Today, I am going to share with you how John and I compost at home. We hope that sharing how we compost will help stir up ideas for your own composting system.
How We Compost
We started composting a few years ago in a compost tumbler bin. Immediately, we noticed a reduction in how much trash we sent to the landfill by diverting our kitchen waste to compost. As a family of 2, our tumbler bin has been sufficient in handling our volume of organic waste. We only recently emptied our bin for the first time and still had room for more waste.
Green Waste
During the week, we gather our kitchen scraps (coffee grounds, unbleached coffee filters, fruit, and vegetable peelings, etc.) in old yogurt containers with lids. We fill and empty a couple of these yogurt containers once or twice a week into our tumbler bin.
Brown Waste
Previously, we would usually only add brown waste during the fall, when we had dried leaves in the yard. For those with compost experience, you may have guessed, a once-a-year addition of brown waste is not nearly enough. Now, we have a few wooden pallets set up to keep brown waste to add throughout the year. The pallet bins were a free and quick project I’ll share in the near future.
All mixed up
We chose a black tumbler bin to help heat the organic waste and to make turning the compost easier. Turning compost is important because it adds oxygen. By incorporating oxygen from the air, this helps keep aerobic microbes happy and prevents methane production by anerobic microbes. Generally, once we add waste into the tumbler bin we turn the bin several times to ensure enough air is added.
Troubleshooting Compost
Our finished product this year was not the best compost. It was a bit wet, and honestly, smelled bad upon close inspection. To help troubleshoot these issues we’ve done a couple of things. First, we moved the bin from a shaded area to a sunnier spot, which helped with some of the smell. Shout out to my sister, thank you for this tip.😊 Additionally, we’ve set up the pallet bin close to our tumbler bin to have more brown waste readily available year round.
Ultimately, the best compost system is one that works for you and your family. The most challenging part about composting for us was getting started. John surprised me by assembling the tumbler before I got home from work one day. He explained it was not easy to put together. I am grateful for his perseverance because we have been composting ever since.
However, you choose to compost, get started today.
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