Welcome
Bryan's birds & Bees
This all started with a move from Philladelphia to Birdsboro where the house came with an old chicken coop 17 chickens and a bee hive.
Fresh Eggs & Honey
We offer fresh eggs now and coming soon we will be offering fresh honey as well.
Neighbor Composting Program
find out more about our new composting program.
Bryan's Birds & Bees
Welcome to our site. We are in the process of building a new coop for the girls and building our company. We would like to thank you fro visiting our site and look forward to a prosperous future for us all.
Fresh eggs & honey
Fresh Eggs Available now.
Raw local honey will be arriving in 2028.
Eggs subscriptions will be available in the future.
for now you can contact us below for eggs.
Neighborhood Composting Program
We offer a free neighborhood composting program for any of our local neighbors who are interested and live within 1 mile of our location. this program consist of yard waste drop off and weekly compost bucket exchange.
Why you should compost.
1. Composting reduces waste, makes us less dependent on landfills, and decreases greenhouse gas emissions. Every day, the average American generates roughly four and a half pounds of waste – that’s about 1,600 pounds per year per person. With the recycling rate at around 34%, and about 13% of the waste stream being incinerated, the majority of this waste – approximately 53%, or roughly 136 million tons – is sent to landfill every year (source). The largest component of landfilled municipal solid waste (MSW) is food scraps, accounting for approximately 22% of municipal discards in the landfill.Organic matter in the landfill decomposes anaerobically, meaning without access to oxygen. This process is different from aerobic decomposition, which is how organic matter naturally decomposes. When food breaks down without oxygen, it produces greenhouse gases (primarily methane), which can escape the landfill and accumulate in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. In fact, MSW landfills are the third-largest emitter of human-related methane gas in the United States.Composting, on the other hand, mimics nature’s method of decomposition, allowing organic material to break down aerobically. Thus, composting greatly reduces our overall waste being sent to landfills, and also cuts greenhouse gas emissions.2. Compost strengthens soil and promotes healthy plant growth.
Adding compost to soil improves its structure and texture, making it more ideal for plant growth by adding organic matter. With higher percentages of organic matter, soil is better able to retain water, nutrients, and air – benefiting the entire ecosystem by creating an optimal environment for plants, and by reducing runoff and erosion. According to the EPA, an increase in organic matter of just one percent can triple the soil's water holding capacity.3. Composting reduces the need for pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
Because compost enriches soil and promotes healthy plant growth, plants grown in compost-rich soil tend to be more resilient to diseases, pests, and fungi. The healthy bacteria and critters that are present in compost also help fight off harmful pests and diseases before they can get to plants – thus reducing the need for toxic pesticides.In addition, compost is a slow-release nutrient source for plants. The diverse materials in compost break down at different rates, slowly releasing nutrients over a long period of time; as opposed to releasing them all at once, as fertilizers do. Compost also contains a greater variety of nutrients than fertilizers, because it is made with so many different types of materials. Because compost both adds nutrients to soil and alters soil structure so that it retains nutrients more effectively, compost reduces the need for fertilizers.4. Composting recycles essential nutrients back into the soil.
Food scraps are a valuable resource! Just like the parts that you eat, the parts of food you toss contain important vitamins and minerals that, when returned to soil, get recycled back into the ecosystem and taken up by the next round of crops grown on the land.Unfortunately, today’s intensive agricultural methods have resulted in nutrient depletion in soils, which in turn has caused the fruits and veggies they grow in to be significantly less nutritious than a few decades ago. An important way to combat this is to promote healthy soil – which can be done by composting.5. Compost promotes a prolific soil ecosystem.
Compost attracts critters and microorganisms that are good for soil and plants. Think of compost like probiotics for the human body – good bacteria are needed to fight off diseases and keep us alive and functioning. Similarly, in order for soil to be healthy, it needs to foster a community of organisms that break down matter, improve soil structure, and create a fertile environment for plants. Compost comes with a myriad of organisms that do just that.
“Look after the land and the land will look after you, destroy the land and it will destroy you.” —Aboriginal Proverb
Free for immediate neighbors.
