8 Tips to a Green (but Still Spooky) Halloween

Stay green - but still scary - this Halloween!

Halloween can be scary - cleanup can be scarier.  Here's some great tips on how to make your favorite spooky holiday green! 

1. Compost your pumpkin
• Hollow out your pumpkin. Whether you have a carved or an uncarved pumpkin, remove all of the meat and seeds.
• Smash the pumpkin into several pieces to provide more surface area.
• Find a small area either in your backyard or on the side of your house where a pile of natural materials will not interfere with your landscaping.
• Lay out all the pieces of your pumpkins and layer it with other types of materials like leaves and other yard trimmings. This will help with the composting process.
• Continue to add other vegetable or fruit peels or other organic materials to the compost pile.
• Except for adding additional materials to the pile, all that’s left to do is sit back and let Mother Nature work her magic.

2. Give eco-friendly treats
Local organic groceries and health food stores offer a wide range of candy, from organic chocolates to organic lollipops. These tasty treats are produced using methods that are not damaging to the environment.

3. Use recyclable bags for your trick-or-treaters
A fun family activity is to create a unique trick-or-treat basket, or simply put a reusable bag to good use. Avoiding the plastic jack-o-lantern-type containers will avoid clutter, save money, and add a dash of originality to your trick-or-treaters’ costume.

4. Make your own costumes
Put less stress on your wallet by opting for costumes made of reusable or recycled materials. You can find Halloween costume materials from thrift stores or yard sales.

5. Walk instead of drive
Rather than drive to other neighborhoods, stay close to home and trick-or-treat in your neighborhood. By walking from house to house you are reducing fuel consumption and air pollution.

6. Throw a green Halloween party
Purchase organic pumpkins for carving and apples for bobbing from local organic farms. Once the jack-o-lanterns are carved and the bobbing is complete, use the apples and pumpkins for pies, soups and other tasty dishes.

7. Reuse and recycle 
Now is a great time to start composting. Halloween jack-o-lanterns, fallen leaves, food scraps and other organic, biodegradable yard and household waste are perfect items to get your compost bin started.

8. Help keep neighborhoods clean while trick-or-treating
Carry an extra bag and pick up litter along the way. Candy wrappers can be a big source of litter on local streets during Halloween.

Got any tips of your own?  We'd love to hear 'em!  

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - 5 Ways to Put Fall Leaves to Work

So, it's Fall. The weather's getting crisper, football is in the air...and your lawn is now covered with fallen leaves.  Normally, we'd just rake them up and get them out.  But, we found another great use for them - 5 in fact - from a great article from Mass Audubon. 

Check them out below - and share your tips!

TIP 1 - LEAVE THEM BE
Why: Leaves act as a home for many different types of beneficial insects (ground and rove beetles, spiders, caterpillars), as well as amphibians such as wood frogs. A layer of leaves also serves as a root protection for trees and shrubs by keeping in moisture and moderating the temperature of the soil. And if that’s not reason enough, you will also attract more birds, which rely on leaves for shelter, nesting material, and water.
How: Leave behind a thin layer of leaves in areas that people don’t walk on (you wouldn’t want anyone slipping). If you’re worried about your grass being smothered, chop the leaves with a lawn mower.
Good to know: Researchers from Michigan State University have found that chopped leaves left on lawns may actually help suppress dandelions.

TIP 2 - MAKE MULCH
Why: A less expensive and taxing option to raking, bagging, and disposing, leaf mulch mimics a natural forest ecosystem, making for excellent nutrient recycling. Plus, it’s more sustainable and you don’t have to buy mulch come planting season.
How: When the leaves begin to fall, mow your lawn as you normally would. This will shred the leaves, making them decompose faster and a bit easier to pack around the bases of plants. In vegetable and perennial gardens, you can keep the leaves whole, and then turn them over come spring. Or, if you like, you could rake them and put them in a shredder.
Good to know: Songbirds love leaf mulch since it harbors lots of nutritious bugs! 

TIP 3 - COMPOST THEM
Why: Any gardener can extol the merits of compost. Good compost requires a mix of high nitrogen (grass clippings, food waste) and high carbon components. The best bet for the latter? Fallen leaves.
How: Scoop them up whole and add them to your compost pile. Not only do they add bulk but leaves make for good aeration. Don’t have a compost pile yet? Leaves are a great way to get started. To speed up the decomposing process, you can shred them a little.
Good to know: Leaves that have been left on the ground for awhile bring useful decomposing microorganisms to the compost pile. A good excuse to put off the yard work!

