Compost making is a simple, easy, and efficient way of using Mother Nature’s ability to turn everything that once was living into great soil. You can compost a lot of the yard waste and food waste from your kitchen and use it to improve your soil or mulch your garden plants and trees.

When people usually think compost, they think of vegetable gardens, which is a great way to amend the soil and get greater yields from your vegetable garden, but compost also is an incredible mulch. Using compost as a garden mulch helps retain moisture for your plants and gives your plants the very best of nutrients.

What Makes a Great Compost?

It’s important to have the right ratio of ingredients in your compost for your compost to turn into good soil quickly! Composting can seem like you are going back to chemistry class, but it’s actually pretty simple.  You need a mixture of carbon and nitrogen, approximately 1/3 greens or nitrogen to 2/3 brown or carbon to create a rich brown soil full of good nutrients. This ratio helps break down the organic matter pretty quickly, usually somewhere between 12 and 20 weeks depending on your climate and temperatures.

Compost Greens & Browns

What are compost green and brown materials?

• Brown Materials are your carbon components to your compost and they rot slowly and also add air space to your compost, such as dried leaves, shredded newspaper, straw, branches chopped up, sawdust, cardboard preferably shredded or town into smaller pieces.
• Green Materials are your nitrogen components to your compost and are usually moist and green materials rot quickly, such as fruit and vegetable scraps, green leafy materials, grass clippings, and animal manure.
• Enhancers include ground bones, eggshells, coffee grounds, and compost growth promoters.

Compost is all about alternating thin layers of greens and browns and bacteria and heat will do the work. The materials at the bottom of your compost pile will break down first because of age and it’s hotter at the bottom of the pile.

Compost Containers-Keep It Simple

Compost can be as simple as a circle of field fencing attached in a circle or as elaborate as a compartmentalized rotating compost bin. Each does the same work; rotating bins mean you aren’t pitching forking the contents every few weeks. Other people have an ad and don’t disturb outlook and just skim off the lower soil and keep adding each week to their compost pile. You just need to find what works best for you.

You want a compost container that is critter-proof and also dog-proof since rotting compost can be a health problem for dogs and necessitate a fast vet visit. We have used field fencing and have made sure it’s staked and has a top wired on that we can easily take off to add to our compost. Right now, we have a black bin with a lower trap door that has stakes to hold it to the ground making it pretty varmint proof!

What Are Great Compost Ingredients?

The list that follows covers most of what can be put into a compost heap to keep your compost healthy and turned into great soil for your garden:

• Lawn clippings, be sure to use him layers
• Mulched wood branches, I try to keep these to 3-4 inch lengths, they break down quicker
• Garden prunings, keep them small
• Straw, notice I say straw and not hay because hay has seeds you don’t want in your garden
• Leaves
• Pine needles or redwood leaves only if you are wanting a more acidic garden mulch for blueberries, grapes, rhododendrons, and such
• Fruit and vegetable scraps from your kitchen
• Coffee and tea bags and you can include your coffee filter
• Crushed eggshells
• Vegetarian animal manures including chicken, sheep, cow, rabbit manure. Be careful if you have used hay in any of the animal enclosures because you don’t want hayseed in your compost
• Pet hair and feathers
• Newspaper, we usually shred our first
• Cardboard and egg cartons, once again tear into smaller pieces to compost more quickly
• Sawdust and wood shavings
• Wood ash from your fireplace, use only small amounts to add potassium to your compost, too much makes your compost too alkaline

Troubleshooting Compost

There is not much that can go wrong with compost if you follow the list above and keep your ratio correct, but every once in a while you wonder if your compost is OK. Here are some things some troubleshooting hints:

• The compost is too dry not breaking down quick enough. You might have added too much brown material, try adding more greens, adding some water.
• My compost smells. Compost shouldn’t smell bad. It should smell like earth but not rotten. If your compost smells rotten it is probably too wet and has too many greens added. Try adding in more browns and give your compost a return with a pitchfork.
• My compost isn’t breaking down. If your craps are too large, especially the brown material, it can slow the breakdown process of your compost, Try cutting your brown materials as small as possible when you add them to your compost and also add more greens to your compost to see if you can speed up the process. Also, a good organic compost booster can do wonders in heating up your compost and adding the breakdown process.
• I have white growth in my compost. You might see fluffy mold growing, it’s harmless and probably means you’ve gotten your compost too wet or hot. Try adding more brown materials and give it a turn with a pitchfork. Make sure your compost pile is getting good ventilation because ventilation is key to good compost.
• I have red worms in my compost. Worms in compost are a good thing, it means your compost is breaking down properly and is becoming the rich soil you want and your worms have voted with taking up residence.
• I have maggots in my compost. Throw your compost out and start over. Someone put an animal product in your compost heap and this will cause your compost to have maggots. Not good for compost or your garden.

