Saturday, May 17, 2014

Update on the "Experimental Composting"

Back in December I started "experimental composting." In the original post I asked:
"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???" 
I called it experimental because I do not have a compost bin or compost pile (in the traditional sense) and I wasn't sure if my strange composting idea would result in a weird pile of yuck in our front flower bed. It is now May, the snow has been gone for a little while, and I am happy to report that there's nothing weird going on in front of our house; no mold, strange odors, or even unsightly mounds of food scraps.

I think it's now safe to update my terminology from "experimental composting" to "extremely easy composting." If anyone is scared to compost because lets be real it seems really intimidating but would love an alternate way to dispose of food scraps (meaning not throwing it into the trash), egg shells, coffee grounds, and coffee filters here's what I've been doing.



I keep fruit and veggie scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds in an empty container on the counter. I grind the contents up at least once a week and throw the refuse outside. My coffee maker does not require filters but if you use coffee filters and are going to attempt this extremely easy composting method you can tear the used filter up a bit and grind it right along with everything else. I have tried it and the results are the same. I have a coffee funnel that I use from time to time with filters so I have put coffee filters into my "compost."
I imagine the reason I'm able to get away with composting without adding leaves, or sawdust, or whatever else you would add and then turning occasionally is because:
1.) I grind the waste up before I throw it outside.
2.) There's always a good amount of coffee grounds in my mixture so it almost looks just like dirt once it's been ground.
3.) I do spread it out a bit when dumping it outside. I throw the mixture throughout the back part of our front flower bed.
4.) The "compost" is directly below our rain run off so it's beat into the ground whenever it rains. (we don't have gutters on our house)

I'm not sure any of these factors are essential for anyone who might want to try extremely easy composting but I do think they all help in the process.

There's coffee grounds, banana peels, red kale stems, strawberry tops, and onion peels in this particular mix. I just take this bowl, head to the front of the house, and toss the contents into the back part of the flower bed.

This is the exact spot that I throw the mixture; right next to our house and directly behind a row of bushes and flowers. There are noticeable egg shell bits, any coffee filter scraps would be visible initially but the ones I placed there over the winter have seemingly disappeared. Currently there's a visible asparagus butt, and an onion peel here or there that didn't chop up all the way but for the most part it just looks like dirt and this is about 5 months of food scraps. Once again there has never been an odor. And similarly like many of you commented on the original post the food scraps I keep inside on the counter have never begun to smell.




And that is my method. So far so good. I promise to update you immediately if there is ever any sort of issue. I'm still VERY open to any comments about how this might be a bad idea.

8 comments:

  1. I don't think it's a bad idea at all. I have done the same thing and it works well. Mine go into the back yard flower beds, without the coffee. Since none of us here are coffee drinkers.

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    1. Good to hear someone else is doing the same! It's been working just great for me :)

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  2. Glad to hear you were so successful! Once you compost it is hard to go back to "not"... it just seems so wasteful :)

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    1. Thanks. I've been wanting to for so long that I am really happy this is working out!

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  3. I've done this and although it worked well I did have problems with fire ants come summer. But then, I lived in Texas at that time. Still, you might want to watch out for fire ants and prevent accordingly. Good Luck!

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    1. I have read online that ants do not like coffee grounds so hopefully this is true and will prevent an influx in ants. Did you have coffee grounds in your compost?

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  4. Be sure to make sure your plants can handle all the nitrogen the coffee will give them.

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  5. I'd love an update with something lush growing in there :)

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