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      Composting

      The Secrets to Succesful Indoor Composting

      The Secrets to Succesful Indoor Composting - Composting Home

      Making a heap of nutrient-filled compost indoors is possible. With the growing restrictions on liveable space especially in urban areas, families have more reasons to create compost within the confines of their home. Fortunately, any person can master the art of indoor composting with the right materials and a good handle on the process.

      Take a look at the following measures you can try to jumpstart your indoor composting practice:

      Blend Your Food Scraps

      A pile of indoor compost is typically made from food waste. You can make the composting process faster by breaking food scraps into tinier pieces. Use the blender to break them down more efficiently. Remember to throw the soft ones only, as hard or solid refuse like pits and seeds can get stuck in the blender.

      Distribute the Moisture

      You do not want your pile to be incompletely oxygenated, which makes the compost lacking in nutrients. After blending the food waste together, make sure to add dry ingredients like cereals and stale crackers to the mix. This will help distribute moisture and eliminate the smell. Materials with content like leaves, papers, or coffee grounds aid in the composting process as well.

      Add Grass Clippings to Pile

      You need an activator to get the composting process started. Others usually use a compost activator to do this. If a compost activator is out of your budget, you can simply add grass clippings or any other plant material.

      Move the Compost Content Around

      It helps to mix the compost content, as this increases microbial action and distribute the warmth all around the pile. You can use our compost mixer or tumbler to save time and effort.

      Indoor composting may seem challenging at first, but when you know the secrets behind successful composting, you can make the most of the experience. Here at Compostinghome, we understand what it takes to make good compost. As the premier source of compost essential, we make sure you will get the best brands and materials from us.

      4 Things You’re Doing Wrong with Your Compost Pile

      4 Things You’re Doing Wrong with Your Compost Pile - Composting Home

      Anyone who is into gardening and green home practices knows that compost is a good thing. Composts provide essential nutrients that help in plant growth. They improve soil condition and structure, increase the soil’s capacity to retain water, and improve soil aeration.

      There are times, however, when even experienced gardeners fail at composting. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t just throw your scraps in a bin and wait for it to rot and become fertilizer. Composting requires a bit of science.

      To help you till the soil properly, here are a few things you might be doing wrong with your compost pit and how you can avoid it.

      Moisture

      Compost need to be moist enough to keep the waste-eating bacteria alive. It doesn’t have to be well-watered like your garden, though. Your target moisture level should be similar to a rung-out sponge; not too dry, but not too soggy.

      Too much water can make the compost pile stagnant while too little won’t enable the decomposition process at all.

      Oxygen

      The worms and bacteria in your compost pile need proper air circulation to break down the organic waste materials. You can easily aerate yours by turning it over with a rake or pitchfork, or by using one of our durable compost mixers.

      Bacteria

      Bacteria are what start the decomposition process. Without them, your organic waste materials won’t break down; they will just rot.

      Make sure your pile is directly in contact with the soil so the worms and microorganisms have easy access to the waste materials. A good way to tell if your pile is working is if it’s warmer than the rest of the ground. When the live microorganisms go to work and eat through the waste, they produce energy in the form of heat.

      Pit Dimension

      Compost piles need a space measuring at least 3 feet by 3 feet in diameter to build momentum and work. Whether you’re using a hole in the ground, a bag, or a bin, it needs adequate space to sustain the biological activities responsible for decomposition.

      The right materials and products improve your chances of being successful at composting. Get in touch with us now and we’ll be happy to help you with any composting needs. From bacteria, worms, bags to bins, we have you covered.

      Our Sustainable Living Experience

      Our Sustainable Living Experience - Composting Home

      Composting Competition – Autumn 2014

      We asked people to send us their stories about Composting, Organic Recycling, Organic Gardening, Worm Farming or any other related Sustainability topic.

      By Sharyn Williams

      We would like to show how we experience sustainable living through composting/organic gardening/organic living/recycling/worm farming, whereby we strive to help the environment in small ways by little steps we take each day.   This is achieved in the following ways:

      COMPOST/WORM FARM/CHICKENS

        All our food scraps/organic matter go to our chickens or our worm farm or we dig them straight into the vegie patch or compost them.   By having chickens/worm farm/compost all organic matter goes back into the ground somehow which is way better than putting it into a plastic bag and then landfill.
      • We encourage our children to be active in the veg patch/chickens/worms – for example, they love to help sort through the worm castings when needed :)
      • Even though we sometimes use designated compost bin/compost pile, my husband also often picks a part of the vegie patch (and rotates regularly to different parts) and digs the organic matter/food directly into the beds and they compost down into the bed over time.
      • The only material that goes into our recycling bin is anything that cannot be composted.  For example asides from food scraps we compost (or give to worms) all cardboard, toilet rolls, hair etc.  Composting is a necessity of life – it is a cycle that needs to be fed over and over and over again.
      • Weeds get put into an old bath tub so they heat up and break down and can then get composted back into the vegie patch/garden.
      • We have our own chickens which free range and get fed our food scraps which they love.  From these chickens we got lovely fresh free range chemical free eggs which mean we don’t buy eggs that have food miles added to them.   The majority of the chook house was built from recycled materials we have acquired as giveaways overtime – one man’s trash is another man’s treasure :)

