garden news-save your food scraps for compost

GARDEN NEWS-SAVE YOUR FOOD SCRAPS FOR COMPOST

this is a picture of our compost to be kitchen scraps bin
we actually have 3 of these
we use one while the other two are resting or being cleaned

in 2001 when we moved to the country n near austin the house had no garbage disposal
there was a place for one
i offered to put one in
but
we decided we would just take our kitchen scraps and take them down to the chickens
so every day or so i would dump them in a food trough like area built from stacked stones
the chickens would go after it like sharks go after fish bait

they preferred these kitchen scraps over the feed pellets and crumbles that were made available to them

for providing these to them they would go out to the compost pile and dig around and poop all over the leaves we left there in huge piles
they eventually shredded the leaves to minute particles
what was left was a very rich compost we put on our garden

so from our plates to the compost scrap bucket to the chickens to the compost piles to our garden to grow our vegetables which ended up back in our kitchen as veggies for our meals
this cycle went around and around for the 17 years we lived there

when we moved to santa barbara into our condo
there was no garbage disposal
do you want one i asked my boss my wife she
no she said
so 
she found these 3 compost buckets at a thrift shop
we have been using them for 4 years now

in my bin in that picture above are egg shells banana peels avocado pits and peels orange peels apple cores coffee grounds and filters tea bags veggie pieces paper towels to name a few things

i take these to my garden where i have 7 five gallon buckets buried in the ground in my garden so the top is even with the ground level
its covered with a 1 ft square concrete block to keep varmints out

these worm compost buckets are spaced out over my garden

there are probably about 30 3/8 inch holes drilled in the bottom and sides of the bucket
the kitchen compost bucket contents are dumped into these 5 gallon buckets
eventually worms and pill bugs and other compost varmints crawl through those 3/8 inch holes
they eat up all that kitchen garbage
if you dig into this stuff you will get handfuls of worms

after a few months it fills up and the worms and their buddies exit via the holes back into the garden
i then have about 5 gallons of pure worm compost that i put on my garden
so i produce 35 gallons of worm compost every few months

so my kitchen scraps fertilize my garden so i can grow more veggies to eat so i can have more kitchen scraps to make more worm compost etc

thats my compost system i use for my garden

this week i saw this article about the state of california now requiring everyone to save their scraps instead of putting them in the trash collection bins
yes its ok to use the garbage disposal
but they want you to dump everything in a designated compost collection bin which the garbage folks will pick up

this stuff will be composted to be used as compost
some sites will generate biogas to be sold or used eg one city produces all the gas thats needed to run some of the vehicles for the city 

also in the law is a requirement that grocery stores donate their outdated stuff to food pantries or food banks etc
i remember once when we first got our chickens i asked the produce manager at the grocery store if i could get some of those left over veggies for my chickens
no he said
we arent allowed to
we have to throw it all in the trash bins

what a waste since when i looked in his bin there was stuff i had looked at on the shelf just minutes before and decided not to buy it
now it was going to the trash

now here that stuff will go to those in need or go to the compost trash bin to be converted to biogas or to compost

so
maybe we all need to rethink what we do with our kitchen scraps
here and in vermont you can just dump it in the green compost bin

the rest of you dont need a state law to make you do this

just recycle your kitchen scraps
and
make your own compost

the organicgreen doctor