Video: A Composting We Will Go!
Video: A Composting We Will Go!
Friday, February 1, 2008
The Root: So as I said on the home page, a lot of waste goes into our landfills every year and composting is a great way to take some of that back and use it as an organic, natural and fabulous fertilizer for your own urban garden or indoor houseplants. You can also give it to someone you love and make their garden bloom this coming spring.
What can you compost?
* Basically all of your organic kitchen waste–and by organic, I mean green, or anything vegetal and not of the meat, fish and dairy categories–is compostable. These are referred to as "greens" in composting, along with fresh grass/lawn clippings.
* Certain things like coffee grounds, tea bags and tea leaves are also considered compostable.
* Rinsed and crushed egg shells are great for adding calcium. An interesting site online lists 163 things you can compost...that's a lot. Some of them freak me out a little, so I'd say use your better judgement, as breakdown rates vary among material
* The "browns" would include what it sounds like: dried leaves, chipped wood, straw.
Meat and dairy products, high fat foods break down far too slowly and attract far too many pests to be viable for the composting process.
There is an ideal order by which you would your layer your waste in your outdoor composter. A layer of nitrogen-rich "green" materials should alternate with a layer of carbon-rich "brown"materials. There are "boosters" available on the market to get your compost going, but there are several things to remember that are essential for the process of decomposition to occur in your composter. If you ensure these processes, you probably don't even need compost starters or boosters.
Make one yourself:
To make your own outdoor composter, all you need is a small sealable and durable metal or plastic garbage can. Puncture the can/bin in many places around the bottom exterior with a Philip's head screwdriver. Swiss cheese the sucker! This allows ventilation.
These holes on the bottom, as well as frequent "turning" of the materials inside, provide aeration and moisture which are the two fundamental factors in composting.. Also watering a dry or slowly decomposing pile will promote decomposition. A certain level of heat needs to be maintained within the composter to break down the materials. Check out the Compost Guide to get an informative breakdown on the science of it all. It will clarify the whole process.
For the city dweller:
There is also indoor composting called vermi-composting, or worm composting. Seems a little freaky, but again, totally worth your while. A great site to get information and read how to do it yourself is City Farmer. It is a little more involved than outdoor composting, but if you have limited space and you really want to, it's a nominal amount of effort required. And so great if you have kids. They can learn first hand the natural process of decomposition, as well as the value of reducing landfill waste.
You can buy one online too:
Now, my composter is the lazy man's. Or woman's. My humus or compost usually takes a year to break down, but I have several bins now, all homemade, that I operate in stages. They provide me with a small amount of rich humus to add to my garden about twice a year. It's by no means the mother lode of compost, but it satisfies me to know I'm reducing my landfill contribution significantly while enriching my garden soil. And we're lucky in NYC where there are several city sponsored compost-giveaway projects throughout the spring and fall.
Do read up on both of these ways to compost before you commit to composting. It is a type of controlled decomposition, and I feel like it's playing God a little... therefore treat it with respect. Don't assume that you know the right way to do it. And be simply amazed by what happens!