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Insider Information On Small Composters For Inside Spaces
Composting inside the home is a little unnatural. The microbes required for decomposition are ruthlessly excluded from many homes (OK, not mine but housework only becomes attractive as displacement activity round here), so how can we get a nice decay-friendly atmosphere going on inside without introducing microbes that we don't want rampaging around the kitchen? NatureMill is a self-contained unit, with an air filter to deal with smells and that processes your food waste in as little as two weeks. It's so clever that it tells you when the compost is ready with a red light. The right decomposing micro-organisms thrive when the right amount of oxygen and heat are provided and the balance of materials is correct. Successful composting needs the input materials to have the right balance of nitrogen and carbon. Nitrogen-rich materials are leafy green veg -- a lot of your kitchen waste, which on its own tends to become very 'wet' and to collapse in an airless mass as it decays. Carbon rich materials are much drier, like sawdust and straw, stems and branches, rather than soft leafy matter and provide structure as the material decays but the dryness leads to inactivity and decomposition is very slow. The manufacturers of NatureMill recommend 1 cup of a carbon-rich substance for every 5 of vegetable and kitchen waste. NatureMill automatically grinds what you’ve put in at 4 hourly intervals and keeps the 'box' (looking a bit like an old computer hard drive) warm enough to achieve the maximum processing rate. NatureMill might suit a well-heeled, flat or apartment-dweller with a cat and little or no outside space! Yes, the NatureMill can even compost kitty litter, which means there's no need to purchase sawdust pellets separately and you're not adding to the millions of tons of pet poo that goes into landfill. If exchange rates for UK and Europe improve this composter may even become run of the mill here. Gerrr. If you don't have a couple of hundred put by for composting (could it really be lower on your list of priorities than the next outsize handbag or (I haven't a clue what men like to spend their money on – power tool?) then perhaps you'll get excited by the thought of having worms in your home? Wormeries are nicer than you might imagine. If you’ve always wanted a pet but 'Oh, the responsibility…', then worms may be for you. Wormeries range from around £30 to £100 but some are more suitable for inside than others. Obviously you want it to be secure and some companies offer lids with special escape-proof clips. But really worms are quite happy to stay where they are if the conditions are suitable for them. The wormery mustn't get too warm (or too cold, but this is unlikely indoors), nor sit in direct sunlight. They like an alkaline environment so too much acidic material such as citrus will upset them. The wormery does take up a bit of floor space and ideally would be best in a utility room or on a balcony or porch. They are quite clean and the only slightly mucky jobs are draining off the liquid every few weeks from a tap and removing the compost when it is ready, usually once a year or so. Otherwise maintenance is low, they just need to be fed every few days. Keeping moist balls of scrunched up newspaper on top of their earthy bed acts as insurance policy in case the bed area becomes too moist, too dry or too acidic or they run out of food. They're quite content with a paper diet and glue is like a truffle to them! Finally, if you have yet to be grabbed by the fun of worm farming or the social cache of having your very own 'in-vessel' composter to show your friends (and believe me you will!) then maybe I can interest you in the strange Japanese art of Bokashi? Bokashi makes pickle out of your kitchen waste. Seriously. Not edible pickle though. By adding 'specially bought Bokashi bran which contains a mixture of micro-organisms and molasses (food for the microbes), the food waste ferments. Two bins are necessary so that one can be filled while the other does the fermentation and the liquid produced must be released regularly via a tap at the bottom of the bin or bucket. The current bin (or bucket) can sit happily on a kitchen counter and has only a faintly vinegary smell. In a few weeks the fermented 'compost' is ready to be dug into the garden or placed in a regular, outside compost bin. None of these composters have a solution to what may be a stumbling block for apartment dwellers seeking to do the right green thing, what to do with the compost! Fine if you have access to any outside space – a communal garden, even a hedge at the back somewhere, but if you're surrounded by pavements and roads and other apartments – a real urbanite, then what can you do? Houseplants and hanging baskets, tubs and pots will help eat up some of your valuable produce, both liquid and solid, but frankly you'll have much more than you need. With Bokashi you'll need to empty every few weeks (depending on how many people live in your home) and the liquid can be poured down the drain beneficially! NatureMill works on a similar timescale whereas wormeries will be slower, especially at the beginning before the worm colony has built up sufficient numbers to cope with all your food bits. Friends or family with gardens or allotments should be glad of your offerings especially if they grow vegetables – maybe you could even sell it to the local allotments, after all isn't there supposed to be brass where there’s muck? But more likely you'll just have to wait for a heavenly reward. Composting doesn't get nobler than this! Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Want to learn more about the alchemy of composting and how to choose the right system for you? Go to www.CompostEverything.com and sign up for a FREE 10 part mini-course now! Sarah Cowell Dip. Hort. is a gardener and writer on horticulture matters |
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