What Utter Rot...

a.k.a., fun with composting


Another important step for making a place feel like home is to get the compost pile up and running. After living with a compost bin for over two years, it feels fundamentally wrong to throw vegetable trimmings into a plastic bag, to get mummified in a landfill.

It's pretty neat that the state of Massachusetts subsidizes the distribution of compost bins: for instance I bought one from the town for $30 ($95 retail price). Of course, it is in their self-interest to reduce the waste stream, assuming the bins that they sell get used.

The model they sell is called the New Age Composter; formerly the Brave New™ Composter (Not that I think their current name is that good, but I guess their focus groups said that the old name makes them think of the distopian approach to composting...)

Incidentally, Assembles in 10 min without tools was a crock of shit in my considered opinion. Some requisite items for assembling the upper cone included vise grip pliers, clamps, and an ample supply of foul language. And staking the bin down to the frozen ground required a cordless drill and a 12" masonry bit.

The Wikipedia article on composting has a pretty good description on how to run a compost pile, including a section on the differences between 'hot' and 'cold' composting:

Cold composting is the type of composting done in most domestic garden compost bins where temperatures never reach above 30°C (86°F). Cold composting is typically people placing their kitchen scraps in the garden compost bin and forgetting about them. (oops... sounds about like what I did in Canada)

In this circumstance, a garden compost bin becomes a storage container for scraps and has a very high moisture content which means it turns quite anaerobic and smelly. This type of composting generates significant adverse green house gas emissions. (again, oops...)

When composting this way, a gardener can improve the process by adding some wood chip or small pieces of bark, leaves, twigs or a combination of these materials through the mixture. This material helps to improve drainage and airflow.

Well, at least in this installation, I have access to dry leaves and garden implements, so I'll balance the green/brown (nitrogen/carbon) mix a bit better.