Want to grow a healthy, lush and chemical-free garden?
Then you probably know that using compost is one of the best ways to create a thriving garden…
…But how can you make compost indoors? How can you turn your food scraps into “black gold” without attracting other critters into your apartment?
This is something that I’ve been working on since I started urban gardening, and I want to share what I’ve learned with you. I’ve had the fruit fly infestations, the horrible odors (and I mean horrible) and don’t want you to have to go through that.
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Why Compost in Your Kitchen
That’s what most people ask me.
Your kitchen is already crammed and you have limited space.
But here’s the thing, you have almost all the materials you need to get started – fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, coffee grinds, shredded paper…
Why toss those things into the landfill when you can use them to grow your own healthy garden?
“Food waste now represents the single largest component of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) reaching landfills and incinerators.”Source: EPA
Yes, you can buy compost from the store or get it from a local source. If you do, make sure you research what they are using and the methods that they use. You don’t want to mistakingly use potentially toxic compost on the food that you are going to eat.
Here are some articles to get your kitchen compost set-up in your apartment.
Making an Indoor Compost Bin
Making an Indoor Compost Bin
I took a 10-gallon steel garbage can and turned it into a compost bin. It worked well, but it couldn’t take many scraps and took a few months to make usable compost.
Making Kitchen Compost Containers of All Sizes
This was a good idea, but wasn’t very scalable. There were small containers all over the place.
Composting Tips
Blend Up Your Food Scraps
This helps to speed along the decomposition process.
Composting Mistakes
Too Many Greens
You’ll need a balance of greens and browns. I made the mistake of putting in too many food scraps and the result was the worst smell ever.
Worm Composting
Done With Worm Composting
I made several attempts at making my own worm compost bin and failed, but I’m going to be starting up again.
This isn’t all.
I have come up with other ways to efficiently (and odorlessly) to compost in a kitchen that I am going to share with you. So there is plenty more to come…
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