For several years, now, we’ve been composting. I have been purchasing bidegradable bags from The Gardener’s Supply Company. They’re called Biobags. We have a little crock on the counter with a charcoal filter built in the top that I put a bag into. We put the kitchen scraps in the bag and, usually when it starts to stink and I remember we have something in there, I toss it outside into the compost heap.
Ok, I’ll be honest. We don’t have a compost heap. We have a little hill about 12 steps away from the front door and I just pull the bag out of the crock and toss it down the hill. I usually have to focus, because, as mentioned before, I usually forget about the bag and by the time I’m scrap-tossing, the thing has already started to break down, so it has holes, is drippy and smelly. Pinching the top of the bag, I hold it at arm’s length and run outside, trying to get it out of the house as quickly as possible. (Usually Keith is making some sort of “UGH!” noise in reaction to the smell as I do this.) Then, I sort of bean-bag toss it, trying hard not to swing the bag and send the drips towards me, and try to get it to land underneath the balsam trees. Sometimes, one gets caught on a branch and hangs there, looking from a little distance, like very dirty, ratty underwear (NOT speaking from experience, if you’ve read the other posts, you know I have a very vivid imagination.) If that happens, I grab a stick and do my best from the top of the hill to poke it off the branch. If one were to observe this action, I can assure you, I do not look elegant. The bottom of the hill isn’t visible from the road, but the top of the hill is, so I just can’t leave it there. What would the neighbors think? (I know I mentioned the bad neighbor before – I am sure he wouldn’t think twice about what looks like a pair of ratty men’s underwear hanging from a tree. Slob. Yeah, I said it.)
The pile at the bottom of the hill has the kitchen scraps, the rooty-soil I dump out of the potting containers at the end of the seasons, grass clippings, branches we’ve pruned, pretty much everything. It isn’t really used as a compost heap since I can’t get down there to stir it and the big branches prevent it from breaking down too easily. We’ve been talking about a composting bin, but haven’t been able to find one that is within our budget – a turning compost bin on wheels is a few hundred bucks!
So, with all the research we’ve been doing, Keith came across an indoor composting design that is low in space, low in smell and low in cost. It involves worms!
I KNOW, I KNOW! The answer is, “Yes, we purchased worms and deliberately put them in our house.” Here’s how it happened.
Keith mentioned it a few times, to which I said, “Mm hm honey, sounds good, sounds cheaper than what we were looking at. Sounds like a good idea.” BUT, I haven’t admitted it to him yet (he’ll find out shortly), I didn’t think he’d actually do it.
Start with a bin, drill holes in the bottom and around the top edge. Stack it into a second bin and drill holes in the lid of the second one. This way, when you put Bin 1 into Bin 2, Bin 1 will drip any liquid (known as compost tea for those in the know!) into Bin 2 and NOT onto the basement floor. The holes in the top of Bin 1 and the lid of Bin 2 will aid in circulation.
Then layer some landscape fabric on the very bottom. This will cover the holes he drilled, allow liquid to drip out, but no wormies to crawl out (just icky dreams about that). On top of the landscape fabric, he put some shredded paper (he told me they were some old bills from our old files, NICE! I like the idea of worms eating our credit card statements. I don’t know why. Eat ’em up!)
He then started the layering…
Then came the leftover food.
February 15, 2010 at 8:09 am
The Verminator ! What an original idea. We are going to purchase some composting worms this Spring for the Perennial and Vegetable gardens.
I enjoy reading what you are doing!
D
February 15, 2010 at 8:23 am
Thanks! Lots of plans!
February 19, 2010 at 9:38 am
welcome VERMINATER only you guys would do this lol
April 11, 2010 at 7:30 pm
[…] the DaisyPatch has seen some failures which I will admit here. The Verminator did not work out. For some odd reason that even makes me shake my head at myself, I was just fine […]
May 9, 2010 at 8:20 pm
[…] PDRTJS_settings_1417333_post_306 = { "id" : "1417333", "unique_id" : "wp-post-306", "title" : "Tonight%27s+agenda+is%3A+The+War+on+Slugs", "item_id" : "_post_306", "permalink" : "http%3A%2F%2Fdaisypatchfarm.com%2F2010%2F05%2F09%2Ftonights-agenda-is-the-war-on-slugs%2F" } I entered the kitchen yesterday morning to find this posted above the compost pot (you can see my compost pot here). […]
January 21, 2011 at 8:34 pm
[…] Folks. I have. Not only did I write about underwear, I have actually referenced Ratty Underwear. […]
July 24, 2011 at 4:42 pm
[…] pail without even a moment’s thought. (Actually, we do compost, so they would have hit the compost pail – you gotta follow that link if you haven’t read that post, it is one of my funnier ones if […]
August 11, 2011 at 10:31 am
[…] about relocating it, but I’m unsure how to dig it up because it’s roots start at the bottom of the little hill I throw the compost down into. No muck boot tall enough is going to protect me from that gore if I were to try to scramble down […]
February 27, 2012 at 10:08 am
[…] fun we would have!) I have been using a composting bucket in the kitchen for years. I line it with eco bags from Gardener’s Supply catalog. When it is full, I fling it into the pile outside. The […]