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Turning Today’s Scraps into Tomorrow’s Topsoil

May 17, 2016 By marketeditor

By Sadie Ross

If you visit one of the 40,000 farms in New York State, chances are that you’ll be greeted by a smell that evokes pungent goodness. It is neither the scent of a fresh harvest nor the fragrance of bee and butterfly attracting flowers. Rather, it is compost, the rotting remains of yard waste, food scraps, and other foodstuffs that reside in heaps, barrels, or massive bins, breaking down slowly to produce new fertilizer for farmers to work into and revitalize their current topsoil.

Composting at Denison Farm
Composting at Denison Farm

This is compost, a mixture of decaying organic substances typically used to amend soil. When added to a garden, compost improves the organic matter content of the soil, leading to increased water and nutrient holding capacity.

The best news about compost is that it is easy to make in your own backyard. Compost comes in three varieties: yard waste, food scraps, and table scraps (which include such items as meat bones and leftovers that are heavy with oil, butter, or other additives.) While local farmers regularly incorporate table scraps into their compost piles, I advise that home composters stick to yard waste and food scraps. This is because home compost piles rarely get to a high enough temperature to guarantee that other table scraps will be effectively sterilized.

Yard waste – leaves, grass clippings, perennial cuttings – can be left to decompose quite simply in a heap. Chicken wire or wooden pallets placed on three sides keeps the heap contained so the center of the pile remains hot, allowing the material to decompose. One partition area can serve as the pile that is being left to “cook” and a second can be used for actively accepting materials. Both piles should be placed in the sun and turned with a pitchfork whenever the center has been hot enough long enough to decompose some of the core.

worms at Fresh Take Farm
Worms at Fresh Take Farm

One of the best ways to compost food scraps is in a barrel, either homemade or purchased. Place such items as vegetable peels, fruit rinds and relatively clean napkins and paper plates into containers that have screens at the bottom to allow air to come into the container and lets the water created from decomposing materials out. The container should be easy to spin to allow for the materials to get turned over and mixed up but be sealed enough to keep animals out. Many people prefer to use a food grade container if their compost is going to be used in their vegetable garden.

Some rules for good compost are smell, color, and texture. Good compost should smell like the earth, be dark brown or black in color, and be somewhat clumpy in texture. Basically, to make good compost there should be more “brown stuff” than “green stuff”. But keep in mind that green stuff has a lot of water in it, so you can add a lot of cut leafy perennials and grass clippings compared to dry brown leaves. Food compost will almost always need additional materials. Paper towels, egg cartons, pizza boxes and other food grade “brown things” will add the carbon and structure necessary.

 


Kale Salad with Micro Greens

Adapted from Faring Well

Image courtesy of Pattie Garret.
Image courtesy of Pattie Garret. Salad Bowl with Compost Bowl.

Ingredients

Salad:
• 1 bunch of Kale, stems removed and chopped
• 3 carrots, grated
• 1 bunch of radishes, tops and bottoms removed and thinly sliced
• 1 bunch of micro greens, (e.g. pea shoots, radish shoots)
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds

Tahini Dressing:

• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup tahini
• 1 ¼ cup water
• 1 green garlic, minced
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne

Instructions:

For dressing: Blend ingredients together and adjust to taste. Recipe will make 2 ½ cups. Store in a tightly sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.

For salad: Toss ingredients together. Plate servings and drizzle on dressing and top with sunflower seeds (or pepitas).

Options: add goat cheese, use favorite dressing.

 

Filed Under: Featured Article, News, Seasonal Recipes Tagged With: Composting, Growing Vegetables, Saratoga Farmers' Market Recipes

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Swing by our 3-6pm market tomorrow outside the low Swing by our 3-6pm market tomorrow outside the lower city center parking lot! We have several guests including musician @starlitgeneration, as well as some fun kids activities hosted by our friends from @saratogaspringslibrary. Hope to see you there!!!

Parking available in the City Center Lot, free for the first hour and $1/hr after that. 

#saratogasprings #saratogafarmersmarket #shoplocal #farmtotable #eathealthy #upstateny
Come stop by the Saratoga Farmers’ Market tomor Come stop by the Saratoga Farmers’ Market  tomorrow at the Wilton mall! From 9am-1pm you can find some of your favorite produce and craft vendors before we move over to High Rock Park on June 1st. Talented musician Brendan Dailey will be joining us too. Hope to see you there!

Photo 1 taken by Pattie Garrett @mysaratogakitchentable of one of our friends from @themushroomshopllc 

#saratogasprings #farmtotable #shoplocal #smallbuisness #eathealthy
After a much anticipated wait, come June 1st, the After a much anticipated wait, come June 1st, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market will be returning to High Rock Park for our Wednesday and Saturday Markets! Thank you to everyone on our team, our vendors, customers and friends who have helped to make this transition happen. Stay tuned for upcoming events celebrating our move! 

Photo: Flowers from @lovinmamafarm 

Parking will be available on High Rock Ave and in the new City Center Parking Garage (free for the first hour and $1/hr after that) 

#saratogasprings #farmersmarket #farmtotable #shoplocal #june1st #highrockpark
It is our second to last market on High Rock Ave b It is our second to last market on High Rock Ave before heading back over to the pavilion on June 1st!!! Stop by tomorrow from 3-6pm for our musical guest Dave Moore and our friends from @bsneny 

Photos by Pattie Garrett @mysaratogakitchentable 

#farmtotable #saratogafarmersmarket #shoplocal #healthyfood #smallbuisness

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