TIP 4 - HAVE FUN WITH THEM
Why: There’s nothing more thrilling that jumping into a big pile of leaves (and that goes for both kids and adults). Note: Be aware of ticks. Wear light colored clothes and check yourself for ticks after playing outside.
How: In addition to a good old-fashioned leaf pile, you can make a scarecrow, add leaves to vases or window boxes, preserve brightly colored fallen leaves, or make leaf rubbings. For more ideas, visit our Ready Set Go Outside article on leaves.
Good to know: It’s good luck to catch a falling leaf before it touches the ground. Slap the lucky leaf against your forehead, turn around in three complete circles, and then make a wish!

TIP 5 - LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM
Why: Think a leaf is simply just a leaf? Think again. There are compound and simple leaves, broad leaves and needle leaves, leafstalks, leaf teeth, and leaf veins. By learning more about the leaves you see every day, you will gain more appreciation for the natural world around you.
How: Pick up one of the countless books written on the subject. A few of our favorites, which can be found at the Audubon Shop at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, include: The Sibley Guide to Trees, Fall Color Finder, Why Do Leaves Change Color?, and The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown Ups. .
Good to know: While we now know science is behind leaves changing color, countless legends have been linked to this fall phenomenon, including Native American lore that said when hunters killed the Great Bear in the sky, the bear’s blood fell on the forests, turning some of the leaves red.

GET READY FOR FALL!
Save 50% on power-seeding now at Natural Turf!  Keep your lawn looking it's best, all year round.  We look forward to hearing from you!

5 Days to All-Natural - Getting Rid of Life's Guilty Pleasures

Make a healthy list for your holistic health.

Having a natural lawn is what we're all about.  But, it's also about holistic health here, too.  Here's a great article from Organic Authority to checkout about cleansing yourself.  We'd love to hear some of your tips, too. 

You're already a model citizen when it comes to organic. You belong to a CSA, are on a first-name basis with the farmers at your local farmers' market, and you can recycle in your sleep. But what about those last few things? You know what I'm talking about... those few pleasures that are still holding over from those ignorant days, before you knew about buying organic eggs and biodynamic wine. Well, the time has come: here's your guide to phasing out those last few guilty pleasures, once and for all.

Day 1: Make Your Own Coffee

One of the guilty pleasures many of us are still holding on to is that morning cup of coffee, bought at a commercial shop. While many of these coffee chains offer organic options, the most responsible thing to do is buy your own organic coffee and make it at home. Not only is your carbon footprint reduced when you have coffee at home, but you can control the quality of everything, from the water to the cream to the sweetener. You can also reuse the coffee grounds for your compost and even in your beauty routine.
If you're not certain of what coffee brands to try, check out this guide to fair trade and organic coffee or our very own coffee guide. And if it's not plain black joe you're going to miss, Organic Authority has you covered, with both a delicious latte and an Organic Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe to rock your world.

Day 2: Make Your Own Lunch

You dash out the door in the morning so scrambled, you've hardly had time to make yourself breakfast. But now that you've taken the time to make your coffee at home, consider making yourself lunch as well. Both can be done the night before: set up your coffee pot with water and grounds, ready to brew the second you turn it on, and throw together lunch for yourself at the same time, ready to grab from the fridge.
Even if you shop at responsible vendors, there's really nothing better than making your own lunch at home. The more control you have over what goes into your body (and those of your family!) the better. Try our no-bread sandwich ideas for delicious and quick lunches. If you have kids at home, you can make everyone the same lunch with these lunchbox ideas!

Day 3: Make Your Own Bread

Yesterday, you made lunch in the evening, so it was a breeze to grab it on your way out. If you made a sandwich, you likely made it on an organic storebought bread... but even organic breads aren't nearly as good as the kinds that come out of your own kitchen, and bread is surprisingly easy to make. Start tonight by making the dough. Let it rise once, and then put it in the fridge. Take it out of the fridge when you get home (or have your kids do it) so that it can come to room temperature, and bake it up alongside your dinner. Make enough for sandwiches for the next day, and throw your next batch of dough in the fridge. Any dough recipe can work this way; try our sourdough if you're feeling adventurous. Pretty soon, it will become second nature!

Day 4: Really Start Composting

You've been meaning to for months, but you just haven't gotten around to it? Well now you can... even if you live in an apartment. You'll be surprised at how empty your garbage can is now that you're composting most things coming out of your kitchen. If you don't have a garden, you can give or sell your compost to others; try Craigslist to find interesting parties. This is a great way to pay it forward! All you need to do is find the appropriate composting container, and you'll be on your way.

