It was mentioned only in passing in some news stories, but I do hope the Obama’s use the example of their new organic vegetable garden to show the importance of composting. The White House Kitchen would be a tremendous source of recycled food for the compost pile. The grounds of the White House can supply the rest of the organic matter needed to make the valuable compost needed to feed a sustainable garden. With a corner of the grounds set up for the compost piles and the correct proportions of green and brown organic material, they would have no need to import any other source of fertilizer for their garden. This first year they will need to amend the soil, but by the fall they can easily have their own composting routine providing all the amendment they need.
One big word of warning I would offer is to be cautious of the grass clippings. Cut grass is a great source of nitrogen rich material for any compost pile, but the lawns the clippings come from must not be saturated with chemicals. The large expanses of green lawn seen in landscapes like that of the White House are usually treated regularly with chemical fertilizers and weed killers. If this is the routine at the White House, they do not want to use the grass clippings in their compost pile.
Wouldn’t it be great if the Obama’s could take their example of an organic vegetable garden one step further and transition the White House lawn care over to a sustainable program of organic fertilizing and maintenance?
 |
Pick from dropdown:
.-= Anna´s last blog ..Spring Transformations Experiments – A Red Bean Seed To A Green...
{ 0 comments… add one now }
{ 1 trackback }