I was at my Grandmother’s one day and talking to one of her friends about gardening. We got talking about compost, so I mentioned the indoor composting set up in my kitchen.
She said that she’d blend up the food scraps and put them in her composting bin when she kept one. That’s a great idea and not sure why I never thought of it. Especially since my composting mistake.
By putting the food scraps in a blender or food processor, it helps to break the it down. Then when it’s put in the compost bin, it’s closer to being fully broken down.
When you throw in the full pieces, it takes longer to break down. This is especially true when you have an indoor composting set up because it’s so small.
Don’t throw all of your food scraps in the blender. Just put things in there that are soft. Stay away from pits, seeds and anything that might get stuck in the blender.
Once the scraps are blended, throw it on the compost pile, top with shredded newspaper and old potting soil.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6el9MFNYnqI
Have you tried vermicomposting? I've heard it's SO easy for indoor composting. And fast. I'm a little squeamish about keeping a bin of worms in my house! But may try it this winter when the compost bin outdoors begins to seem impossibly far from the back door in freezing cold weather…
My local recycling organization has a great info sheet about it:
http://www.eurekarecycling.org/pdfs/WWWorms.pdf
Yea, I'm a bit squeamish on the worms too. That's why I decided to do compost via aeration. No worms required.
Thanks for the tip and the pdf.
Great way of going green. I have always been fortunate to have lived near enough ground to compost outside. My question to you, Mike, is, when you compost in your kitchen, how often do you take your compost bucket out? If it stays in the kitchen, doesn't it get a bit smelly?
I feel like you could just add a bit more liquid to that and turn it into a smoothie 🙂
The actual compost pile I keep in the kitchen and use as needed.
The pile of food scraps, I throw bring to the local ecology center every few days where I can drop it off. Due to my limited space, I can't use all of the food scraps that I have.
I think I threw up in my mouth a little.
Here's a tip from experience: if you blend your scraps you may get ammonia problems and have difficulty getting your pile oxygenated. It may even go anaerobic, which will be the quickest way to get your indoor composting system banished to outdoors.
The solution is to keep a stock of dry ingredients, like stale crackers and cereals, and high-carbon items (dried plant stuffs, stems, leaves, paper, even straw). Mix your chopped wet scraps with the dry scraps to distribute the moisture, and then add any carbon stuffs. This will keep your heap aerobic and stop any smells.
Ahh, thank you much Nick. Didn't have any issues blending the scraps, but also didn't ass massive amounts. I'll definitely keep the scraps close by though like you suggested. Thanks again!
Here's a tip from experience: if you blend your scraps you may get ammonia problems and have difficulty getting your pile oxygenated. It may even go anaerobic, which will be the quickest way to get your indoor composting system banished to outdoors.
The solution is to keep a stock of dry ingredients, like stale crackers and cereals, and high-carbon items (dried plant stuffs, stems, leaves, paper, even straw). Mix your chopped wet scraps with the dry scraps to distribute the moisture, and then add any carbon stuffs. This will keep your heap aerobic and stop any smells.
Ahh, thank you much Nick. Didn't have any issues blending the scraps, but also didn't ass massive amounts. I'll definitely keep the scraps close by though like you suggested. Thanks again!
great tip for indoor/outdoor composters Mike