A constant cycle....what comes from the garden,returns to the garden

What comes from the garden,eventually returns to the garden.

It's that time of year when gardeners are overwhelmed with produce,working hard to can/freeze or otherwise preserve the harvest to use later in the winter.

Yeah,that's where I'm at right now,as the pizza sauce is cooking down on the stove and the water bath canner is coming up to a boil.

I've already talked about the importance of growing organically,and not letting things go to waste in previous posts.

Well,in the kitchen while you're cutting and chopping and getting all that goodness ready to can,the seeds,stems,skins and cores can all go on to live a useful purpose in the compost bin.Don't simply throw them all out,or into the garbage disposal if you have one,add all that right back into the garden through composting.

While I run to the kitchen and stir the sauce,I convince my dear husband to take the bowl of scraps out to the composter and toss them in....

While those parts leftover from the food processing may not have any food value to you and I,they are still chock full of nutrients that can be returned to the soil to feed next year's plants.Your plants will thank you for it by growing big and strong,and providing you with an abundant harvest to repeat the cycle again next year.

Nearly anything that once came from the garden,can be returned to the garden through composting.Diseased plants,or those otherwise infected with something should be burned or disposed in another way,and not included in compost.Weeds that have gone to seed should also not be put into the compost bin,as the seeds can often survive the composting process and cause you much grief later on in the garden.