Composting

A subject near and dear to my heart is composting. I've evolved practices and knowledge from doing it for a few years. For example, those "bio-solo" plastic bags I referred to back in 2006 aren't even around anymore. The page I had linked to for them is no longer available on the web site. Which is a good thing. No one wants compost that has both the smell and consistency of baby poop. Ugh!

Starbucks Grounds for Your Garden


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Here is a composting practice I have been employing the last couple of years: picking up used coffee grounds at the local Starbucks. Along with kitchen waste, they make a nice wet addition to the composter out back.

Compost Pot for Collecting Food Waste


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Kitchen Waste


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Some people don't put bread in theirs, but I put a little. Sandwich leftovers or pizza crusts every now and then. But mostly it's tea bags and fruit and vegetable discards -- the wet stuff. With the addition of the Starbucks coffee grounds, there is a whole load of wet stuff going into the composter today, which is good, because the last time I added to it, I put a layer of dry leaves on the top. (We now save a bag of leaves in the fall so we have "dry" or "brown" stuff to add to the compost when needed.)

The composter sits in its revered position by the shed out back, a relatively short walk from the patio door.

Backyard Composter


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We don't actually do home composting in winter. Our city collects compostable waste in a special container, so I make the effort to separate some of the items and let the city pick it up in the winter time. They don't get much in the summer though. Just a bag of cat poop every couple of weeks. (I am not fanatical enough to separate all the paper, dryer lint, meat scraps and stuff like that. Only about half the people on my street use the green bin, so I figure I am already contributing a lot just by using it at all.)

But anyway, as I was saying, in the summer, we compost. Kitchen waste, coffee grounds, and dry leaves should be a good recipe for making compost fairly quickly. (I've not yet resorted to Compost Accelerator this year, but I may have to if I find things aren't breaking down quickly on their own.)

Coffee Grounds


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Plus Dry Leaves


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Equals a Recipe for Good Compost (I Hope)


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I keep a handy tool for mixing and chopping nearby. I find I use it a lot to spread the waste around or chop up the bruised and mushy fruit that sometimes gets sent out in the compost pot whole.

Handy Tool for Chopping and Mixing


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That's right. It's a hoe. And with that, I will leave you.

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