Composting - round 1

Well!

Composting is not as easy as 1-2-3.

So, in theory, we did everything according the guideline.

• They said to start with a bottom layer of newspaper. We did.
• They said to throw kitchen waste in. We did.
• They said to throw in a handful of remix powder now and then. We did.
• They said to stir it once a week. We did.
• They said to throw in the microbe powder once a week. We did.
• They said to wait for things to decompose. We did.

And yet, it didn't decompose. So we moved the topmost bin to the middle space and continued throwing our waste in the upper bin. It has been 3 months now and it still hasnt turned into compost *sigh*.

I finally decided to sift out the "compost" and take what I can get. It wasnt too bad, but very dry.

Sifted compost

Compost too dry

And therein lies the crux of the problem! 

We do not eat so many vegetables everyday to generate enough wet waste. Addtionally, Ahmedabad is very dry. I had placed the compost bin in a sheltered part of the terrace. But that did not prevent the winds from drying it out everyday. Hence, we were fighting a losing battle against moisture.

Now we have placed the compost bin just outside our terrace door near the society stairs. It is a dark place, unaffected by the wind. In a week itself, I can see that the scraps are retaining their moisture and decomposing. Fingers crossed that the next batch does not take 3 months to decompose!

Composting kick-off

Ever since I got interested in gardening, I wanted to try composting. But in Australia, there were too many weather challenges that prevented me from starting the process. Hence, it was on my wish list for India.

Before I bought it for myself, I had the chance to buy it for Mom. She was already recycling her vegetable waste by putting them into the various pots she had. But, this was attracting flies and was visually unappealing. Hence, I convinced her to try out Daily Dump's composter. She has been using it for more than three years now.

I waited to buy mine till we atleast had a couple of plants that it could be used in. I finally placed the order last week to pick it up from a local centre.

Here is what it looks like. It is a 3-tiered Khamba (small) depending on our vegetable consumption.

Daily dump compost bin

We have started using it and marveling at how little waste we are throwing out now! We compost vegetable peels, left over food, bread ends, egg shells (crushed), meat bones (washed), coffee grounds and tea leaves.

It has been a month since we have started using it. So far, we have nearly filled the top bin. It looked a bit dry and was not composting quickly enough, so I have added a bit of water. Hopefully, it will break down sooner then.

The lowest bin will house some dried leaves that will be mixed with the partially composted waste. We asked our society's maali to give us the leaves. He was really thrilled that we were making our own khaad.

Let's see how this turns out.