Our latest guest blog comes to us from Rosie Hutchison, who works for the Kaipatiki Project Environment Centre in Auckland.
I work with compost and am lucky enough to teach composting courses for the Kaipatiki Project and the local councils within the Auckland region. Consequently am always asked how to reduce waste, make compost and help make a difference to waste.
On the whole there are 3 different systems that you can choose – the traditional composter (as has been used for generations), the worm farm and the bokashi system. Each works differently to produce essentially the same product – a valuable resource for your garden made out of the waste from the garden and the kitchen.
I am frequently asked what is the right system for me? There is no easy answer as it has to suit you, your family, your lifestyle and the amount of waste you produce. Most importantly the system will suit you if want to do it and can maintain it.
So the first question to ask yourself is: Do you like bugs?
I work with bugs practically everyday of my life, and for me bugs in the compost is a good thing! Picking up a bunch of worms from my farm is very easy and I still find it surprising that for a lot of people, a worm or a bug is still something to scream at. If you don’t like worms then don’t choose a worm farm. A worm farm contains up to 10,000 worms when in full swing, so there is no doubt that you have to be able to get along with them. My daughter tried to name all ours and always finds Tiger when she looks in.
A compost system should be crammed with life. Not just worms but an entire ecosystem including ants, mites, centipedes and many other creepy crawlies.
For the squeemish there is the bokashi. It only has the bugs when transferred to soil relying on beneficial microorganisms that you can’t see.
Having got over the bug thing, next you need to consider how much time you have, the space in your garden, how much kitchen and garden waste you produce and what will you do with all the compost once you have made it. So a few basic pointers.
1 If you live in a place with little or no land the worm farms and bokashi are often a better solution.
2 If you have children, a worm farm is great fun and easy to maintain (but don’t let them feed the worms onion or citrus as they don’t like them – much like the kids!).
3 If you are a couple or live on your own, bokashi is a very quick and easy way to compost waste.
4 If you have space, some time and lots of garden waste, it is best to have a compost bin.
All of these systems work well on their own or can be combined to use two or all of the systems. Whatever you choose you will be reducing your waste going to landfill and you will save yourself money.
These are only a few basic ideas, I love teaching the courses and value sharing information and learning from other people who have been doing this for years. I am always looking for new ideas. Especially different ways of burying the bokashi while it finishes breaking down.
If you want to know more about composting you can contact the Kaipatiki Project on 09 4821172 or your local council (Auckland City, Manukau City and North Shore City run regular workshops throughout the year). For more information also try www.createyourowneden.org.nz.
Comments
"All of these systems work well on their own or can be combined to use two or all of the systems."
I agree - we use all of them!
We use a worm farm at home. There are only two of us in the household, but somehow we manage to produce enough fruit and vege scraps to keep our worms well-fed. We produce too many scraps to make a simple bokashi system work for us at home - we would probably fill a 10-litre bucket a week, so having the worms reduce that bulk to a fraction of its original size is a real bonus.
On the other hand, when we visit our bach up north a bokashi bucket is just right. We rarely stay for more than a week at a time and sometimes there will be months between visits, so it's not suited to a worm farm. Also the bach is in the bush (kiwi country!) and the last thing we want to do is encourage rats and possums so we can't use an outdoor compost sytem. Bokashi is best in the bush!
And then there are the lawn clippings and garden prunings in the city. They won't work in either a bokashi system (too bulky) or a worm system (too bulky, and lawn clippings will get too hot and too acidic). This is where a hot compost system is ideal. Where we are now, our landlord gets the lawns done by a contractor who removes the clippings as part of the service. But in our previous home we used to take care of the lawns and gardens ourselves and had a lovely big steaming compost heap in the corner.
The combination of all three systems is just right for us, and we never end up with organic waste that needs to go to landfill. Instead it all goes back into the soil and helps grow the next lot of lovely plants, either in gardens or in containers on the deck. A very satisfying outcome. :)
Submitted by Lindis on 28 April 2009 14:17:40
I'm afraid the link doesn't work.
