We Back! Revisiting Compost

After 4 months of talking about it and complaining about the stinky vegetables in our counter-top containers, my mom and I finally have our composting system up and rolling!!

We got the Miracle Gro Tumbler, which is very easy to load and spin. The directions say that it takes about 20-30 minutes to assemble, which may be the case for normal people. I, however, spent about an hour (and a half...) assembling that puppy because I'm instruction illiterate.

Composting with a tumbler isn't as gross as I expected. It doesn't smell as long as you watch your Carbon:Nitrogen ratio, it's easy to add to, and it's satisfying to see your kitchen waste reduced. Once I got the darn thing together, I set it in an area that would receive a good amount of sun and added some "brown matter" aka dead leaves and dried plant matter. This is the carbon provider in the mix. I also added our kitchen scraps, a dead bouquet of flowers, and enough water to dampen the mix. The tumbler we got comes with a very helpful guide to composting and provided insight into what additions could help keep your compost productive (and less stinky):

Carbon

Egg shells

Dead leaves

Saw dust

Clean wood ashes

Nitrogen

Vegetable scraps

Grass

Coffee grounds + Filters

Tea (loose leaf or in bags)

Composting is a lot of upfront work and requires a change of mindset. Rather than tossing your scraps or dead houseplants in the trash, you get to save them and use their decomposition to your advantage. After a couple weeks of rolling and watering, the compost mix is just about ready to add to our potted plants. If you have any questions or suggestions, comment below!