Vermicompost
So what with my new-found environmentally friendliness, I've been toying with the idea of composting. So I've been reading on aquiring and maintaining a compost bin and HOLY SHIT what a lot of work that sounds like. Plus the startup cost is insane, because if you do it all with crappy equipment and get it all wrong, it attracts flies, it reeks, it doesn't compost properly. No way, fuck that. While I'm down with helping the environment and happy to change a few things about my lifestyle, I'm not prepared to put in that kind of time and worry.
Enter: vermicomposting. This is actually indoor composting, though it can be done outdoors if your climate is suitable. It's really popular with apartment dwellers because it only takes up as much or as little space as you want it to. It can be kept out of the way under the sink or in a closet, there's no smell, and it's extremely simple to do.
It's WORM composting! Put peat moss, leaf/grass waste, soil, shredded newspaper in a rubbermaid bin, cover with a little bit of soil, dump a bunch of worms (not just any worms... Red Wigglers are the most ideal, but apparantly it can be done with European Nightcrawlers so you're raising your own bait! ...if you fish) in there, and bury your compost!
More info here and here.
I'm doing a small bin without drainage at the moment. Drainage is just one more thing to deal with, and I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. Everything I've read from first hand experience is that as long as you don't over-water or over-feed you can go without draining.
I have a small layer of top soil, then a layer of shredded newspaper and cardboard, leaf and flower waste, and a bunch of vegetable waste (peelings) covered with a layer of soil. Since worms don't so much eat the food as they do eat the deliciousness that happens while the food is rotting away, I'm letting the bin sit for a short stint before I add them.
If all goes well enough this summer, I may buy a proper bin with a drainage tap in the fall, and I can use said drainage to water my plants so I don't have to buy plant food anymore!
Hubby's kinda grossed out, Boy thinks it's friggin cool, and I'm excited that I can compost without doing much work or getting too dirty!
Enter: vermicomposting. This is actually indoor composting, though it can be done outdoors if your climate is suitable. It's really popular with apartment dwellers because it only takes up as much or as little space as you want it to. It can be kept out of the way under the sink or in a closet, there's no smell, and it's extremely simple to do.
It's WORM composting! Put peat moss, leaf/grass waste, soil, shredded newspaper in a rubbermaid bin, cover with a little bit of soil, dump a bunch of worms (not just any worms... Red Wigglers are the most ideal, but apparantly it can be done with European Nightcrawlers so you're raising your own bait! ...if you fish) in there, and bury your compost!
More info here and here.
I'm doing a small bin without drainage at the moment. Drainage is just one more thing to deal with, and I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. Everything I've read from first hand experience is that as long as you don't over-water or over-feed you can go without draining.
I have a small layer of top soil, then a layer of shredded newspaper and cardboard, leaf and flower waste, and a bunch of vegetable waste (peelings) covered with a layer of soil. Since worms don't so much eat the food as they do eat the deliciousness that happens while the food is rotting away, I'm letting the bin sit for a short stint before I add them.
If all goes well enough this summer, I may buy a proper bin with a drainage tap in the fall, and I can use said drainage to water my plants so I don't have to buy plant food anymore!
Hubby's kinda grossed out, Boy thinks it's friggin cool, and I'm excited that I can compost without doing much work or getting too dirty!