8
in other words
september21
2017
Diggin’ in the Dirt: Composting Basics
By Chip Bubl
Oregon State University
Extension Service - Columbia County
Hazardous waste collection event in
Clatskanie
Columbia County is providing
residents a safe and responsible way to
discard Unwanted Paint and Household
Hazardous Waste (HHW) that
can’t be placed in garbage
bins. On Saturday, October
7 the county is sponsoring
a free household hazardous
waste and paint collection
event in Clatskanie from 8
am to noon. County residents
are invited to bring items to
the Clatskanie City Park.
The
program
accepts nearly all household
items that contain one or
more of the following key
words: Warning - Caution -
Poison - Dangerous - Toxic-
Flammable - Combustible
- Ignitable - Corrosive -
Oxidizer.
This event will ac-
cept paints (oil and latex), stains, and
primers.
HHW products are accepted for
free during collection. The HHW Pro-
gram cannot accept:
• Unwanted/unused medicines, pharma-
ceuticals, or other medical waste includ-
ing sharps unless in approved container
• General Garbage or Trash
• Asbestos
For more information, see
http://www.co.columbia.or.us/files/lds/
solid-waste/Columbia-County-HOUSE-
H O L D - H A Z A R D O U S - WA S T E -
2017-schedule.pdf
Keep products in original con-
tainers. Do not mix products together;
dangerous reactions can occur when
some materials are mixed. Make sure
products are properly sealed to prevent
leaks and spills. If a container is leak-
ing, secure it in a secondary leak-proof
container (not a plastic bag). Pack con-
tainers in sturdy boxes and secure your
HHW items in the rear of your vehicle
(truck bed, hatchback, trunk, etc.) as
it eases the removal of the HHW from
your vehicle, away from the driver, pas-
sengers, pets, heat, sparks or flames. Do
not put items in plastic bags.
Composting your way to a happy gar-
den and landscape
Making compost is not a myste-
rious process and it is a really good thing
for your garden or landscape. You collect
your vegetable and fruit kitchen scraps
together with some landscape trimmings
and create an environment for them to
decompose (rot) into wonderful crumbly
finished compost. Your plants will love
the stuff, either worked into the soil or
used as a surface mulch. And plant recy-
cling is a nice thing to do. But there are
a few tricks and some different ways to
get to the same end result.
The basic concept of compost-
ing is that all plant materials will eventu-
ally rot. But what you want to do is speed
the process up. Billions of fungi, bacte-
ria, worms, and tiny insects do the heavy
lifting of composting. If you make them
happy, they will work swiftly to deliver
very nice compost. Their requirements
are simple: a mix of nitrogen rich plant
scraps and other more fibrous plant de-
bris, enough moisture but not too much,
and oxygen.
Gardeners speak of “green” and
“brown” plant materials to be mixed
together. The green materials are your
fresh vegetable and fruit scraps, lawn
clippings (if you haven’t used lawn her-
bicides), and livestock (not hog) ma-
nures. They provide readily available
sources of nitrogen to build up the popu-
lations of decomposing microorganisms.
Bacteria and fungi aggressively feed on
the other more fibrous “brown” plant
materials (like shrub trimmings). That
releases nutrients in the brown mate-
rials and the pace of composting be-
comes self-sustaining. Generally, you
would mix 2 parts (by volume) of brown
(leaves, stemmy plant materials, wood
chips, shredded newspapers, etc.) with 1
part of green material. This is not an ex-
act recipe but it is better to err on the side
of more “brown” materials than “green”
materials. And don’t forget to add egg
shells for their calcium.
Moisture and oxygen go togeth-
er. In your compost pile or bin or in
a worm box, the environment needs
to be moist but not sopping wet. If it
is too wet, the pore spaces around the
plant debris fill with water and there is
no (or low) oxygen. This is how you
get stinky compost! A certain set of
bacteria that live in low oxygen envi-
ronments dominate the pile and pro-
duce sulfur gas (“sewer smell”) that
is not pleasant. The right mix of ma-
terials will help with aeration and pile
drainage.
There are lots of ways to com-
post. You can dig holes in the garden
and put the vegetable and fruit trim-
mings directly in the soil. The mate-
rial will compost slowly in the winter
but speed up as the soil warms and dries
out. This can draw raccoons and skunks
that are interested in what you have for
them. Slicing soil into the trimmings be-
fore you cover it will dampen their in-
terest. There is no need to add brown
materials with this system.
Bins allow you to readily mix
the brown and green materials to pro-
duce fine, rich compost. Bins can be
purchased or made. We have plans at
the Extension office or they are avail-
able on-line. I have seen some nice bins
made out of pallets. Bins should be cov-
ered in the winter to allow you to control
the moisture level of the pile. This will
keep the compost process moving. You
can also just make a pile of mixed ma-
terials and cover it (assuming it is some-
what moist) with clear or black plastic
and then let it go. Any of these systems
do best with an occasional mixing of the
pile.
Finally, you can make a worm
bin. These are best where you have prob-
lems with rats getting into a compost
bin. Fill the worm bin with moistened
shredded newspaper, and add your fruit
and vegetable trimmings. We also have
information on worm bins. You can buy
worms from bait shops or on-line from
various dealers in the Portland area.
Red wrigglers are the preferred species.
Night crawlers don’t like worm bins.
One final note: You will speed
the composting of your brown materials
if you run them through a chipper-shred-
der or even a lawn mower for leaves.
By chopping the “brown” portion of the
mix, you create a larger surface area for
the bacteria and fungi to work on.
For more complete information,
see the Metro website at http://www.
oregonmetro.gov/tools-living/yard-and-
garden/composting
Many Extension publications avail-
able online
Are you putting up salsa, saving seeds,
or thinking about planting grapes?
OSU has a large number of its publica-
tions available for free download. Just
go to https://catalog.extension.oregon-
state.edu/ . Click on publications and
start exploring.
Take excess produce to the food bank,
senior centers, or community meals
programs. Cash donations to buy food
are also greatly appreciated.
The Extension Service offers its pro-
grams and materials equally to all
people.
Free newsletter
The Oregon State University Extension
office in Columbia County publishes a
monthly newsletter on gardening and
farming topics (called County Liv-
ing) written/edited by yours truly. All
you need to do is ask for it and it will
be mailed to you. Call 503 397-3462 to
be put on the list. Alternatively, you can
sign up for email notification of when to
find the latest edition on the web at
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/colum-
bia/.
Contact information for the Extension
office
Oregon State University
Extension Service – Columbia County
505 N. Columbia River Highway (across
from the Legacy clinic)
St. Helens, OR 97051
503 397-3462
Email: chip.bubl@oregonstate.edu
Hunting Season is here!
Archery Equipment - Sporting Goods
Calls - Cammo - Boots - Accessories
Binoculars - Scent Killers - Targets
Family owned & operated for over 45 years
834 Bridge St, Vernonia
503-429-6364
• Kitchen & Bathroom Remodels • Finish Carpentry
• Ceramic Tile Work • Custom Home Construction
• Additions • Commercial Tenant Improvements
Jim Morrison, Jr.
General Contractor
CCB# 112057
Ph: (503) 429-0154
MorrisonRemodeling@hughes.net
Vernonia, OR 97064
• Licensed • Bonded • Insured