Day 5: Organic Beauty Routine

Even if you're buying organic beauty products (we all know what's in those other products), the packaging is not so great for the environment, especially when you have all the secrets to at-home beauty in your kitchen already, like baking soda. Even if you have trusted products that work, you'll be surprised at how nice it is to put only truly organic and whole products on your skin. Try some of our favorite at-home DIY beauty treatments and DIY spa treatments. Give it four weeks to see if things are working for you; it often takes a bit of time for your skin to get used to a new beauty routine.

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - Lazy Compost Recipe

From our friends at Compost Junkie. 

Easy composting is a lazy gardener's dream come true. That's right, I said it..."L-A-Z-Y gardener". I never thought those two words would come out of my mouth in the same sentence, but something changed recently...

In the last week or so, I've had several conversations with the folks in our Compost Tribe and they each said the same thing...

"Dave, if you want to motivate more people to compost, you have to start tailoring your message and material to the 'Average Joe'". That is, the person who has little to no experience in gardening, and perhaps a deficiency of time, but still wants to do his part to be GREEN.

For instance, maybe Average Joe won't turn his compost, but he will save his kitchen scraps and dump them into a backyard compost pile. Maybe Average Joe doesn't have the time to shred his compost ingredients, but he will throw everything into a compost tumbler and flip it every couple days.

So Average Joe, let's make a deal...

Every couple pages that I write from now on will be catered directly to you! I'll do my absolute best to simplify, refine, and condense everything I know into a set of what we'll call the easy steps to composting.

To get started let's review what I consider to be the the ultimate recipe for easy composting...

Easy Composting 101

Step 1
Pick an area in your yard where you will build your compost pile.

Step 2
This step is optional but highly recommended.
Grab some old wire fencing, or welded wire (12.5 gauge is preferable) and wrap it into a circle. Make sure it's at least 3' across from one side of the circle to the other and approx. 4' high. Secure the ends of the fence together with zip-ties, shoe strings, concrete ties, etc.

Step 3
Start filling your new compost bin.
When doing this try to remember the following - For every 6" of brown material (e.g. dried leaves, newspaper) you add to your pile, you also want to add 2" of green material (e.g. fresh grass clippings, kitchen scraps).  Continue layering until your bin is full.

Step 4
Sit back and wait.

Depending on your climate and season, the majority of this pile will breakdown into usable compost within 6-12 months. If you want the compost more quickly, you can always turn it, but that wouldn't be very easy now, would it?

By the way Average Joe, I was only kidding when I said "sit back and wait". This is actually the perfect time to revisit Step 2 and build a second compost bin. If you time it properly and build your piles right, you can rotate between these two (or three) bins and always have a ready supply of compost to feed your garden.

Now that's my idea of easy composting! Don't you agree Average Joe?

As I bring this article to a close, I need you to lean in so I can tell you a little secret...
Pssssst...the truth is, we all have an Average Joe inside us, so why not slow down, take a deep breath and take a lesson from the easy composting steps above. Remember - Life's too short to try and garden quickly.

Would love to hear some of your other lazy - but green! - composting tips!

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - Winter Worm Composting

Checkout this great article from Mother Earth News about Winter worm composting:



Even in the heat of summer, it's not to early to consider ways to keep our garden friends, our composting worms, fully employed over the winter months. For now, use that vermicompost for some worm "compost teas" to help your gardens with the stress of this summer’s heat. When cold weather comes, gather your materials and try overwintering your worms outside.  

Cold weather (remember that?) will definitely slow the activity of a worm colony. Although my experience is that worms can be incredibly hardy, there’s no reason to miss a beat over the winter. The two key factors are shelter and heat.

Last winter I chose had to replace my compost bins cause they were rotten. They were oak pallets and they had lasted about seven years. I took the old pallets out, but wanted to level the site, so I started digging. What I found was a very rich layer of vermicompost between and under the pallets. Remember, I’ve been filling my bins with worms and managing for their happiness for the whole seven years.

I ended up with a level site and nine wheelbarrows full of vermicompost! As I shoveled the black gold aside, I tried to put the material with the most worms farthest from the compost bin pad. I spread the vermicompost on my garden and mulched it for the winter.

What was left over was perhaps three wheelbarrows of finished vermicompost and most of my worms. I covered the pile with some clear plastic greenhouse glazing. I never stopped putting my household food scraps on the south side of the pile. I simply came outside, lifted the plastic and a layer of straw and threw the scraps into the pile. What happened was that I started an active composting pile. There was enough food coming in, getting mixed in and covered to get hot and keep the whole area well above freezing. The winter sun helped warm the pile through the clear plastic. On cold nights there was condensed moisture on the inside of the plastic but the pile was plenty warm enough to keep going.  

