20 September, 2021

Go composting!

Being able to get your own compost soil for your crops is wonderful and the plants love it. As a soil improvement, compost is difficult to beat, and pampering your flower beds and garden land with compost gives healthier and more lush plants. It is also both cheap and easy and a good way to dispose of your waste.

This time of year, much of the gardening work consists of harvesting and clearing weeds. As annual flowers bloom and you collect tops from different crops, it quickly becomes a lot to take advantage of. From what you cook and eat, there will also be leftovers that you may want to take advantage of.

Compost garden waste

In Garden compost, it is very useful to use all the branches, leaves and weeds you clean away in the garden during the year. Even though I compost some garden waste directly over the crops, I still benefit from garden composting. At certain times of the year, the garden beds are full making it hard to put branches and other plant parts. At these times, everything goes down into the compost.

A garden compost is relatively easy to build. Often you may have some waste wood at home and can put it together in a compost bin. It is good to put your compost in a shady position to more easily retain moisture. If it gets too dry, you may need to water the compost.

Hot container composting

In many gardens, there is hot container compost to compost food waste. Hot container composts are insulated and tight so that mice and rats do not move in and cause damage. The food waste is mixed with carbon-rich litter to contribute to decomposition and reduce odors and flies.

Bokashi

If you do not have room for a large hot container compost or you do not feel like waiting several months for your compost soil, bokashi can be a good composting method.

The containers you buy for bokashi compost are often relatively small, which means that you can have them under the sink in the kitchen, for example.
The method involves mixing your kitchen waste with a special litter or liquid that contains microorganisms to start a fermentation process. When the bucket is full, leave it for a few weeks without opening it. It is important that the process takes place air-free.

When the food waste has fermented for a couple of weeks, it can either directly be mixed with the soil in the garden beds or you can mix it with soil in a container. The waste turns into nutrient-rich soil in just a few weeks, depending on what you put in your bokashi compost.

Bokashi is a quick way to compost your food waste but requires a little more work than a regular garden compost.
From your bokashi compost, you also drain leachate that is diluted with water and used as a liquid nutrient for both potted plants and garden plants.
Bokashi composting has become commonplace and various brands are sold both online and in well-stocked stores.