Composting Guide
| Do's | Dont's |
|---|---|
| Fruit & vegetable scraps | Meat products |
| Paper towels, tissues, paper egg cartons | Seafood products |
| Coffee grounds & tea leaves/used tea bags | Dairy products |
| Cotton, wool | polyester, Synthetic fabrics |
| Vacuum cleaner lint and dryer lint from natural fabrics | Pet waste |
| Crushed eggshells | Human waste |
| Hair, fur | Feminine hygiene products |
| Houseplants (no pesticide or herbicide treated plants) | Diseased plants |
| Leaves and weeds | Weeds that have gone to seed |
| Nutshells | Coated cardboard |
| Shredded newspaper | wax or gloss coated paper |
| Wood chips, sawdust, toothpicks... | Treated wood/sawdust |
| Wood ash | Coal ash |
| Old vegetables | Plastic |
| Stale bread | Black walnut products |
| Leather goods | Diapers |
| Wine corks | Glass |
| Plain paper documents | Glossy paper, Wrapping paper |
| Corn husks | anything contaminated with mold |
| Pinecones, twigs, branches up to 1" Diameter | 1" + diameter , large timber, logs |
| Cooked rice/pasta |
Larger and bulk yard waste items should be dropped off separately for composting.
Questions on composting?
Soil Structure Benefits with Composting
Soil that has good physical characteristics, or good soil structure, is said to have good tilth. What this means is that air and water can come and go easily but there is always enough of each remaining in the soil to meet the needs of the soil organisms and the plants.Soil with good tilth is easy to work with hand tools. Plant roots have an easy time growing through soil with good tilth. The soil becomes a moisture regulator - in times of drought it holds moisture, in times of heavy rain it manages to maintain enough air to prevent plants from drowning.Soil with good structure tends to encourage water to penetrate deeply rather than run off so it greatly decreases erosion.
What Determines Soil Structure?
Part of the soil structure is determined by the parent material of the mineral component of the soil. Different particles bind together or aggregate in different ways. For example clay soil tend to make overlapping horizontal layers while sandy soils tend to be very granular. The spaces where air and water could live line up very differently in these two types of soils.For the clay the layers don't line up, they are a maze that prevent water from freely flowing. The soil is also sticky so it is tough for these layers to shift. Thus many clay soils have a tendency to be poorly drained.By contrast the sandy soil has almost no structure, the porous areas can shift very easily - too easily really - and water has a tendency to drain through very rapidly taking any fertilizer with it.
How to Improve Structure
Cultivation and irrigation practices can have a negative effect on soil physical characteristics over time. For growing most plants we are looking for a soil that doesn't compact easily, allows water to penetrate easily while still holding moisture well.Nine times out of 10 the best way to improve soil structure is with compost - it is the ultimate soil conditioner.What makes compost unique is that it is more than just organic matter, it is an entire ecosystem. So when the compost community is introduced to your soil they put the site under construction.The soil organisms aggregate the soil - something like the way we might build a house - using long strings of organic matter. To maintain structure that works requires constant activity on the part of the soil organisms and constant additions of organic matter.In natural systems the organic matter comes naturally, in the garden it comes from you and I with the ideal input being compost.
What Compost Does for Clay Soil
The first trick with clay soil is to only work it when the moisture conditions are just right - too dry or too wet and it is verging on impossible. Just right is when you take a handful of soil and form it into a ball. It should keep its ball shape but easily break apart if you drop it or push your finger into it.Work in lots of compost for best results.
It improves the drainage while maintaining the water holding capacity of the soil. It interrupts the aggregation of the clay particles so that the soil has a more granular structure. It helps maintain the soil's porosity so that air and water can move freely through the soil. Compost makes the sticky soil more friable or workable and reduces the bulk density of the soil helping it resist compaction. ultimately Compost helps the roots penetrate the soil and supplies nutiance to your plants for a healthy yard and garden.
Soil Structure As Important as Fertility
Often when we have a problem in the garden or on the farm we look to soil tests to tell us about nutrient deficiencies in our soil. But research is showing that soil structure, especially the organic matter in the soil is at least as important. Because organic matter enhances the water and nutrient holding capacity of the soil it has a beneficial effect on crops. It has a huge potential benefit to coping with natural disasters that seem part of these times. Plants have a chance with both flood and drought. As an added bonus the humus in the compost acts as a kind of carbon sink thus reducing CO2 levels that contribute to climate change.
good soil is always a balance of 4 main things. water, air, organic and inorganic material.
Join the Neighborhood composting program today!
Currently accepting only immediate neighbors within 1/4 mile of our location.
Thank You for your interest in out composting program. We should get back to you within 24hrs if its a normal business days.