      VEGETABLE PATCH AND FRUIT TREES

      • We have fruit trees and a vegetable/herb patch to grow as much of our own food as possible (free of chemicals) plus nothing tastes better than freshly picked and eaten the way nature intended.    Also this reduces the food mileage on our food as a lot of our fresh food travels directly from our garden to our plate.   Over time our goal is to keep increasing the amount we grow so we eat more of our own.
      • Our vegetable patch is a huge part of our lives and being organic in the vegetable patch is a must.   Often the bugs might beat us or get well fed but that is life and we just keep on growing and trying and never giving up.   The joy of planting a seed and watching it grow into something that you eat is amazing.   Our young children love to plant out seeds and nurture them and watch them grow also.
      • Nearly everything to create the borders for our vegetable patch was from recycled materials.  The fencing and pavers was all from recycled materials we have acquired as giveaways overtimes.   The frames for peas/tomatoes, berries are either from recycled timber or from big tree branches.
      • As we are on tank water, all water that is suitable that can be reused on the fruit trees, vegetable patch or garden is – we never waste water as water is so precious.

      To us, life is about living and enjoying the simple things in life and being environmentally responsible is an important part of that for us – we are just doing as nature intended.   I make my children and others aware that we are part of a whole system which includes every other living organism and nature – we cannot function as individuals or separately as everything we do affects something else.  Just having that in the back of your mind can influence the decisions we all make.  Being “sustainable” does not mean you go without, in fact it means that life is lived the way it should be lived both for our own and others health and happiness and for mother earth.   Everyone who can should give composting and/or worm farming and/or vegetable growing a try.  Thank you.

      Composting - Case Study Silver Tree Steiner School, Parkerville, WA.

      Composting - Case Study Silver Tree Steiner School, Parkerville, WA. - Composting Home

      (Compiled by Bronwyn Scallan, Volunteer Coordinator, Gardening and Environmental Management Group).

      In 2012, Silver Tree was very fortunate to receive a grant from The Waste Wise Schools Program through the Western Australian Landfill Levy fund to purchase two outdoor compost tumblers, a Bokashi composting bin and two fridge Worm Farms. This grant provided us with the opportunity to purchase this much needed waste management infrastructure that we had not been able to afford until this point.

      As a result of this new waste management infrastructure, our current waste management practices have improved; our school gardens and orchard is benefiting and our students are further developing their skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours in regard to sustainable waste management practices. A fabulous outcome!

      Silver Tree provides healthy morning tea to kindergarten children every day so our new compost bins mean Silver Tree can utilise these food scraps to make compost for their blossoming kindergarten gardens. The kindergarten gardens contain vegetables and some fruit trees and many flowers that all benefit from our compost.

      These are planted and nurtured by our kindergarten teachers with help from our kindergarten children. Kindergarten children fill the compost bins with their food scraps and straw and other organic materials and have fun tumbling it all around together.

         

       

      Primary school children compost their food scraps from cooking classes in the bins. Class 2/3 is responsible for checking the compost bins and adding “green” and “brown” organic waste to the compost, ensuring it is watered and healthy, and for tumbling the compost. They also learn about the need to cure compost and they will dig the compost into our vegetable gardens and orchard when it is cured.

      A Bokashi bin was purchased for the playgroup so they too could produce their own compost for their own garden. The juice is added to the playgroup gardens and the “dry” waste to the playgroup compost pile.

      Silver Tree’s composting solutions combined with our 2 fridge worm farms and our school policy of lunch boxes having no packaging and a “take your lunch rubbish home” policy, mean all food scraps generated the school are treated as a resource and our recycling and our rubbish bins have more space in them.

      The Maze ROTO Twin Composter is a great compost bin for use by children as they are able to be filled and turned easily. Our appreciation goes to www.compostinghome.com.au for their generous discount in the purchase of our two compost tumblers, and for their support of our compost bin fundraiser, which enabled us to buy two of our compost bins, as well as two much needed wheelbarrows and various plants for our gardens.

          

      Bokashi Bin Composting

      Bokashi Bin Composting - Composting Home

      Successful composting is possible through different methods. One of the more popular ones used today is the Bokashi method. Although many refer to it as a type of composting, the word in Japanese actually means “fermented organic matter,” which is actually fermentation rather than composting process. The end product is much different than that produced by regular composting techniques, making it truly a class on its own.

      Understanding the Bokashi Process

      Bokashi is the process of pickling or fermenting organic waste material. The method involves the use of specialised containers, usually in the form of Bokashi buckets. Together with some special mix and organic waste, the process produces a juice that you can use for other purposes. Diluting the juice produced with water and using it to water indoor and outdoor plants will allow the plants to get the full benefit of the nutrients and microbes from it.

      The Advantages of Using Bokashi Bins

      More homeowners are using the Bokashi method because it’s very easy and doesn’t produce bad odour unlike some other means of fermentation and composting. There are many reasons to start using the Bokashi system and here are some of the advantages you can look forward to:

      • A Bokashi Bucket a no mess, no smell, simple and easy to use solution for recycling your organic kitchen waste.
      • Add Bokashi to the indoor bokashi bin to ferment the organic waste and  into nutrient rich garden fertiliser and compost.
      • Bokashi additive makes a great addition to your compost heap to enrich the heap.
      • Juice produced using the Bokashi method doesn’t smell bad and works as a great slow-release fertiliser for indoor and outdoor plants alike.
      • The Bokashi method allows you to use practically any kitchen waste products. From vegetable and fruit scraps to meat and seafood and other cooked food waste; all of these will help produce a cost effective and eco-friendly fertiliser.