Submitted by peaksandtroughs on 13 May 2009 16:02:26
Hi,
I went on one of the courses you ran last year and have now been using the bokashi for some time. I found this really good as I only have a small section and don't have the space for a large compost.
I found it works well having 2 bokashi bins, while one is sealed waiting to be burried I can fill the second one. I found if you regularly pressed the food scraps into the bucket I can get far more in and it all appeared to break down really well.
One day will have a bigger garden and be able to use all three systems.
Submitted by EdwardR on 13 May 2009 16:21:09
Hi there - the link now works for Create Your Own Eden - Cheers
Submitted by Rosie on 13 May 2009 17:38:44
Another way to make the bokashi into compost is to put it into the compost bin once the fermentation process is complete. If doing this, make sure that there is a good brown layer on top of it to keep out the pests. Use the juice either diluted 1:100 on the garden or concentrated down your drains (toilet, shower etc)- its really effective!
Submitted by Rosie on 13 May 2009 17:41:46
Composting is the beautiful beginnings of creating one of the most fundamental prerequisites of life as we know it, Soil . Diversity of complementary ingredients is better than too much of the same thing and some consideration ought to be given to this. Although there are merits for small compact easy to manage and out of sight, over there, under cover techniques. Im refering to popularised commercially available containers for worms, bins for waste, bokashi buckets, get my drift. There is really only one seriously get it together method and thats the old fashioned decent sized progressive tried and true compost bin system. 1.2 M3 minimum size bin built easily out of recycled untreated pallets. This involves one bin for new waste, second bin for turning over first bin into at regular intervals each month or two and third bin for final result after 3-6 months of process. It is hard work but well worth it. Try to be With the moment while you are turning. The Key Ingredients for this process are the addition of manures for Nitrogen availability,a little potash and blood and bone, Air for aerobic bacterial contribution and Water, lots of it to feed and speed the living procession of trillions of integral life forms working together to create rich yummy composted soil. The Heat generated will cook the unwanted seed factor so long as the components are fresh green and available in a small enough enmass quantity. Worms can be moved into this system after the initial heat exchange has occurred depending on time of year and amount of material, They will be happy to stay and double population [about every 28 days] and be part of the whole finished product along with bugs, beetles and billions of bacterial beauties. If you are a small concern think about a collective bin system with the neighborhood even just the immediate next door. Run your prunings through a lawn mower if you dont have a mulcher or just cut them up small with secateurs, invite the local lawn mower man to deposit in your bins, grass leaves etc etc etc. Anyhow this is my opinion after twenty years of practising permaculture and it begins a wonderful relationship with the earth you help to create, and is'nt that what it's all about ? RELATIONSHIP. Get yourself dirty and remember to wear gloves and a mask if turning compost, thanks, Wanakabob.
Submitted by wanakabob on 20 May 2009 22:47:44
wanakabob, it's great to hear your enthusiasm for soil, compost, and all the wonderful greeblies that live in both! It really is magical how we can take something that's often seen as "rubbish" and turn it into a beautiful and valuable resource.
My great wish is that people would stop treating "dirt" as a bad thing, and instead encourage their children to explore the abundant life in a patch of soil, and understand the complex (yet so simple!) interactions between all living things.
Maybe we should all go on a field trip to wanakabob's place. :)
Submitted by Lindis on 22 May 2009 13:23:40
Hi, Rosie
I went to your composing course last week on 30 Jul 09. Now I started worm farming. But my worms seem not eat much. I put some carrot peels and tea bags on the first day, but the nest day there were still quite a lot left. And there were quite a lot of worms went up to the lid, seem want to escape.
Can you help me out?
Thanks,
Linda Zeng
Submitted by lindazeng on 3 August 2009 21:54:36