Dirt!

Composting.   Just started doing it at home and I'm amazed at our reduction in actual trash.  It is great to reduce our input to the landfill and nice to know that one-day we will have our own nutrient rich compost to add to the garden.


However, there have been a few bumps along the way.  I was at an urban farm recently and asked if they had any earthworms to share, to help speed up the decomposition process of our kitchen scraps.  I was given grubs instead and they are about 20 times more disgusting than an earthworm.  (At least to me, apparently people eat these!)

After filling a few buckets that we had been using we decided to purchase a larger composting container:

Now we have to find a home for our Soilsaver.  The last concern for composting in this urban setting is finding materials with a high carbon content such as leaves or straw, to mix with our high nitrogen kitchen scraps... gardening stores sell straw for a crazy high price but I have found a local tack and feed store where I can get a bale for $7.  I have composting friends in the same situation so I will be able to share the load but still have to get some help to unload it from the car and to find space to store the hay for layering.


So... I was just at an Earth Day event and explaining the above to a woman who runs a composting class... she said I should be vermiposting not composting if I don't have much carbon content to add.  I told her I had considered this but the city (where I bought the Soilsaver for a discounted price) was out of the vermiposting bins.  She said she would get me one and exchange it for the composting container I already received.  I will be replacing the Soilsaver with a Wriggly Wranch soon and instead of hay I will be buying red wigglers!

If you want more on soil watch this excellent film, Dirt! The Movie.  It's well done and will be enjoyed by both kids and adults.

Happy Earth Day!

Composting, one year later