Garden
Growing your own food can be rewarding and waste less. You can spend less money on groceries, get healthy, tastier food, eliminate the need for packaging and it helps connect you with nature. You don’t have to have a lot of room or experience to throw down a few seeds to watch things grow. You can garden in pots, raised beds, or on a porch. You can even grow food from leftover kitchen scraps.
Fresh Start Market sells locally made compost by the bag or even better, delivered in bulk.
DIY Weed Killer Mix
1 gallon white vinegar
1 cup salt
1 tablespoon liquid dish soap
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle and treat weeds at the sunniest time of day for the best results. Be careful to not spray this on other plants because it can kill them too.
DIY Boiling Water Weed Killer
Boiling water is a fantastic way to kill weeds and you can see changes rather quickly. Simply pour boiling water onto the weeds making sure not to spill any on yourself.
Slug Trap
It’s a Trap! Capture slugs and snails by luring them with beer poured into a shallow dish or tin can. They’d be attached to the smell and stop nibbling on your plants.
Compost
Yes, many jurisdictions have curbside organics compost pick up offered. Check to see if you do! But you can also make your own at home with a backyard composter (just don’t add meat or dairy since it won’t get hot enough), get worm buddies to help out (vermicomposting) or better yet, try the Ruth Stout method by burying your garden scraps under hay. This helps your soils directly with very little effort.
Share your Bounty
If you have a bumper crop, share with neighbors, or donate food to the Marion Polk Food Share.
Seed Share
Seed shares are great resources to share the excess with people who will benefit from the waste. Marion Polk Food Share has annual seed swapping events and seed shed. While other communities have seed libraries. The city of Monmouth also has a Seed Lending Library.
