Welcome to southern organic living!

We at southern organic living are concerned about our environment.
All of us can in many little ways make a huge difference. Recycling everything possible needs to become a way of life for all of us. Or, what we leave behind for our children will be mountains of trash, poisoned seas, soils that are unable to grow crops and a staggering energy crisis.

However, there appears to be ways to turn it around! Some are easy and we can do them for ourselves. Others are going to require communities and government help. So, let's start with the things we can do ourselves.

Some statistics say up to 65% of what we send to the landfill is organic waste. Organic waste can be easily turned into rich fertile soil. This soil can be used in your flower garden your vegetable garden. Or maybe more importantly in today's social economic environment of rising food costs is to help you and your family to grow some of your own food.

Organic waste is more than just your vegetable peels, its newspapers, cardboard boxes, paper egg cartons, grass clippings, junk mail, in fact anything that came from something that was once living.

Cardboard, newspaper, printer paper, paper egg cartons all came from trees. Just pause for a moment and looking your trash bin, how much of it is paper? All Paper Products can be turned into compost. All yard waste can be turned into compost which can be applied to your garden or maybe even your friends garden.

On this web site you're going to learn about composting and worm composting. We're going to show you ways to help save our environment one newspaper, one egg carton at a time. While making your world a little less trashy and a little more beautiful.

OK lets get started!!!

"I want to see America adopt a mentality of reusing organic wastes. Zero waste — that’s my ultimate lofty goal.”

Founder of southern organic living Franklyn Galusha.

Overview of worm composting

The unseen worm, who has been quietly aerating, tilling, and fertilizing the soil for centuries, is truly our partner in the fight to save the environment.
Here in Florida many gardeners compost both yard waste and kitchen waste with compost piles, sheet composting or some other method during the growing season. In most climates, very little yard waste is generated during winter months when cold temperatures make composting difficult. However, here in the lower southern states where I live composting slows down but does not stop during the winter months.
For all of us, year around usable kitchen waste is constantly being generated and must be disposed of. Rotting organic waste in our dumps is polluting our underground water supply. Worms are ready to eat that organic waste and give us fertilizer in return. Its a deal that humanity cannot afford to pass up. Vermicomposting is the process of using worms and micro-organisms to turn kitchen waste into a black, earthy-smelling, nutrient-rich humus.

Worm composting?
Worm composting is a process that uses earthworms to consume organic waste, producing castings (an odor-free compost product for use as mulch), soil conditioner, and topsoil additive. Naturally occurring organisms, such as bacteria and millipedes, also assist in the aerobic degradation of the organic material.
Vermicomposting is especially useful for processing food scraps, since the worms consume the material quickly and there are fewer problems with odor. Worm composting does not generate temperatures high enough to kill pathogens. For this reason, vermicomposting is more appropriate for food, paper, and yard waste.

Food scraps should be chopped or shredded for faster degradation. Unprocessed materials can be used in vermicomposting, but the time required for complete degradation of the organic waste is generally six months or longer. Vermicomposting does not require a specific carbon-to-nitrogen ratio like traditional aerobic composting methods.
Worm composting is using worms to recycle food scraps and other organic material into a valuable soil amendment called vermicompost, or worm compost. Worms eat food scraps, which become compost as they pass through the worm's body. Compost exits the worm through its' tail end. This compost can then be used to grow plants. To understand why vermicompost is good for plants, remember that the worms are eating nutrient-rich fruit and vegetable scraps, and turning them into nutrient-rich compost.