Kitchen Compost For All:

How to Choose Your Kitchen Compost Method if you Don’t Have a Garden



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FOR ALL COMPOST METHODS: 

• COLLECT ORGANIC MATERIAL FROM YOUR KITCHEN IN A CLOSED CONTAINER EVERY DAY

• MAKE SURE THERE IS SOME DRY “BROWN” CARDBOARDS W/O NEVER-BREAK-DOWN-ADDITIVES (LIKE EGG CARTONS), OR GET A BAG OF SAW DUST TO BALANCE THE WATERY “GREENS”, WHICH ARE PLANT PEELS, COFFEE GROUNDS ETC. CAUSING WATERY BREAKDOWN-CONDITIONS. (IF YOU CHOOSE BOKASHI COMPOSTING, THIS IS IRRELEVANT.)

• AFTER 1-2-3 DAYS, DEPENDING ON AMOUNT AND BEFORE IT STARTS GETTING MOLDY, CHOP/SHRED/MINCE THE ORGANIC MATERIAL TO SMALL PIECES. THIS HELPS MICROBES TO GET TO THE NUTRIETS. SMELL, FEEL, WATCH THE MATERIALS IN THE PROCESS. NOTICE THEIR BEHAVIOUR. 

• TRANSFER THE ORGANIC MATERIAL TO A PLACE WHERE IT CAN BREAK DOWN WITHOUT GOING PUTRID OR MOLDY. THIS CAN BE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING, DEPENDING ON WHETHER YOU HAVE ACCESS TO EITHER OF THE FOLLOWING:  


A. BALCONY -> RECIPE A


B. COMPOST WORMS AS HELPERS. THESE CAN BE BOUGHT COMMERCIALLY, GIVEN YOU BY ME OR BY LOCAL COMPOSTERS, PERMACULTURE PEOPLE ETC, IN YOUR AREA -> RECIPE B


C.  CONSORTIUM OF EFFICIENT MICROBES FOR BOKASHI. THESE CAN BE BOUGHT COMMERCIALLY OR HOME MADE IN A QUITE COMPLEX AND LONG PROCESS -> RECIPE C                                              


D. NONE OF THE ABOVE -> RECIPE D GUERILLA COMPOST! 


IF YOU HAVE A GARDEN AND A COMPOST ALREADY, JUST SPEND SOME EXTRA TIME WITH IT AND REALLY ENJOY ITS WONDERS!



A. BALCONY COMPOST:

• CHOOSE A CONTAINER OF ANY SIZE, MINIMUM CA 10L. MAKE HOLES IN THE LID TO ALLOW AIR TO FLOW THROUGH, OR USE A MESH AS LID TO NOT INVITE BIRDS.

• YOU CAN STACK TWO CONTAINERS AND MAKE HOLES IN THE BOTTOM OF THE UPPER ONE TO CATCH EXCESS WATER IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE UPPER AND LOWER.

• ADD THE ORGANIC MATERIAL FROM YOUR KITCHEN AND OBSERVE OVER TIME WHETHER THE MIXTURE GETS TOO WET – ADD BROWNS – OR TOO DRY – ADD GREENS. TURN THE MIXTURE NOW AND THEN TO MAKE SURE THERE IS OXYGEN FOR THE BACTERIA TO WORK.

• ADD COMPOST WORM COLLABORATORS TO BREAK DOWN AND MAKE GOOD SOIL FASTER OR JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE AMAZING AND COOL.




B. INDOOR WORMY COMPOST:

• CHOOSE A CONTAINER, MINIMUM CA 5L, WITH LID OR FINE MESH THAT CLOSES PROPERLY. MAKE SMALL HOLES IN THE LID TO ALLOW AIR FLOW*.

• YOU CAN STACK TWO CONTAINERS AND MAKE HOLES IN THE UPPER ONE TO CATCH EXCESS WATER IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE UPPER AND LOWER*.

• MAKE A BEDDING OF SOIL AND SOME SHREDDED CARDBORAD OR SAWDUST, ADD THE WORMS TO THEIR NEW HOME.

• ADD ORGANIC MATERIAL, AT FIRST NOT A MUCH BIGGER VOLUME THAN THE TOTAL VOLUME OF THE WORMS BODIES. COVER THE WORM FOOD WITH SHREDDED CARD OR SAWDUST.