The worms were hanging out at the edges of the pile, staying warm and well fed. Although last winter was mild, this strategy will work well as far north as Minnesota, as I found out on a tour of compost education programs to St. Cloud in 1993. I visited Compost Guru, Jim McNelly (founding board member of the U.S. Composting Council) as he brought me in to educate in the schools there. He had a busy worm colony in a small black plastic compost unit outside his house in a tough winter.

Cool article, huh?  What are your experiences with our friendly creepy crawler?  


Top photo: On the left is the windrow full of vermicompost that I harvested from the dark flat area on the right. Notice the clear plastic covering the pile, the pallets that will become the next bin and the stored bags of leaves. 
Lower photo: The worms are hard at work under the clear plastic and the straw layer. The 2 x 4's are not a part of the system, just left overs from the compost bin being built in the background.

Natural Compost for Rose Bushes & Tomato Plants

Checkout this great article from Mother Earth News about natural compost for rose bushes and tomato plants.

This story is from Michelle Corbett and submitted as part of our Wisdom From Our Elders collection of self-sufficient tales from yesteryear. 

My grandmother and great grandmother taught me to put ground-up eggshells and coffee grounds under rose bushes and tomato plants which will make them grow strong and true. Also, you get twice the blooms and fruit from them. It is a great natural compost.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/homestead-skills-from-days-gone-by/natural-compost-zb0z1207zjma.aspx#ixzz20QEjnqIG

What's some of your compost recipes? 

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - Juice Up Your Compost!

From our friends at GreenerGreenGrass:


We survived the move with nothing broken (not even my spirit, miraculously)!  I have treated my body so badly during the past few weeks – not exercising enough, eating crappy food because we’ve been going out so much, not getting enough sleep, perhaps drinking a little too much wine… The list goes on and on.

So, in an effort to be nicer to myself (for a few days anyway), I’m doing a 3-day juice fast.  I’m normally kind of skeptical of these types of fads, but the stars have aligned in such a way that I believe that this is a good thing for me to do.  For now, anyway.

Yes, I watched the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and I will say that it had an impact on me.  I have a passion for health and wellness and I love to see success stories like the ones profiled in the movie.  A friend of ours was inspired by the movie and has become a success story herself – she has lost 30 pounds so far and she’s still going strong!  She’s got a nice blog about juicing if you need some inspiration yourself.

On top of all this, another friend is opening a juice bar right here in Portland and I am so pumped about it!  Roost House of Juice is going to be fabulous!  They source from local farmers (including New Beat Farm, where I used to be a CSA member – they uses horses to plow their fields and farmer Adrienne is great, and not just because we share the same name).  Roost  will also give back to the community by donating a portion of the proceeds from their Give a Hoot Juice to local organizations.  They’re in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to raise some funds.  I’ll be making a donation later because I can’t wait for them to open!  There is definitely a positive side to being a mainlander again…

Anyway, all of this just to say that I have made a lot of juice today, which has resulted in a lot of leftover pulp.  As I was shoveling it into the garbage disposal, I couldn’t help but think how awesome it would be for my long, lost compost pile on Peaks.  Sigh… I do have some nifty plans for the citrus peels though!  I’m going to make an all-natural citrus peel vinegar cleaner that I can use instead of stinky chemicals.

I do think that if this little juicing trial results in a long-term habit, I’ll definitely have to find an outlet for all this pulp.  I just hate to see it go to waste when it could be turning into nutrient-rich compost.  Any juicers out there have suggestions for leftover pulp?

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - The Ultimate Compost Tea Recipe!

June is out of the gates - so you've got to keep that grass looking it's best.  A great way to do that is with the magical mix called     compost tea.

There's a lot of recipes floating out there - and I'm sure you've even got your own.  Who doesn't?

But, if you've got a little time, checkout this one from CompostJunkie.com.

We'd love to hear about your experience with compost tea!

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - The incredible egg and your fertilizer

You don't need to get professional-grade organic fertilizers to make your lawn beautiful. Although, at Natural Turf, we can help with that if you'd like. :)

eHow has done a great job of putting the limelight of one of our oldie-and-goodie ingredients to homemade fertilizer in a great article on homemade fertilizers. And one of the key ingredients: the incredible egg.


Calcium-rich eggshells
Turns out that crushed eggshells contain all the things that a growing lawn needs to grow: calcium carbonate, nitrogen and phosphoric acid. As your lawn grows, they remove calcium from the soil - and eggshells can help replenish this important nutrient.

Calcium can help:

• Stimulate root growth.
• Promote thick, sturdy plant stems.
• Your grassy plants absorb nitrogen - the most important chemical nutrient needed to promote healthy plant growth.

