Eric and I currently have large composting bins in our side yard. The bins are so big that they can hold a year worth of compostables. The space is divided into 5 compartments – 2 for composting household and garden waste and 2 for composting the same things plus cat waste. The 5th bin is a spare in case we have overflow.
My father-in-law sent a link pointing us to NatureMill. If I had some spare money I would try one out in a heart beat. I have to admit that it looks like a neat little appliance. According to their instructions you can compost fruit and veggie stuff, meat and dairy along with small bones like fish bones. You can also compost animal feces and pet bedding. I don’t know if it would work for us since everything has to be chopped or broken into pieces 4 inches or smaller and admittedly we’re lazy. You also cannot compost paper, newspaper or cardboard which would seriously limit us.
I also noticed that they warn that you shouldn’t put the fresh compost too close to plants unless it’s aged 6 months outdoors. I think the reason for this is because the compost produced from this machine is way too high in nitrogen. The standard ratio is 10:1 (carbon:nitrogen) of compostables. I don’t think you’d get that by adding a couple of scoops of wood pellets they recommend with each deposit. As long as a person is aware of this and knows how to correct the imbalance or ages the compost then this would be great.
Despite the potential high nitrogen and having to buy wood pellets, baking soda and a filter for it, I would still give this a go. I really like how they don’t shy away from composting meats and dairy which actually account for quite a bit of compostable waste amazingly enough.
1 comments:
Good for you! I'd really like to start composting but can't because I live in an apartment and the neighbors would probably not let me get away with it for long.
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