[ad_1]
How to compost organic waste
Almost any vegetable or fruit can be grown in your home with proper care. You can also do this simply by growing them from the leftover tails of lettuce, celery, onion roots, and others. What is most important is the soil in which you will plant them, as it must be rich in nutrients. Do you know that you can make this organic soil (compost) yourself in your own homes with food waste without having to buy it?
What is compost?
First, AgroWeb explains what compost is and how this process takes place. Compost is a natural, nutrient-rich fertilizer that helps grow your garden or plants. It can be made by yourself and consists of decomposed (organic) materials. Soil is the topmost layer of the earth that contains organic matter, including minerals and rock fragments. On the other hand, compost is very important because it enriches the soil, helping it to retain nutrients, water and reducing the risk of plants being affected by various diseases.
Is it hard to compost?
Developing this process at home may seem technically complicated. You might think you need to have a yard or a lot of gardening knowledge, but you don’t. What AgroWeb brings you is also applicable to those who live in apartments and urban areas.
If you are going to compost food at home with this method, you can use the waste of fruits, vegetables, egg yolks, coffee, (recyclable) tea bags as well as leaves and stems of plants that you have just pruned. Be aware that some harder materials such as pineapple, citrus peels and avocado pits take longer to decompose.
What can be composted?
Avoid composting fats, meat, fish, oil or dairy. However, if you want to compost these foods you will need an outdoor area (yard) to bury it later.
What will you need?
A bucket with a lid (or similar container) for composting. It can be small enough to take up space in your kitchen or as big as a garbage can, depending on the space or amount of food you want to compost.
A place or space to put the bucket, such as under the sink.
A drill to drill a few holes on the lid.
A small bag of dirt.
Dry carbon materials, such as newspaper or cardboard left over from toilet paper or kitchen paper.
Once you have all this, what should you do?
Start by punching a few holes in the lid of the bucket. This is necessary for air circulation, which promotes the decomposition of materials by microbes. To avoid fruit flies and butterflies, you can put a breathable piece like nappa on top of the lid.
At the bottom of the bucket, put the soil, put pieces of newspaper or cardboard on top, and then start throwing in the remaining food. The dry material helps to maintain the balance between the dry and wet materials that you will compost and stops the bad smell.
Seal the lid tightly and let it do its magic.
What comes next?
Keep adding food scraps to the bucket. Take care to cut large scraps into small pieces; the smaller the pieces, the faster the decomposition.
Whenever you add food scraps, you should also add dry materials (newspaper or cardboard pieces).
As a general unwritten rule, you will need a good balance between dry materials that are rich in carbon, such as newspapers, cardboard, dried leaves, eggshells, coffee filters or wood chips, and green materials (food waste ) which release nitrogen. A healthy, rich compost should contain more carbon than nitrogen. The simple rule of thumb is to use 1/3 green material (food scraps) and 2/3 brown material (dry materials with carbon content).
Once a week sprinkle the soil and mix all the compost.
When is the compote ready?
This process can take anywhere from 6 weeks to several months to fully complete. This depends on the size of the compost bin. It will take on a dark and earthy smell.
A bad smell is not a good sign! Add more newspaper clippings to balance out the soggy green material. It may also be necessary to drill a few more holes in the lid.
What can you do with compost?
Use it to replant vegetables for a closed food system with 0 runoff! When you use it, mix it with normal water. Plants that have put down roots can tolerate more compost than planted seeds. For the seeds, use one dose of compost and 2 doses of soil.
You can also give your previously planted plants a nutrient boost by removing a few inches of existing topsoil and replacing it with compost.
You can also use the compost for the flowers you have planted at home, with the aforementioned method.
If you still have some compost left at the end, it’s totally safe to donate it to your neighbors, family members or a garden in the community where you live.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
