I have no idea if I’m doing this right… I just started composting maybe a month and a half ago. I had a ton of soil left from my garden after I ripped out all my plants after the third harvest. I actually have a video of me doing that on Halloween, it was a really great addition to the day. Check it out here to see my final urban container garden harvest!
I had all this leftover soil and I didn’t want to just throw it out. I live in an apartment, didn’t want to put it in the trash, and there wasn’t really any good place for me to scatter it on the ground. So I decided to reinvigorate that soil by using it with compost!
how composting connects me back to my spirituality…
Composting gives me a chance to connect back to the land, connect to my food, and connect to my kitchen. Compost literally is life from death, it’s a rebirth process. That is a really great thing to reflect on when I’m out here working on the compost, and when I’m gathering the kitchen scraps.
The way that I gather kitchen scraps is in an extra bin that I had lying around that wasn’t being used. I put a ziplock bag in it to collect the kitchen scraps. The bucket sits on top of the trash so we remember not to throw out scraps and other compostable things. We’re just starting so it’s a learning curve… and before you say anything, I’m reusing the ziploc bag. I’ll dump it out in the compost bin outside, wash it, and then leave it open to air dry in the bucket right on top of our trash bin.
I use all of that extra soil from the garden from this past year as the browns and then whatever kitchen scraps I have as the greens. So far I haven’t screwed up the compost. It still has that sweet smell that the Internet is telling me it should have. But I don’t know anyone in real life who actually composts, so I can’t say, “Hey come check out my compost! Am I doing this right?”
I’m using a storage container that I drilled holes on the top of and also holes in the bottom, plus a tray underneath so it doesn’t drip onto the patio below my balcony. I haven’t had any compost tea coming out of my compost bin at all… so that makes me wonder if my compost isn’t moist enough. I know it’s not supposed to be wet… and it still has that sweet smell… so I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong… but I really have no idea. This is the first time in my life that I am ever trying composting.
The other thing that I noticed with composting is it’s hard for me to turn the pile. I’m always worried that I’m going to bust that storage bin with a huge crack and have compost spilling everywhere…. which is not something you want on the second story of a building. So I put my leg up against the storage bin to stabilize it so it doesn’t crack it when I try and turn the pile with the shovel.
I never thought I’d say this… but I am dreaming of this 37 gallon rolling compost tumbler bin…. I might get it for myself in the Spring.
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Am I doing anything wrong with my compost?
How can I make my composting better?
Also, I’m not using worms, that was just a little too complicated for me. I might get into worms in the future though… But for right now it’s just kitchen scraps, soil, and I have some plants that I ripped out of the garden previously that I have set aside for browns. They aren’t the greens anymore, they’ve dried out a lot at this point.
So what else can I do? Help me out. this is my first time composting. I have no idea what I’m doing.
So far the compost still smells sweet, it doesn’t smell rotten and gross. I’m also having difficulty turning the pile… maybe I have too many browns in there instead of greens and scraps? If you have any tips for me just on composting in general, let me know. Or if there are any products that you like for composting email me [email protected] or comment down below.
L I N K S M E N T I O N E D