Composting is fun, a great way to amend your soil, and increase your garden yield while cutting down on what goes into garbage bins and your garbage disposal. Once you fill your compost bin, it’s just a matter of time and being patient for nature to do the work of turning your compost into rich soil or mulch for your garden.

The post Make Great Compost Fast & Easy first appeared on Door.

This may seem like a left turn for a Shed Windows and More blog, but realize that many of our builders started their current companies as a side hustle without giving up income from their jobs. With so many of our customers working remotely or staying home more because of COVID-19 we thought it was good timing to share some great ideas that could provide extra income for your family.

Side hustles are a great way to increase your income while trying out a possible new idea for starting a company without risking your current income. Depending on your skills, earning extra income could quickly be within your grasp. No matter what you do for a job, thanks to the internet, making money and creating income is easier than ever. Some of the strategies we share below are real quick one-time fixes for extra cash and others take an investment of your time and some money. Have fun with this, include your family members, and realize each of us is unique and brings special talents to the table–this is your opportunity!

Start Your Side Hustle Today

Many of the ideas below only take a short time to generate money and others take some time and money to invest to create cashflow. Keeping your side hustle fun allows it to decrease stress while generating money for your family.

Quick Cash Generating Ideas

Try selling on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. This is a great way to organize your home and clean out closets and the garage of outgrown clothes and seldom-used items. I have found really good success with Facebook Marketplace even for more expensive items like Dog Exercising Machines that sold for $1,500. When you use Venmo for accepting payment it makes selling one-time items a breeze!

If you have old hand-held electronics around the house, such as an old iPhone, Samsung smartphone, iPad, Macbooks, try selling them through Trademore or Gazelle. A great way to generate cash quickly and not fill our landfills with electronics. I found that my old first-generation iPod was worth over $1,000, but I had already given it away to a family member, so it was a reminder that there might be other cash worthy items sitting around the house that could generate cash.

If you have old jewelry that you don’t wear anymore that is mostly gold and not gems, selling your jewelry for gold is a great way to generate cash quickly. Gold is at an all-time high of $1827 an ounce. Keep in mind that your jewelry usually isn’t 24-carat gold, but 14-carat gold, but it’s still a really good price at $1,073 an ounce USD.

Part-Time Driving & Delivery Work

If you enjoy driving or especially if you are in sales like a relative of ours and are driving around town, driving for Lyft or Uber is a simple side hustle that makes good use of your time between sales calls or other work that has you driving a lot. You can turn on and off your availability based on your schedule and it’s a great way to make money any time of the day. Our relative lives close to an international airport, in fact, he lives close to two, so driving for Lyft was a great way for him to make some extra serious side hustle cash.

Rent Your Guest Shed or Spare Room on Airbnb

We brought up renting your guest shed on Airbnb when discussing why this is a great time to build a guest shed. Depending on COVID-19 restrictions in your area, this can be a lucrative income. One of the ways you can be of service to our nurses and doctors is to rent out your guest shed to them during the COVID pandemic. Many of our medical personnel are working long hours, wishing to be safe around their families, and want to find a way to be closer to the hospital so they decrease their commute and rest between shifts. This is a win-win for you and your community.

Are You A Great Cook?

People are eating out less but still craving great food. Not everyone is a great cook. If you love cooking this is a great opportunity with our current conditions to become a personal chef. You can prepare meals for other people. I know there are so many meal subscription services, but that isn’t like having your own personal chef that cooks to your personal likes and dislikes. There are plenty of people that will pay to have a personal chef cook for them and deliver pre-made meals to their homes.

Love Dogs? Start A Dog Walking Service

Dog walking is a lucrative business and it’s a great side hustle. Also, technology has met needs and there are now leashes made so that you may walk three dogs at a time. Depending on where you live, dog walking services go anywhere from $20-$40 a walk. A walk usually is an hour’s exercise, picking up and delivering their dog back to their home. You wouldn’t think this business would be booming with people remote working, but with remote working and remote schooling, people are still finding it tough at times to give their dogs the attention and exercise they need. I know a number of people that took this from lucrative side hustle to a full-time company generating an amazing income!

Do You Like Fixing Things?

