10/26/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/26/2024 18:19
This year's old Jack-o'-Lantern could help next year's pumpkins grow. When you're done with your pumpkins, put them in your green compost bin: They'll be turned into nutrient-rich compost for next year's crops.
Other things to toss in your green bin:
Do yourself and your neighbors a favor by sweeping up leaves from your sidewalk and street. It won't take long, and you'll get some exercise, enjoy some crisp fall weather, and make your street a lot nicer to walk, bike, and drive on once the rains hit.
When leaves aren't removed from sidewalks and streets, they clog storm drains, flood intersections, and make sidewalks and streets slippery.
Sograb a rake on a nice fall day and sweep up leaves to put in your green bin. If they can't all fit, fill a kraft paper leaf bag and set it out with your compost bin for $4.25 per bag.
Your 60-gallon green compost roll cart has a 135-pound limit. Extra yard waste bags have a limit of 40 pounds.
If leaves are dry, you can fill up your cart to the max, but if leaves are wet, they can reach that maximum weight well before the bin is full.
Pumpkins are also heavy. If you've got more than a few pumpkins to toss, hold some back to add to your green bin the next week.
Food decomposes in landfills and creates methane, which, when released in the atmosphere, worsens climate change.
When you put food and yard debris in your green bin, they turn into nutrient-rich compost, which improves soil health while reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.
Compost also helps the soil retain water, reducing the amount of water needed to help plants grow. As Professor Sally Brown from the University of Washington explains:
"It's like California Closets for your soil: Instead of just throwing everything on a heap on the floor, you put it in the appropriate units, and all of a sudden you have a lot more space. Sowater can soak in much more quickly. And also, there's a lot more space for water to hang around, so this reduces your irrigation needs."
Healthy soil helps plants thrive and benefits microbes and plants that in turn sequester carbon from the air.
Fall is a great time to add compost to your garden.
You can buy compost created with yard and food waste from Portland homes from Recology Organics North Plains.
Or, if you want to make compost in your own backyard, follow these how-to guides and troubleshooting tipsfrom Metro.
Backyard compost piles don't get as hot as commercial compost facilities do, so you'll still want to use your curbside compost bin for things like meat, fish, bread, and cheese. But backyard compost piles can turn fruit and vegetable trimmings, leaves, and grass clippings into great compost to use on your garden beds.