Think differently about your next omelette
Pretty cool, huh? So, the next time you sit down to enjoy those scrambled eggs over the morning paper...save those eggshells!

Your lawn will thank you!

Sparky's Safe Lawn Tip - Consider adding compost and soil amendments

Healthy body, healthy mind, healthy spirit...healthy soil.

Just the same way all of us don't look like Brad Pitt, we can't all be blessed with perfect soil.  But don't fear: with a little ingenuity and the addition of healthy soil amendments, your soil can get a lot closer. 

Understand your soil test
To start, you've got to understand the outcome of your soil test.  If your soil has less than 5% organic matter, is damaged by chemicals and is compacted, then use 1/4-1/2 inch compost.

Become a composting captain!
Compost is an ideal soil amendment, filling in that much-needed organic content to your soil and suppressing any grass pathogens.  In addition, compost helps your soil by helping neutralize the soil; and keeping in nutrients and water by adding water and microorganisms.  One more great thing about compost: by helping along any other issues your soil may have, this frees you up to do to the gardening you love.  Great, right?

How composting happens
Organic matter is transformed into compost through the work of microorganisms, soil fauna, enzymes and fungi.  Your compost should give these beneficial organisms the best environment to flourish.  To make this happen as quickly (and effectively) as possible, you need to balance four key ingredients:
1. Carbon - Carbon-rich materials are like the power bars for microorganisms.  Examples are dry leaves, straw and rotted hay.
2. Nitrogen - High-nitrogen materials add protein so microorganisms can multiply.  Examples are fresh weeds, grass clippings, overripe fruits and veggies.
3. Water - Moisture's important; but as a rule of thumb, keep your soil like a well-wrung sponge.
4. Oxygen - Your little microorganisms need O2 to do their best.  Be sure to keep turning and aerating your compost pile.

More resources
Gardener's Supply did a great article on "All about composting" - check it out here.  Composting is fun, and also a great way to work with our environment...and get a healthy lawn in the process.

What are some of your composting recipes?       

A Great Foundation: 10 Essential Tips to a Natural Lawn

Lawn season is right around the corner! And, if you're thinking of going organic or organic-based for your lawn, there's definitely a lot to think about. Where do you start? Like any worthwhile project, getting the right foundation is key.

Here's a great foundation from our friends at SafeLawns.org:

THE 10 ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR A NATURAL LAWN
1. Obtain a soil test - Never spend money on any fertilizer or soil amendment without first consulting the results of a soil test first.
2. Grow the right grass - The most common lawn grasses in North America, Kentucky Bluegrass and Bremudagrass, also need the most water and fertilizer to grow well. Other species such as perennial ryegrass, fescue, seashore paspalum and centipede grass may be better for your region of the country.
3. Water well - Morning watering is always recommended so that the surface of the lawn dries off during the day. Water deeply and infrequently so the roots of the grass learn to grow down into the soil to get the water they need.
4. Think of your soil as alive - "Dirt" is what you track into your house. The material that grows on your lawn, the soil, is alive with organisms large and small. Nurturing that life through proper use of natural materials will lead to a successful natural lawn.
5. Mow properly - Recycling your grass clippings by leaving them on the lawn will provide approximately half your lawn's fertilizer needs for the season. Keep your mower blades sharp. Depending on the species, lawns should be mowed no lower than 2.5 inches, even higher in the summer.
6. Avoid synthetic materials - Fertilizers manufactured in a laboratory often burn lawn grasses and soils. Fertilizers and soil amendments should come from materials that were once living plants or animals, or mined materials such as lime or sulfur.
7. Add compost - Nature's most magical soil additive, compost, contains all sorts of beneficial microorganisms that add life to the soil. These organisms will interact with the organic fertilizers to provide the green lawn many of us covet.
8. See weeds as messengers - Weeds usually appear on lawns only when something is wrong with the soil. Even if we kill the weeds, they'll come back unless we fix the underlying problem with the soil.
9. See insects as messengers - A rush of new grass growth caused my synthetic fertilizers will often attract insects. Predatory insects are rarely a problem in a natural system that's in balance.
10. Overseed regularly - In nature, all plants produce seed to reproduce themselves. In a lawn system, where we mow regularly, grass is not allowed to reproduce and even the healthiest plants get tired. By overseeding in spring and fall, you're introducing robust young plants that will fill in bare areas and compete aggressively against weeds.

At Natural Turf, we exclusively use natural and organic lawncare products that strengthen your lawn to handle summer stress while helping to reduce your water consumption. Call our natural lawn care specialists today for a consultation, or to learn more about our seasonal and year-round lawn care programs.