I think I've found a few things to blog about. It's been a little dry around here lately, but only because I simply cannot find within my life any reason to prioritize blogging or anything else that involves sitting, stationary, in one position because of course (like right now) the children decide I am a jungle gym or suddenly need me as if all of their needs have been reserved for when I sit down for some "me" time. This season with a 2 year old and a 4 year old (and a 12 year old who sometimes acts either 2 or 4) is EXTREMELY trying. I love them with all my heart, they are my greatest joy. However, I won't lie. I am taxed. They are at such a high needs state and I feel subhuman at times.
Anyway...
So, yeah, we've made a few changes around here. It is a travesty that in East Cobb there are SO FEW OPTIONS for recycling. We live in a condo community with an HOA that uses a sanitation company with no recycling offering. There is NO comprehensive recycling facility or drop off nearby. We did locate one recently that allows cardboard, plastic, aluminum and magazines/paper, so we decided to start recycling those items at least. We recycled heavily when we lived in Woodstock but since moving here it's something we haven't done and seems so wasteful. We didn't have anything like this when we moved in here. This is a recent change (crazy) in the community.
In addition to that I have been researching composting when all you have is patio - not yard or garden - space. I found several great resources which inspired me to get started. I don't know when or if I will use the soil on my patio garden, but I certainly don't want to waste the vegetable scraps and other compostable items we discard so I wanted to start composting again.
I am reusing the 14 gallon kitty litter bins. I will probably end up with lots of batches of composting soil on my back patio but it can be donated to the Kula Project if I run out of space/use for it.
To start it off, I began with brown matter in the base of the bin and added a few worms I dug out from under my existing pots. I used pine straw and soil. I probably put 4 inches of pine straw in the base of the bin. I placed a bowl of soil next to the bin to add to the green matter I will be adding as I go to try to keep a balance.
The key to successful composting is having the right green and brown material balance so that decomposition will actually happen. Since we discard more green material (vegetable scraps, mostly) than we have access to brown material (leaves, hay, pine straw, soil, etc), I will actively have to seek out additional brown material to balance out the pile, which means adding a little brown when I add a little green. The ideal balance of green to brown is 2 parts green to 1 part brown, although a 1:1 ratio of each is acceptable. I am shooting for the latter. I am going to have to take a walk in to the woods and gather up some leaves and whatnot for my pile. Newspaper and paper egg cartons are also a great source of carbon/brown material.
From a scientific perspective, I might add that the brown material is your carbon source and green material is your nitrogen source. The correct balance of carbon and nitrogen provides the right balance of food for the microorganisms in your pile that actually do the work of composting the material. If you don't have a good balance, there will be no composting action taking place.
Here's what I'm doing (I'm no expert - but learning as I go):
- I use a large plastic bin on my countertop to place compostable scraps into until full. Compostable materials include fruit and vegetable scraps and peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, nut shells, etc. Non-compostable materials are pretty much any and all animal products (no meat, dairy of any kind). I chop up my green material as small as possible before putting it into the countertop bin. Smaller pieces compost faster.
- I set up a bin (14 gallon kitty litter bin) on the back deck with a lid. I poked a bunch of holes in it to get the air circulating around it. I placed 4" of pine straw and a sprinkling of soil, a few worms in the bottom of the bin to get started. I have a container of soil on the side to sprinkle on top after each addition of green material.
- As I add green material I try to keep it balanced with brown material.
- I give the bin an occasional shake (though I am not sure this is actually helpful since I have worms in there? I am not really doing vermiculture, I just put some in to help the process - like, eight worms... someone school me if I am not supposed to do that!) to keep the mix blended. Like turning the pile if it was in my garden, I think this has the same effect.
- I try to add a little water with each addition of green material.
- Once the bin is full I put it aside and start a new one. I will just continually use my kitty litter bins as they already have lids and are large enough for our needs. This may or may not work long term... see next bullet!
- I will monitor the pile for the right temperature. If it's not reaching the right temp, it's not composting. The pile should be 110 - 160 degrees Fahrenheit. I think challenges I will face reaching this temp will be the lack of surface area to my pile. But I can always transfer to a bigger bin and see what happens. For now I will keep you posted.
Great online resources I found about composting:
Hope this inspires you to consider composting... it's something I did before when I was living in a house, but now I realize it can be done living in an urban setting as well with a little modification of our methods.
I can't wait for Spring and to be able to plant my vegetable garden. The patio has been getting more and more sunlight in the mornings which means it's almost time to plant!!
Thanks for reading...
Brooke
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