But my main topic today is not satire, far from it. I am talking about composting, and a product that was sent to me by a representative of "Bag To Earth". These cellulose-lined brown paper bags can be used to collect wet kitchen scraps and then you can just throw them "as is" into the backyard composter. The thin cellulose lining ensures damp items don't soak through the paper, but yet is completely natural and will decompose quickly.
From the Kitchen Counter...
...To the Backyard Composter
And yes, they do decompose, but it isn't pretty.
Decomposing Compost Bags
These bags were sent to me last autumn, and I did say I wouldn't be able to test them until the spring. But as soon as the snow was gone, we started using the bags in order to test them in the composter.
I have a couple of months worth of bags now divided between our two composters. What I find with mine, since I like to take an active role in making sure the compost is forming, is that I leave the bags a couple of weeks, and then I sprinkle water on the top and chop the bags and their contents with a small hoe. This allows me to spread the contents around to the sides of the composter, and makes more room for the next couple of bags.
In the kitchen, I find that our kitchen scraps don't get generated quite fast enough to fill the bag before it's "ripe" and ready for the composter, but a larger family -- especially if they drink lots of coffee -- might be able to beat the clock better than we can. At the same time, however, the bag isn't big enough to be of help when I'm cleaning out the fridge. It's basically good for tea bags, coffee filters, bread crusts, damp paper towels, carrot peelings, and the like.
I don't imagine these bags are available to everybody, but certainly if you are in Southern Ontario there is a chance you might have seen these in your supermarket. If you've been looking for a solution to get your kitchen scraps from the counter to the composter, this might be it.
And to finish up on a prettier note, I leave you with 'Moonlit Masquerade', a daylily whose first bloom showed up today.
'Moonlit Masquerade' First Bloom Today
Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without permission.
7 comments:
Hello Karen,
Interesting subject and beautiful picture of the compost...eeee...e.e..bin? lacking English term :)
stunning daylily.
cheers,
Do the bags compost well? or are they like those peat pots that take a long time to decompose? I just use an old 2L ice cream container, and fill that up, then dump the contents into the composter, and then wash and re-use the plastic container.
Cam
My composter does not look that pretty...perhaps I should take a picture of my contents. I just use a stainless steel bowl and dump it every evening. We got a beautiful load of compost last fall. I don't accelerate it but perhaps I should!
Those bags look like a nice neat tidy way of doing things. I collect a week's worth of kitchen stuff in my Lee Valley compost pail under the sink (with carbon insert to absorb smells) and then dump it in the worm's box. I do collect my kitchen scraps on papertowels and throw those right into the pail as well. I always get stinky stuff at the bottom of my pail though.
Ewa, yes it's a compost bin. :)
Camald, I am in the process of testing how well the bags actually compost. As I said, it's just been a couple of months -- not really long enough to see what's going on. I have made a point of wetting and chopping the bags though. I don't think the process would be fast enough without that step.
Camald, Alison, and Gardenista, I've tried different containers over the years (including a plastic ice cream bucket!). I'm using these bags right now because the company was generous enough to send me some to try out. I don't think the bags are superior to bins, bowls, or buckets, but they are an alternative.
And so far, the Bag to Earth bags ARE superior to the plastic-type liner bags for compost buckets that I tried. (Those ones did NOT break down and the result was a wet, smelly mess.)
I enjoyed the spoof at Onion.
Successful Composting is very satisfying. Thanks for tip
So I see you love day lilies. I just wanted to know if you also find that pictures of the daylily you are purchasing on the tag are completely off. This happens to me ALL the time. The 'Senior Joan' so called "white" lily appears virgin white on the tag, but is off-white/cream in reality. Also, I just purchased a catherine woodsbury, or sumthing by that type of name, which was supposidely lilac/ lavender. It just bloomed, and its a peachy apricot colour. Sigh. OHH and my largest complain has to be one of the newest hybrids that I found at my local nursery: 'East coast scramble', which advertized a large white flowers, edged with filly yellow. Umm... the flowers were orange.. and I paid 22$ for the plant (not in one of those larger containers) this was in a regular 4" pot, but was pricey because it was a new hybrid variety.
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