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? 

How I Did With My Third Quarter Goals

I’ve decided to start setting and tracking quarterly goals for myself.  I saw the idea on another blog, and really liked it, so I decided to try it out for myself.  July - September was the first quarter I tracked.  Here’s how I did.  Or in some cases, didn’t.

Home:

We’re still working on getting rid of the clutter, and generally organizing our house better.  My goals for the last quarter were to go through my clothes and get rid of the things I don’t wear.  I also wanted to organize some things and implement some better storage systems.  This quarter wasn’t a complete failure, but it definitely wasn’t a stellar success.

 I did go through my clothes and box up the things I don’t wear to get them ready to ship to Thread Up.  And the box is still sitting in the living room.  I need to print the label, tape it to the box, and take it to the post office.  It doesn’t sound like a complicated thing, does it?  Somehow , though, it’s something I’ve been neglecting to do.  Charlie is thrilled to have a big box sitting around, and is the self-appointed Guardian of THE Box. 

 I did a little bit of food storage reorganization.  I think the changes I made are going to help keep things more organized going forward.  That’s always the real test; to see if whatever system works and keeps working. 

And that’s it on the organizing front. 

Health:

I still need to lose more weight.  I haven’t been as careful with my food choices over the summer.  To be honest, I’ve succumbed to the temptation of summer favorites like ice cream, toasted marshmallows, and grilled hamburgers.  The good news is that I’ve done it with enough moderation that I haven’t gained any weight.  The bad news is that I haven’t lost any weight.  It feels like I’ve just stalled.

On the exercise front, I did meet, and exceed, my goal of getting up to 30 laps in the pool.  35.2 laps in the pool at our gym is a mile, and my personal best is now 36 laps. 

I also wanted to incorporate some upper body weight lifting exercises into my routine.  Nick showed me how to use the machines at the gym, and I’ve been using them almost every time we go and I walk on the treadmill.  I don’t use them on the days I swim because I really feel like swimming gives my arms enough of a workout.  I’m still at 10 pounds, which is the lowest weight, on one of the machines.  I’m up to 25 pounds on a few of them.  And I’m sort of up to 40 pounds on two of them.  I can only do 10 repetitions at the 40 pound weight, and only after I’ve done a round at a lower weight. 

My arms are nowhere near toned, but I do think they’re a little less flabby.  I also feel like my upper body strength, which has always been pretty much nonexistent, is a little better.  I’m still not the person anyone would choose to move furniture with, but I do see a slight improvement. 

I think I did mostly okay on the health front, though I’m very disappointed with myself for not losing more weight. 

Environment:

My main environmental goal for the quarter was to switch from paper napkins to cloth napkins, and to switch from paper towels to reusable cleaning rags. 

I’m very happy to report that we’ve been hugely successful on that front.  The cloth napkins I had been eyeing on Amazon were marked down on Prime Day, so I ordered two sets. 

I was a little worried that it would take some time and be difficult to get into the habit of using cloth napkins instead of paper ones, but it has been an incredibly easy switch.  The cloth napkins are much more pleasant to use, and it helps that I like the colors.  We just wash them with our towels, so it really doesn’t feel like there’s any extra effort required.  

We still use paper napkins for picnics, and I suspect we’ll still use them when we have large groups of people over for a meal.  Overall, though, we’re sticking with using the cloth napkins.

 We’ve also mostly switched from paper towels and Clorox wipes to reusable cleaning rags.  We still use paper towels for some of the dirtier jobs, and I still like to use Clorox wipes in the kitchen to clean up after raw meat, but we’re mostly using reusable cleaning rags. 

I also wanted to be much more consistent about composting.  I’m happy to say we’ve done well there.  Our trash output definitely appears to be lower, thanks to being more diligent about composting and recycling.  And we were able to use some of our own compost when we planted a bush.  That made me pretty happy; not only did that not end up in a landfill, but hopefully it will help our gardenia bush to thrive. 

Personal/Miscellaneous: 

I had the goal of getting caught up on my goodreads goal.  My goal for 2019 is 52 books.  I’m sorry to say that I’m still six books behind.   I also had the goal of reading more non-fiction.  I read exactly one non-fiction book, Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  I’m planning to write a post about it soon.  So definitely a huge fail on the reading front. 

My other goal was to learn two new crochet stitches.  I did make some progress in learning how to crochet, but I’m not really sure how to classify it.  My aunt helped me with some things when she came to visit. 

I feel much more confident now about counting the stitches, and how to turn the work.  Turning it sounds like such a small (and obvious) thing, but it was something I had missed in the videos.  Knowing that seems to be helping a lot.   She also explained how I kept getting weird humps (from accidentally going into the same stitch over and over). 

Aunt Diana did show me two different stitches.  I haven’t mastered them, but I think I have made some progress.  Mostly she helped me with things that are a little harder to quantify like how to hold the yarn, how loose/tight to make the stitches, and what to try next.  She said the stitches that I learned from videos were fairly good, and that I just need practice, so it was nice to hear that I’m mostly on the right track. 

It doesn’t sound like much, but overall I’m fairly happy with the crochet progress I made.  It’s the little things, right? 

Blogging:

Fail, fail, fail.  Huge, gigantic, epic fail.  My goal was to post three times a week, and I only posted a total of seven times during the whole quarter.  So not even close.

I will say that it’s helpful to look over this list, and to be able to track things for a quarter.  It has definitely given me some ideas as to what I need to work on for the next quarter, which will be my next post.  

So what about you?  Did you have any specific goals you wanted to achieve during the last quarter?  How did you do with meeting them?