• REPEAT THIS LAST STEP REGULARLY. OBSERVE IF THE ENVIRONMENT GETS TOO WET OR DRY, WHETHER WORMS ARE HAPPY. ADJUST HOW MUCH ORGANIC MATERIAL, CARD OR SAWDUST TO ADD, ACCORDINLY.




*THERE ARE LOTS OF FANCY DESIGNER PRODUCTS FOR INDOOR WORM “HOTELS” OR “FARMS” TO BUY OR THAT YOU CAN DESIGN AND MAKE, MOST OF THEM IN STACKED LEVELS WHERE THE WORMS CLIMB UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL WHEN THE LOWER ONE HAS BEEN FILLED WITH NICE WORM SOIL. BUT YOU CAN START WITH JUST A BOX AND EXPLORE, GET TO KNOW THE WORMS.




C. BOKASHI COMPOST:

BOKASHI IS A TWO STEP ANAEROB FERMENTATION AND SOIL MAKING PROCESS WHERE YOU COLLABORATE WITH A WHOLE CONSORTIUM OF DIFFERENT BACTERIA AND YEASTS. IT CAN BE WHOLLY INDOORS OR PART INDOOR, PART OUTDOOR. WHEN YOU GET THE HANG OF IT, IT IS SUPER PRACTICAL FOR SMALL APARTMENT ECOLOGIES. YOU ALSO DON’T HAVE TO THINK ABOUT BALANCING THE GREENS AND BROWNS.


FIRST STEP - FERMENTATION IN AIR TIGHT CONTAINER

• YOU  NEED AN AIR TIGHT CONTAINER WITH A DOUBLE BOTTOM TO KEEP YOUR FOOD SCRAPS IN, SO THAT WATER FORMING IN THE PROCESS CAN DRIP OFF AND IDEALLY REMOVED. IF TOO WATERY, THE BOKASHI MIGHT SMELL.

• YOU  NEED TO GET THE BOKASHI BACTERIA CONSORTIUM TO ADD TO YOU FOOD SCRAPS. THIS IS THE MAGIC WHICH MAKES THE FAST BREAKDOWN HAPPEN. THE EASIEST WAY TO GET THE CONSORTIUM, ALSO CALLED ‘EM1’, IS TO BUY IT EITHER IN LIQUID FORM OR READY INOCULATED TO A CARBON SOURCE LIKE OAT BRAN. YOU CAN ALSO MAKE IT YOURSELF, BUT THIS IS NEXT LEVEL.

• PUT YOUR SCRAPS IN THE AIR TIGHT CONTAINER EVERY COUPLE OF DAYS, BEGFORE IT GROWS MOLDY, AND ADD SOME CONSORTIUM EACH TIME. CLOSE LID WELL.

• WHEN FULL, LEAVE FOR AT LEAST TWO WEEKS TO FERMENT.


SECOND STEP - SOIL FACTORY

• WHEN READY FERMENTED, ADD THE BOKASHI TO SOME SOIL BY EITHER BURYING IT IN THE GROUND OR PUTTING IT WITH SOME SOIL IN ANOTHER OPEN CONTAINER. ALWAYS LEAVE AT LEAST 10 CM SOIL COVERING THE BOKASHI TO AVOID POTENTIAL SHARP SMELLS AND IF IN THE OPEN, TO AVOID ATTRACTING ANIMALS.

• AFTER CA TWO MORE WEEKS INTERACTING WITH THE SOIL BACTERIA, YOUR BOKASHI HAS BROKEN DOWN TO SUPER NUTRITIOUS COMPOST SOIL. VOILÀ!



D. GUERILLA COMPOSTING

• FIND AN AREA IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD WHICH YOU WANT TO CARE FOR WITH FOOD FOR THE SOIL MICROBES.

• DIG THE SHREDDED ORGANIC MATERIAL INTO THE GROUND, USE YOUR HANDS TO MIX IT WITH THE SOIL AND THINK OF THE GIFT YOU ARE GIVING THE GROUND BY ATTRACTING MORE SOIL LIFE TO THIS SPECIFIC PLACE.

• ENJOY THE FEEL OF THE SOIL AND THE SOIL FOOD.

• REPEAT REGULARLY.