From computers to lawnmowers that won’t work, from a dress that needs a new zipper to a new iPhone that is overwhelming it’s the new owner–there is an opportunity in helping people by fixing stuff or helping them figure out stuff. With Zoom and screen sharing so much of this work can be done remotely. Take your expertise and make money from it, whether it’s building sheds, doing alterations, giving new life to toys, motorcycle and car maintenance, or repairing electronics while helping people in your community.

Love Growing Vegetables?

If you love growing vegetables, selling at a Farmer’s Market is a great way to take your extra vegetables and make money. People love buying directly from growers. If you have a large piece of property, let’s say a half-acre or better that you have planted, you could become part of a local farm to table subscription service, a great way to generate a steady income with once a week drop off and at the same time advertising your homegrown vegetables! So whether a Farmer’s Market to sell at once in awhile fits your needs or if you regularly have extra from your garden a subscription service could provide a great steady income as a side hustle!

Do You Love Kids & Teaching-Tutor!

One thing this pandemic has done has brought up how much we love our kid’s teachers and their expertise. Remote learning has been challenging for so many of our children and us. But for some of you, this has been an aha moment where you realize you are really good at teaching and love some of the subjects you used to excel at in school. So take that knowledge and help kids that are having a challenge including their parents during the pandemic with tutoring kids in areas that you excel in and get paid at the same time. All of this can be done by Zoom so geography is not a factor, just getting the word out that you are available! Depending on where you live you can earn anywhere from $25 to $75 an hour depending on your credentials, track record, and recommendations!

We have only shared a small cross-section of ideas that could generate extra income as a side hustle. This is one of our favorite topics and we have an endless stream of side hustle ideas we can share to generate extra income for your family. From photography to selling eggs, from selling on Etsy to baking dog biscuits–there are so many fun and great ways to generate income as a side hustle!

Share with us at Shed Windows and More what you have tried for your side hustle. We not only provide everything you need to build your outdoor buildings and enhance your home but each month we provide marketing advice via our newsletter to our community and builders.

The post Create a Side Hustle & Earn More Money first appeared on Door.

We have discussed in other blog posts about growing your own vegetables in your backyard, but taking that one step further you can extend your mini-farm to include chickens, ducks, or rabbits.

Having access to fresh eggs, your own homegrown chicken for eating, duck eggs, duck meat, rabbits for rabbit meat has you and your family much more self-sufficient. Plus your homegrown eggs and meat are fresh and can be raised without antibiotics and GMO-free.

Raising Backyard Chickens for Eggs & Meat

Being able to have your own fresh chicken eggs each day is wonderful, especially with what eggs are starting to cost. You can be sure that the eggs your hens produce are antibiotic and GMO-free, plus eggs that come from your backyard have a longer shelf life.

We offer some tips below to raising chickens for eggs and meat, but one of your best local sources for information about backyard chicken raising is your local Farm Bureau or feed store. So here are some thoughts on backyard chickens:

• Start small because if you are a novice you really don’t know if you will have the time or enjoy the experience of backyard chickens.
• Our suggestion, don’t buy a rooster unless you are dead set on fertile eggs and possibly irritating your neighbors at all hours of the day. Remember that roosters don’t just crow at sun up!
• Start with standard breed chickens instead of exotics, they tend to be hardier and lay larger eggs. Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Rocks are hardy and easy for a beginner to raise.
• Remember the lifespan of a chicken is anywhere from 5-10 years, so this is a commitment, much like taking on a pet.
• Buy a coop, they are experts or use a time-honored coop design and keep your coop weight lighter so that it be moved on wheels if you decide to go for a smaller coop.
• Remember that chickens need a run and not just a coop, and it is best that your coop run is fenced on all sides and has chicken wire or lightweight fencing material across the top.
• Make your chicken coop varmint proof, by putting chicken wired under the coop and then covering the wire with hay, which chickens love to nibble on.
• Make your laying boxes accessible from the outside of the coop, so it’s easy to pick up eggs each day.
• Keep in mind that you need enough space for each chicken so there isn’t overcrowding and disease and fighting. The minimum rule is 2-3 feet per chicken inside the coop and 8-10 square feet for chickens in the outside run.
• Keep in mind that it takes anywhere between 17 to 26 weeks for hens to start laying. Food intake and quality are important, make sureSt they are whole grain with at least 17% protein.
• Install an automatic waterier or use the time-honored chicken waterier for your chicken’s water source. Also, make sure you have feed on demand, there are many different automatic feeders available.
• Be sure to gather eggs every day.

