Saturday, February 20, 2010

How to speed up Compost

I found a nice blog that reminds me that composting IS a process. (I love the word process)
One of the biggest problems with outdoor bin composting is that it isn't a particularly fast process. This can be a little frustrating if you want that compost quickly in the spring to put it on plants. But there are some things you can do to speed up the process of composting.

They talk about several things to consider. One is look at the size of food you put in the compost. chop up large things like potatoes or banana peels and even crush up the egg shells. This helps the food break down faster.

Another thing they mention is that worms faster. Yes, they say worms compost 3 times faster the the standard outdoor bin method. those little guys are on a happy mission. I have started to freeze my food scraps in a large freezer bag, I smash things up once I put them in the bag, then bag in the freezer. When the worms need fed, I grab out 2 cups per bin, let it thaw and put it in. the freezing actually starts the breaking down process of the food, making the job that much easier and quicker for the worms. How cool is that.

3 comments:

jamie said...

Saw your comment on The Beginning Farmers Blog; Check out our blog: concordmeadowsfarm.blogspot.com and Facebook. We are in Athens, OH. Thanks --- Jamie

Healing Woman said...

Your blog posting is getting me excited for spring. I have a lot of work to do on my compost bin and I appreciate all your ideas.

Thanks

Healingwoman
Cheryl Dolby
http://www.healingwoman.blogspot.com

gedert said...

yes we are excited to start thinking about gardening!!

Jamie, glad to see someone in Ohio is making "happy" pork as we call it! you are by our friends at Blue Rock Station, we will have to make our way to get some this spring!!