I'm a lazy composter.
Before I made my own compost I was pretty intimidated by it all. You can find actual books, (ones with more than 100 pages!!) on JUST compost. There is a lot of technical stuff about your green matter and brown matter. There are things you can build and buy to make it happen faster and contain it. You can worry about the pile temperature. You can add stuff to help with the breaking down of matter.
I don't do any of that.
I start with some dirt. I add some kitchen scraps. I add more dirt. I add more scraps. I turn the pile once in a while. (my pitchfork is the only tool I use to make compost) It becomes compost. It all breaks down. Oh sure, I'm sure there are people making compost faster than I am, but I'm not in a compost contest or anything.
I do however, LOVE adding stuff to it. This evening we had Japanese food with my in-laws. These bento box dinners come with this weird Iceberg lettuce salad with ginger dressing. My husband likes the dressing but no one really eats the salad. I brought home 4 take out boxes of salad and while my husband will probably eat 2 of them, I secretly imagine the other 2 in my compost pile. I know it's a sin to waste food. Is it a sin to want to compost it?????
I pretty much add any of the things to my pile you can see in the graphic above. Except for fish-Yeah, I DO remember that story about the Indians showing the pilgrims how to grow better corn by putting a fish in the hole with the seed. But fish in my compost would attract even more animals to the yard than I already have.
Oh, and I noticed a chocolate chip cookie in that graphic as well. Who, pray tell, actually has a chocolate chip cookie scrap they can't eat laying around????
***Small note-If you plan on composting you probably should get out a book or do some research into the kind of things you can and should not compost. You should not, for instance, compost anything with oil or animal fat in it, while tea bags and egg shells are just fine!
LOL. I would *never* leave one tiny crumb of a chocolate chip cookie uneaten!
ReplyDeleteI like to add to my compost pile, too. It gives you a harsh reality at just how much coffee I drink in a week!
As someone without a green thumb, I do have a question about your post the other day on growing garlic...DUMB question, so I am sorry in advance :)
Can I plant a head of garlic and have it grow eventually as more garlic?
Hey Karley,
ReplyDeleteI think of coffee drinking as soil building. I'm just doing my part to make sure I have something acidic in there. Wouldn't want to fall down on the task!
About the garlic. You can plant a bulb, BUT you need to break it into all the little cloves first. Then you plant them about 3 inches apart. The thing is, around here you need to do it in October. (I like to use October 1st as my deadline!)
You can plant grocery store garlic but then you don't really know what you have. There are tons of different kinds of garlic. I have a wonderful variety that my friend's uncle grows and he got it from his dad who got it from Italy. If you are interested let me know and I will save you a head this year! 1 head grows about 8-10 bulbs of garlic. The kind also has the curly scrape that grows up which you can cut off and use early in salads or sautee with veggies!
Okay can I add to this... If I chose to plant store bought garlic is it okay to plant even though its got growth (green steam)?
ReplyDeleteThis post has inspired me to TRY making my own compost. We have a garbage disposal and I'm always putting veggie scraps in there but we are also on septic system and DH would rather I not use the garbage disposal. I hate putting them in the garbage when I know the scraps are perfect for a compost.
Your yard is perfect for a pile. And you have so much stuff IN your yard you'll probably be able to make a pretty nice one!
ReplyDeleteYes, you can plant those ones because that little green stem is what grows up through the soil anyway.
Thank you! I'm might give the garlic a try next fall.
ReplyDeleteWe decided to us a large trash to start and add kitchen scraps because we have different animals that like to roam. But if I find it successful I will consider expanding and adding that other stuff I have in my hard. :)
Questions how do you "contain" your initial scraps? Do you keep a container in the kitchen then add it to the compost?
Yes, I keep a container on the counter. I empty it every day or 2. Every day when it's hot outside.
ReplyDeleteKeep coming to garden club and you'll get your very own bulb in October to plant!
LOL I am lucky if there are chocolate chip cookies left for me, much less the compost bin when Zach and the girls are done with them.
ReplyDeleteHe he! Usually I'm the cookie monster around here!
ReplyDeleteHmm I think you just gave me a bit of a "preview" on the 2009-2010 program!
ReplyDeleteyup!
ReplyDelete