Recently my garbage service was shut off for a week which prompted me to take action and make a bit less waste... silly, I know. Anyhow I know that coffee grounds are good for gardens. I decided to take my little chopper and mix up my daily coffee grounds and (vegetarian) food waste. I've just been throwing this lovely concoction into the front flower bed. This is the end result.
coffee grounds, tomato and cucumber butts, banana peels, and strawberry tops pictured here
Do you compost? I'm wondering if this is going to backfire on me since I'm technically not composting just dumping junk in my flower bed but of my own wisdom I can't think of how this will turn out badly. Any advice, input???
There's about 4 days of food stuff and grounds in this photo. I don't create this much waste daily. I'll also add that where I'm spreading this mush out is where my roof run off creates a trench so it is fairly regularly getting a rain beating which I think will actually encourage decay and decomposition.
There's about 4 days of food stuff and grounds in this photo. I don't create this much waste daily. I'll also add that where I'm spreading this mush out is where my roof run off creates a trench so it is fairly regularly getting a rain beating which I think will actually encourage decay and decomposition.
Thoughts?
I know nothing about composting but I would like to read up on it and do a compost pile this spring.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly where I've been for years. At least now I've started something right? :)
DeleteWe have wine barrel garden containers on each side of our back deck. During the winter I regularly throw kitchen waste in there....eggshells and coffee grounds are marvelous for your garden!
ReplyDeleteI've heard that too; egg shells and coffee grounds! They're in my garden now.
DeleteI have been slowly reading your blog from the beginning (I'm not quite finished) but I felt this was a good place to start commenting :) Our family have been dedicated composters since buying our first home in 1988. Like any useful skill, composting improves over time and with practice. Hubby loves organic gardening! We raised four sons yet never had much garbage to put at the road :) Bonus!
ReplyDeleteNo special bin is needed. My husband started with old donated lumber and made a simple two-part box. However, given that you have dogs, you would want something that can be lidded. here are a couple of links to get you started. Also check Youtube for helpful videos.
http://organicgardening.about.com/od/compost/tp/compostingmethods.htm
http://www.curbly.com/users/craftmel/posts/13708-roundup-5-diy-backyard-composting-solutions
I am certainly enjoying your blog. Your positive attitude and persistence, as you face the challenges we all share, never fails to bring a smile to my face. It isn't just a destination we seek, but to enjoy the journey as it unfolds!
Wow Monique, that is alot of reading. Thank-you so much for the time and kind words.
DeleteComposting since 1988, THAT IS AWESOME! Thanks for the link. I have read up on it some and I've seen the box made with lumber; like you said that wouldn't work with the dogs. I'm going to see how my experiment turns out and I'll go from there. I feel that since I'm chopping everything up it shouldn't cause any negative side effects in my front bed.. but we'll.
Thanks again for reading :)
I compost daily, BUT the community takes care of the compost bags and I never have to deal with it more than just throwing my paper bag of food scraps where it's supposed to go. The garbage crew then picks it up and the city makes biogas and whatnot out of it.
ReplyDeleteSo I want to say that as long as you don't compost meat, compost does NOT stink. I have my (special) paper bag (provided by the community for free) under the kitchen sink for several days and there is no bad smell. The key is to have lots of air around the bag.
I love helping the environment, but unfortunately, I can't say that I've seen one elegant solution to "own garden compost piles". The contraptions people buy and set up just look awful in my eyes and honestly I can't see how these eye sores (and some of them stinky) save money (some people buy special stuff to sprinkle on the pails to help stuff decompost).
I know Kelly over at Imperfect Homemaking has written about composting in their yard.
Hey, maybe one can just take a spade and dig some of this compost matter straight into the ground?
Thanks for the input. That exactly how I feel about it; seems very involved. I was thinking like your last statement that maybe if I just chop everything up well, and my waste is always 50% coffee grounds, then I can just put it in the garden where I can't keep plants anyhow due to the rain run off. Then I'll cover it with leaves a few times a year (because I like to put leaves in that spot too) and I could dig up the dirt in that area a few times of year as well. This seems like it's too easy though. BUT I can't see why it wouldn't work. hm
DeleteJust my two cents: I didn't want to invest a bunch of money in formal containers and found this link and made my own container out of a rubbermaid bin. http://yougrowgirl.com/urban-composting/
ReplyDeleteJust remember to add 'brown' material (leaves, grass clippings, ect) to the food scraps. This helps cut down on bad smell. I also thought about investing in worms but found that they made their way into my container on their own.
M'Shell
Composting is not hard. The nutrients are just running away with the rain that falls on it. Try dumping that in the places you plant? My compost does not stink or cause stink because I dump leaves over it.
ReplyDelete