Turn off your garbage disposer and put your kitchen scraps to work in your garden.

Inexpensive homemade worm bins or the more space efficient and attractive worm chalets work great outside in the garden or indoors in your basement for year round composting or composting during the cold winter months.

A kitchen scrap composter may be a better option if you are not quite ready to keep worms in your house. This small machine can produce big results.

Start the process with 2 cups of garden soil to provide needed microorganisms for decomposition. Cut food scraps into 4 inch or smaller pieces to speed up the process. Fill the mixing chamber about 2/3 full with these scraps. Add 2 handfuls of sawdust or wood shavings and about 2 tablespoons of baking soda to balance the chemistry.

Turn on and let the machine do the mixing and nature do the composting.

A bit more information: Turn some of your worm castings into compost tea. Place a scoopful (about 8 ounces) of worm castings into a sack of cheesecloth, burlap or other permeable material. The material should allow water in while holding the castings inside. Place the bagged worm compost in a five gallon bucket of warm water and let soak for at least an hour or all day long. Use this liquid fertilizer on container gardens, houseplants or any garden plants.

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