Trashy – Funny talk on composting

Found this on LA Moms Blog – it’s a good foray into talking about composting.

In Los Angeles we can compost in our green bins. I’m almost ready to move past my childhood composting trauma and give it a try… almost.

By Emily

About a year and a half ago, I posted a series on my personal blog entitled The Lazy Mother’s Guide To Saving the Planet. It was all about being eco-friendly by doing less, or, in my case, using the environment as a convenient excuse to avoid wrapping holiday presents. And I got to thinking, “This would be a fantastic idea for a book.”

Obviously, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

I have gotten over my disappointment that someone beat me to the book, but I haven’t gotten over my laziness or my environmentalism. I still eschew goody bags at parties and prefer hand-me-downs to new stuff (I am also cheap). And I still let yellow mellow.

What I don’t do is compost. I know, I know. Food waste either sullies the water supply or sits in a plastic garbage bag, waiting to decompose sometime around when my great-great-great-granddaughter gets Bat Mitzvahed. Properly composted, it can be fertilizer for all that food I am supposed to be growing in my yard.

To read the full story -
LA Moms Blog: Trashy.

Trashy – Funny talk on composting

Snails, Snails & More Snails – Solve your snail problems naturally.

Everyday I go to take my daughter to preschool and my front garden bed is full of snails.
They are making a buffet of my hibiscus and leaving their leaves looking like swiss cheese.
Not pretty.

My remedy so far has been picking them up and tossing them into my shrubs on the edge of our yard.

So the hunt for natural remedies has begun:
Eat Them:
I found this suggestion in a few places, our common garden snails – they are the same snails that are served as escargot – so for our gourmets.

Barrier to Entry:
Create a salt barrier – they won’t crawl over it
Egg Shell Barrier – ditto
Human or Animal Hair – they won’t crawl over it – but it sounds a little icky for my taste!
Copper Wire – Frame the perimeter of your garden so they have to crawl over it – it shocks them and they backtrack.

Complementary Planting:
They don’t like some savory plants, like Lavender, rosemary and sage. I noticed that the hibiscus next to my lavender is fine and snail free.

Kill them – Naturally?
Strong Coffee Solution – sprayed on plants and surrounding soil

Help other critter’s enjoy them – Circle of life approach:
Beer
Oatmeal

I think I’m going to start out by trying the salt… but next time I’m at the hardware store I might have to pick up some copper wire.

Snails, Snails & More Snails – Solve your snail problems naturally.