“The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.”
—John Paul II
Today I’m gonna geek out and talk about something that I love…Composting!
So what exactly is composting? It is the natural process of decomposing organic matter that results in compost. This is nutrient rich soil that is great for the environment since you are decreasing what you put in your trashcan, which lowers your greenhouse gas emissions (like methane), and is great for your yard or garden.
American consumers throw away 40% of food brought into their homes. When this food is in the airless landfill, this food doesn’t compost. Sadly, food is the largest component of our landfills. This makes landfills the third largest methane gas source in the US. I have another post all about food waste here.
Worldwide, we have depleted soil from it’s nutrients. Nutrients aren’t as abundant in our soil, so the plants we eat aren’t as nutritious as they were a few decades ago. This is caused by modern agriculture practices, pesticides, and pest resistant plants stripping nutrients from the ground they live in. We use to think that using mineral fertilizers & organic (usually animal) manure helped the soil since it increased crop yields, but we are now seeing that this is not the case. Obviously, organic gardening practices tend to be more soil friendly. Yes, I know there are loop holes people take advantage of. So what better reason than to grow your own or head to the local farmer’s market?
Benefits of Composting
- Puts organic material back into the earth to create more organic material.
- Composting creates an awesome medium for microbes (bacteria & fungi). These microorganisms help to create nutrient rich soil, which encourages healthy plants to grow.
- This happy balance of microbes also makes plants more resist to pests & diseases.
- Composting not only benefits your yard or garden, but also decreases your carbon footprint & volume of trash.
- Using compost also helps your soil retain moisture, which also helps grow healthy plants & suppress pests.
3 Ways to Compost
1. Start a compost pile in your yard. It’s free, but you would need a little spot in your yard to start the pile & it requires more leg work. You will have to go out and ‘stir’ up the pile so ensure that enough oxygen is getting to your pile. You also may need to add some water to keep it moist.
2. Use a compost bin. These come in different sizes and a range of prices. I feel like the people I know who compost, usually do this. You do need some compost to start it up, but can throw your stuff in & turn the bin. Some cities sell compost bins, but you can also look on eBay, craigslist, freecycle, etc. for free or cheap ones. This method is easier since you turn the bin which causes the oxygen to get in there. The bin also causes it to be insulated, which increases the heat that helps to decompose the compost. Another benefit is it keeps critters out so that you aren’t dealing with anyone trying to steal anything out of your bin!
3. Vermicompost, or composting with worms, is your third option. This is my favorite & what we’ve done. We bought red wigglers from Jim’s Worm Farm online. My daughter thought it was really interesting too! You can buy a bin specific for this or make your own. When you use worms, them crawling through the compost creates the oxygen needed, & it’s the fastest way since your worms eat what is put in. You do have to keep this in an area that doesn’t get too cold or hot. We use to keep it on top of our dog kennel in our mudroom/pantry.
If you do options two or three, you will also get a compost tea. Now, this isn’t a human tea, but it’s great for your plants! When we would tell people we were composting, most made a face. “Doesn’t it smell? Isn’t it gross keeping your kitchen scraps?” No! Yes, some may have problems and need to figure things out, but we composted for 4 years and never had a problem.
Here in Germany, they have a compost bin that gets picked up curbside and we didn’t want to have to move anything (because you have to clean every little things when your move). I do occasionally bury some scraps down in our garden in the summer months though.
So if your compost smells, then something is wrong. Your brown-green ratio maybe off, you’ve put in something that doesn’t belong, or it’s too wet. The compost not smelling is why you can even keep it indoors without anyone being the wiser. Some are afraid that the compost will attract rodents. Keeping your compost and scraps in an enclosed place helps to prevent this. Also, don’t place things that don’t belong (animals products like meat or dairy) & cover the green with adequate brown materials and dirt.
Where does one store their food scraps?