Once you have experienced eggs from a backyard chicken, there is no going back to store-bought eggs. The yolks are bright yellow and are firm. You can keep a fresh basket of eggs on your countertop, but keep in mind once refrigerator, they need to stay that way. The colors of the eggs are beautiful and eating fresh eggs is an amazing culinary experience–everything you cook or bake just tastes better.

Backyard Ducks for Eggs & Meat

Starting with raising ducks in your backyard can be fun and produce both eggs and meat for your family. The easiest way to get started with ducks is to start with a few ducklings that you buy from your local feed store in the springtime. Another option is buying from a local hatchery or a trusted online source for ducklings. Another option if buying full-grown ducks from a breeder and forgoing the duck raising process. If you want to be part of the whole duckling to duck growth process there are a few things that you need:

• A brooder can be as simple as a large box with hay on the bottom or wood shavings.
• You need a heat source and a heat lamp with a red bulb will substitute for their mother’s body warmth at 90 degrees.
• For bedding you can use either pine shavings or hay, it will need to be changed daily because it will get wet.
• Start your duckling on a duckling starter food that includes vegetables, fruits, and protein.
• The best duck breeds for egg production are: Campbell ducks which can produce 340 eggs a year, Runners that produce about 300 chicken-sized eggs a year, Buffs which are also good meat-producing ducks lay about 200 eggs a year, and Welsh Harlequins which can be raised for both meat and eggs produce about 300 white eggs a year.
• Runners are also non-flying ducks, which helps contain them.
• Keep in mind that ducks are foragers and if loose will eat your landscaping and also your vegetable garden in no time flat. I have seen them take out a 50-foot row of lettuce in minutes! So containment is important with a well-fenced run.
• Ducks need access to water since they can’t swallow food without water.
• If you have leftover kale, romaine, or lettuce from your garden mature ducks love to eat their vegetables and they are also good for them.
• At the end of your vegetable garden season it’s a great idea to give your ducks access to your garden, they will help eat if down in no time flat plus add nutrients to the soil through their droppings.

Keep in mind that duck eggshells are thicker than chicken eggs so they stay fresh longer. Duck eggs tend to be richer tasting and creamier than chicken eggs with higher amounts of Vitamin D if your ducks are free-range. Duck eggs make for rich omelets and very fluffy and delicious cakes.

Raising Rabbits in Your Backyard

Rabbits are a great multi-use addition to your backyard farm. They are a great source of wool, meat, and manure for your garden. Rabbits take minimal time, space, and money and are also lovely pets. Different breeds of rabbits are known for different purposes. Your top pet rabbits are the Mini-Rex followed by the Dutch, Mini-Lop, and Netherland Dwarf rabbit.

Angora rabbits are known for their wonderful wool-producing attributes where you can pluck straight from their bodies and spin into the finest yarn. New Zealand rabbits and the Giant Chinchilla rabbits are bred for their tasty, high-quality meat.

Rabbits of all breeds produce about 50 pounds of manure a year and it isn’t as hot as chicken manure and makes great fertilizer for plants that need heavy feedings, such as roses and azaleas. What do you need to raise rabbits? Here is the shortlist:

• Rabbits need shelter, food, and water with a cozy place to nest.
• Buying a hutch or building a small hutch is a simple project. You want to make sure that your rabbit hutch is off the ground for digging reasons and also predators.
• Make sure your hutch has multiple levels so the rabbits can jump between the different levels.
• Provide additional run space for your rabbits, they will be happier and healthier.
• Rabbits need shade and well-ventilated living space or a shade tree as cover for their hutch and run space. Rabbits can tolerate cold, but heat is a serious issue for rabbits.
• You will need an automatic feeder and water source, nesting box. Remember rabbits love to gnaw so a wood hutch comes with challenges unless it is lined with wire.
• You should provide 10 square feet of roaming space for each rabbit.  Be sure that it is secure because once they have a taste of your vegetable garden they will find a way to get back there.
• Rabbits are highly efficient natural composters; just like backyard chickens. Rabbit manure is a great amendment to any vegetable garden or mulch around landscaping plants.

If you are considering raising backyard rabbits, consult your local Farm Bureau, feed store, or local breeders for information particular to your area. At Shed Windows and More we have a great supply of windows and doors that can help you construct a great chicken, duck, or rabbit coop or housing area. We have sizes and choices that you won’t find at a big box store with prices and selection that you can’t beat.

The post Start Your Own Mini-Farm first appeared on Door.