All About Our Composting

When I posted about how I did (and in some cases, didn’t) do with reaching my goals for last quarter, one of the things I was happy with was how we’ve been composting.  Bijoux asked for more details about it, so here’s more than you probably ever wanted to know.

We’re relatively new to composting.  Nick’s grandmother composted, so he had some experience with it.  I had none.  To be honest, I was initially pretty opposed to the idea of composting.  I was afraid it would smell bad, and I thought it would be a lot of trouble. 

Then I read several articles right around Earth Day last year, and I decided that composting was probably worthwhile.  We need to take care of our home, right?  I did a lot of internet searching about various methods of composting, and read a lot of articles and blog posts. 

It appears that composting is really one of those things you can make as easy or as complicated as you want.  There’s also a huge range in start up costs. 

One of the popular methods is using a large plastic storage bin with some holes drilled in the bottom, and stirring it periodically with a shovel.  I really didn’t like that idea because I was afraid it would smell, I was concerned about it leaking, I don’t like how it looks, and realistically, I wasn’t sure how diligent we’d be about stirring.  I wanted to make composting as easy as possible. 

We decided on a two-bin composter because it takes time for the material you’re composting to break down.  We couldn’t figure out a good way to get ready to go compost from a bin we were still adding material to.  And taking a break from composting anything new in order to use what we already had just seemed counterproductive.

So we went with this Miracle Grow Dual Chamber Compost Tumbler.  It seemed sturdy and easy to use.  Nick put it together, and said it was easy to assemble.  

We composted fairly diligently at first, during the warmer weather, and while it was still light wen I was cooking dinner.  Once the colder weather came, and it started getting dark at 5:00, composting just didn’t happen.

That’s when we decided to get a counter top compost bin.  Before the bin, we would just put compost material in a bowl, and take it out after we cooked.  That meant it needed to go out right away.  If we didn’t take it out right away we ended up just putting it in the trash.  The bin has been hugely helpful in making sure we actually do compost what we can.  

We chose this bin because it had good reviews, and it seemed like a good size.  We have a small kitchen, so we have to be careful about what we give up counter space to.

Here it is with a coffee cup to give you an idea of scale. 

Typically we dump it about once a day, or at least every other day.  We’ve accidentally let it go for two or more days before, and it gets pretty gross.  Most of the time we have scraps to put in it in the evening when I cook dinner, or in the morning if I put dinner in the Crock Pot.  If Nick dumps it he usually does it in the evening, and if I dump it I usually do it in the afternoon when I come home for lunch.

Bijoux specifically asked about animal issues with it.  We haven’t had any animal issues.  We live just outside the city limits, so we don’t have a lot of trouble with animals, anyway.  The other side of this field, kind of down the hill, is in the city limits, to give you an idea.

We do have Duke, though, and we were worried that he might try to break into the compost to eat scraps.  Fortunately, that hasn’t been an issue.  It’s sturdy, and seals up well, so I don’t think he can necessarily smell what’s in it.  

If we’re not diligent about taking the counter top bin outside to be dumped into the composter we do get some fruit flies, but that’s not an issue as long as we’re diligent about dumping the counter top bin.  I think it does help that the counter top bin seals, and that it has a filter.  We’ve noticed a few fruit flies around the composter outside, but really not any major infestations.  I probably wouldn’t set a composter up right next to a picnic table, but bugs really haven’t been an issue for us.  Honestly, I think buying an actual composter, designed for that, and that seals up well probably contributes to that.  

I have been pleasantly surprised by the fact that it doesn’t smell.  We put it as far away from the house as possible, against the back fence, but I think it would have been fine closer to the house.  We are very careful about what we put in the compost, though.  Most of what I read basically said not to put any meat, dairy, or fat into the compost bin.  That’s apparently what will smell bad, and can also contribute to attracting animals, which makes sense.

Remember when I said composting seems to be one of those things you can make as easy or complicated as you want?  I think we go kind of middle of the road there.  We’re careful not to put anything we’re not supposed to in the bin, but we don’t get into trying to get the perfect ratio  of brown and green matter.  Apparently there’s some thought that you need a certain mixture of fruit/vegetable material and cardboard/paper material.  That seems unnecessary to me.  

So what do we compost?  Fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds, coffee filters, and plain brown paper.  There’s some thought that paper with ink isn’t a good idea for the compost bin,so we stick to putting things like toilet paper rolls and plain brown packing paper in the compost bin.  I have no idea what our ratio of paper to produce to tea to coffee to eggshells is.  

Our system is to put everything we compost into one side for a while.  We only put things in one side for about a month when we first got the composter.  Then we stopped adding new material to that side, only adding new material to the other side.  It takes about four to six months from when we stop adding things for what’s in the bin to be ready to use.  We turn both sides a few times whenever we dump the bin, but other than that we just leave it alone.   

Here’s what the ready to use (or at least what we deem ready to use) compost looks like.  

And here’s what it looks like when we’re still adding new material.  

And here’s the gardenia bush we planted recently, and added some our compost to.  

Obviously composting isn’t the only answer to all of the environmental problems we’re facing, but I do think it makes a difference.  We do seem to have less trash now that we’re composting, and we’re not buying plastic bags of compost for the yard.  So I do think it’s worth it, and it seems like a fairly high payoff for not much effort.  

So what about you?  Do you compost?  What are your composting tips?