We use to put them in a brown bag or a bowl covered with a towel to prevent anything getting to it. Now we have a bin with a tight fitted top. We have to dump it frequently (once a day) or it does cause the food to spoil and create a liquid at the bottom. Some people add their shredded brown material so they can just dump it into their compost and absorb this liquid. Another option for storing food waste is having a container and putting it in your freezer. It prevents the food from spoiling and causing a smell without effecting anything in your freezer.
What Does a Compost Need?
Food in the form of carbon and nitrogen materials, air, water, micro organisms (bacteria, fungi), & is your compost is a pile or you’re doing a vermicompost, macro organisms (worms, beetles, snails). What do I mean by carbon material? For reference, when I say nitrogen, I’m referring to your green or wet material. When I say carbon, I’m talking about your brown or dry material. Depending on who you talk to you’ll hear these used interchangeably.
Nitrogen: Veggie & fruit scraps (skins, pits, stems), lawn and grass clippings, small amounts of grain (bread, pasta, rice, etc without sauces or spreads on them), egg shells, houseplants, potting soil, tea leaves, coffee grounds & unbleached filters, your old SCOBY
Carbon: cardboard boxes (without tape and stickers), toilet paper and paper towel rolls, newspaper (I stick to black and white prints, no gloss), used paper towels if you don’t have grease or animals products on them, parchment paper, pizza boxes without grease (grab your pizza quickly so grease doesn’t soak in), 100% cotton balls or swabs, wrapping paper rolls, straw, brown paper bags
On the topic of coffee filters and tea leaves. We use unbleached filters because I don’t want the white, bleached one in my compost or my coffee. When we have our Keurig back, we will go back to using our refillable cup filter. Please don’t use K Cups! They aren’t recyclable nor are they compostable. Also, in regards to tea bags, unless you know they are 100% paper, they maybe a polypropylene (A.k.a. plastic) blend. You can open the bag and dump it into your compost. Most major companies use the blend, so make sure to contact them if you’re unsure! Loose leaf tea with a reusable bag or ball is the bomb. I highly recommend it. I buy some organic blends online and use a cloth tea bag that I also use for my SCOBY tea for my Kombucha.
For your brown things, save dry leaves in the fall! You can save them in a pail and then crunch them up to put them in your compost. You can also ask neighbors and friends if you can have their leaves or old cardboard boxes. Adding brown material helps to keep your water bounce if you notice that your compost is too wet try adding more browns. Shredding up these materials also helps them to be composted faster by macro and micro organisms.
When you’re adding your material to your compost, I do a 50/50 mix. If I add a kitchen cereal bowl of green material, I grab two handfuls of brown. I have heard some say 25 green to 75 brown, but with my worms 50/50 was always good.
Here are some things I have learned from having a vermicompost.
1. You don’t want to have too much uncomposted things in with your worms because it can overwhelm them and they won’t have enough dirt.
2. They don’t dig too much citrus, garlic, and onions. The occasional orange peel was okay, but they usually avoided it if we added too much.
3. Chop your food up or put them in your blender so it’s small. They will eat it up faster so you have awesome compost to use sooner! This also applied to using a compost bin so your microorganisms can also break them up faster.
Want to Compost, But Don’t Have a Garden?
You can spread the compost around your yard, in your bushes, or around a tree. You can also post them on sites like craigslist and Freecycle or Facebook marketplace to see if anyone would want them. You could also contact farmers or local nurseries to see if they would want your compost.
Please keep in mind something’s listed as compostable really aren’t unless they are going to a large facility. Also, check & make sure compostable plastic bags and utensils are accepted. Many of these compostable products are marketed this way and are not really the best thing for the environment or composting. They should be avoided altogether. Also, many bamboo toothbrushes have nylon or non-compostable bristles so make sure to pull them out.
Don’t Want to Compost?
Ask farmers at markets if they want scraps, reach out to garden centers, post on craigslist or freecycle, see if your municipality offers compost bins or a drop off place, or search for private ones!
Do you compost? Do you plan to compost? Let me know below!
Thanks for reading ya’ll! Happy composting. 🙂
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