My ramblings on composting.

SQWIBB · October 19, 2018

October 19th, 2018

Composting

My ramblings on composting.

Composting
Kitchen waste. What is kitchen waste? If you ask me, kitchen waste is uneaten food bits that get tossed in the trash and make it's way to a landfill. I have very minimal kitchen waste, I do however have plenty of Kitchen scraps. What are Kitchen scraps? I consider kitchen scraps a recycled material not waste, because it is not waste, it is a renewable resource.

I religiously compost and have been composting in a compost bin for some years now, after some serious thought I decided I wanted something even easier than my current lazy composting regiment. I won't go into what I compost, but let's just say I compost a lot more items than the average person, however this article is about my method of composting not what I compost.

I decided in lieu of bin composting I would try "in situ" composting, so this past growing season I have been doing a lot of "composting in place" and so far it has worked out pretty well.

I wouldn't consider this "trench composting", because frankly I'm not digging a trench. I have heard it cleverly referred to as "Cathole Composting", "Dig and Drop Composting" and "Direct Composting".

I practice no till, and "in-situ" composting is the only time the soil is disturbed other than planting.

I simply dig in my kitchen scraps between the plants during the growing season, mark the area, then move onto the next area. I have even gently moved the mulch aside, tossed kitchen scraps directly on top of the soil and slid the mulch back.

When my Hugelkultur beds were really starting to settle, some pockets/voids opened up and I would tuck my scraps and trimmings into these voids.

Even when the beds are planted heavily with cover crops in the fall, I still can find a place for the kitchen scraps.

Now here is where it gets a bit fuzzy between composting and mulching.

Stuff like fresh yard trimmings and subpar veggies get tossed back on top of the bed during the growing season. In the winter if there's snow on the beds, I just toss kitchen scraps on top and cover with snow, sometimes I dont even cover the kitchen scraps. If the beds are frozen solid, I just toss the scraps on top of the bed. I will also do this with Bio-char, Rabbit manure, animal bedding and coffee grounds (also ashes, but I consider ashes a fertilizer).

I would consider this practice, mulching. So to be clear, if scraps are under the mulch layer and in direct contact (slightly soil covered) or under the soil, I consider it compost, if the scraps are above the soil line, I consider it a mulch. There, that was easy, wasn't it?

Here is a quick example of a few piles of Kitchen Scraps for compost topped with Coffee grounds and yard trimmings for a mulch.

I pushed aside some mulch, dug in three compost holes around my apple trees, covered with soil, slid the mulch back then topped with coffee grounds and some trimmed shrubs.

Is it better than bin composting? It doesn't matter! What matters is, there is no wrong way to compost for the obvious reasons that you are using a renewable resource and keeping it out of a landfill.

Time will tell if this will be my final composting method.

Disclaimer. All the above under "Composting" is based on personal experience and no testing in labs have been done.

October 19, 2018	#1
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	My ramblings on composting. October 19th, 2018 Composting My ramblings on composting. Composting Kitchen waste. What is kitchen waste? If you ask me, kitchen waste is uneaten food bits that get tossed in the trash and make it's way to a landfill. I have very minimal kitchen waste, I do however have plenty of Kitchen scraps. What are Kitchen scraps? I consider kitchen scraps a recycled material not waste, because it is not waste, it is a renewable resource. I religiously compost and have been composting in a compost bin for some years now, after some serious thought I decided I wanted something even easier than my current lazy composting regiment. I won't go into what I compost, but let's just say I compost a lot more items than the average person, however this article is about my method of composting not what I compost. I decided in lieu of bin composting I would try "in situ" composting, so this past growing season I have been doing a lot of "composting in place" and so far it has worked out pretty well. I wouldn't consider this "trench composting", because frankly I'm not digging a trench. I have heard it cleverly referred to as "Cathole Composting", "Dig and Drop Composting" and "Direct Composting". I practice no till, and "in-situ" composting is the only time the soil is disturbed other than planting. I simply dig in my kitchen scraps between the plants during the growing season, mark the area, then move onto the next area. I have even gently moved the mulch aside, tossed kitchen scraps directly on top of the soil and slid the mulch back. When my Hugelkultur beds were really starting to settle, some pockets/voids opened up and I would tuck my scraps and trimmings into these voids. Even when the beds are planted heavily with cover crops in the fall, I still can find a place for the kitchen scraps. Now here is where it gets a bit fuzzy between composting and mulching. Stuff like fresh yard trimmings and subpar veggies get tossed back on top of the bed during the growing season. In the winter if there's snow on the beds, I just toss kitchen scraps on top and cover with snow, sometimes I dont even cover the kitchen scraps. If the beds are frozen solid, I just toss the scraps on top of the bed. I will also do this with Bio-char, Rabbit manure, animal bedding and coffee grounds (also ashes, but I consider ashes a fertilizer). I would consider this practice, mulching. So to be clear, if scraps are under the mulch layer and in direct contact (slightly soil covered) or under the soil, I consider it compost, if the scraps are above the soil line, I consider it a mulch. There, that was easy, wasn't it? Here is a quick example of a few piles of Kitchen Scraps for compost topped with Coffee grounds and yard trimmings for a mulch. I pushed aside some mulch, dug in three compost holes around my apple trees, covered with soil, slid the mulch back then topped with coffee grounds and some trimmed shrubs. Is it better than bin composting? It doesn't matter! What matters is, there is no wrong way to compost for the obvious reasons that you are using a renewable resource and keeping it out of a landfill. Time will tell if this will be my final composting method. Disclaimer. All the above under "Composting" is based on personal experience and no testing in labs have been done.