An example of a small indoor compost and garden
This is a guide to building your own indoor compost.
For more information on composting, check out composting 101 and the benefits of composting.
A few quick notes:
Green material is organic material high in nitrogen. It includes most kitchen scraps, grass clipping, egg shells, etc.
Brown material is organic material high in carbon and phosphorous. It includes shredded newspaper, cardboard, leaves, etc.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
1) A sealable container to house your compost. It should be large enough to house at least a months’ worth of kitchen scraps, as well as some extra space for soil and shredded newspaper.
2) A tray large enough for your container to sit on.
3) A drill
4) A scoop
5) Soil
6) Dry newspaper
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
1) Drill holes in your bin for ventilation. Your compost needs oxygen to aid in the decomposition process.
2) Place newspaper over your tray.
3) Place your bin on top of the tray.
4) Place your bin and tray in the place you would like your compost to be.
Pretty simple!
USING YOUR COMPOST BIN
1) A good place for your indoor compost is under the sink. It’s out of sight, close to where you’ll be preparing food, and if it’s an enclosed space it will block slight odors from your compost from moving into your kitchen. Make sure you have a lock for your drawers if you have children.
2) Add a layer of soil to your compost, a few inches deep.
3) Add a layer of dry, shredded newspaper on top of this.
4) Add kitchen scraps daily as you produce them. When you do, also add a handful of shredded newspaper, to maintain a wet/dry and green/brown balance.
5) Mix your compost once a week, adding a scoop of soil into the mix.
WORM COMPOSTING
Worm composting (known as vermicomposting to nerds) is a method of composting where worms are used to help speed up the decomposition process. Where a normal compost would takes months to produce material usable in your garden, this method takes only weeks. To learn more about it, read this article.
Good luck and stay prepared!
We’re about to head into December and Those who haven’t started composting now is a great time. You mentioned adding layers of scrapes, newspaper and dirt. To get the fermenting process really rolling check out my video: There is a secret sauce.