Composting

I noticed that last Earth Day I did a post on composting, dirt, here is a follow up:

One year later I am both composting & vermiposting.  We have been composting by digging a hole in the ground (large, 3' x 3' x 3' is ideal, ours are usually smaller) & throwing cut up kitchen & yard scraps into the hole.  We water & turn it approximately every 2 weeks, adding carbon-containing material (dry leaves or straw) if it starts to be too wet or begins to rot.  

It’s amazing how quickly raw compost breaks down.

After a hole has been added to for some time, a few months perhaps, we retire that hole & start another.  After a few more months that hole will be finished & the finished compost or humus added to soil & potted plants as an amendment/fertilizer.

When cooking we keep a large bowl or container on the counter adding eggs shells, peels, cores, veggie/fruit parts, dryer lint, etc. to the bowl.   The very best of the scraps go to the worms who get fed three times a week or less (I have gone a week or two without even looking at them), the remaining scraps get cut up a bit smaller or not & thrown into the compost when we get around to it. 

Knowing what I know now, I recommend vermiposting for apartment dwellers, the hole in the ground method for people with limited space & the ability to dig the hole (a loving husband in my case) & repurposed recycle/trash bins for those who have the space.

There are many other methods & options of course, large woodbins can look nice or you can just use a large plastic storage bin you may have laying around.  Check out what your city offers, they may have free or discounted containers or if you are super lucky your city already collects green waste along side trash & recycling.

So compost, please, create your own nutrient rich soil amendment while reducing the volume, carbon dioxide, methane & nitrous oxide in our landfills.