound to grow even more in the coming future. This is one thing which the music lovers just can't miss.

Choose the best quality

A product is defined by its quality. So you must make sure that you get the best quality, never compromise on that. However you also need to keep a check on your budget. The general perception is that more the price, the better the product. This is actually true because quality products are usually priced high. However this is not always true. A highly priced product may not be of good quality. It thus becomes important to check the product's quality before buying it. For this you can request the working staff to give you a demo of the product. You can hear the sound of the audio system in listening rooms. This is important to make sure that you are buying what you actually wanted. You may end up with something bad if you don't listen to the audio system before buying it.

The size of the room determines the number of speakers

How does one decide as to which home theater audio system is best for them? One must buy the audio system according to the size of the room. The system must not be too big or too small for the room. It should just be perfect. If the room is big, six speakers are enough. In addition to the center speaker, there will be two front and rear side speakers. Addition of a subwoofer will make the total count six. The sound of the audio system can be further enhanced by making the subwoofer face the wall. This way, the whole wall will function as a subwoofer and the sound quality will be greatly increased. To get the maximum out of your home theater audio system, cover it up with a woven basket. This will increase its sound. For more info see http://www.1hometheaterreviews.com/Home_Theater_Speaker_System on Home Theater Speaker System.

In case of a small room, three speakers are sufficient. In addition to a subwoofer there should be two rear speakers. A small room doesn't need too many speakers for it will take unnecessary space and will not serve any purpose. So be very careful while buying your audio system. It must fit your room perfectly.

Many home theater audio systems are available in the market. Bose home theater is one such popular system though there are many others. You should choose the one which suits you the best. Go for the best available option which is within your budget. You should choose it carefully so that you can enjoy this experience forever.