Food safety is a foundational concern in the world today.  Is our food safe?  With food that is trucked from thousands—sometimes hundreds of thousands of miles away—it is a difficult question to answer.  Can we trust the USDA organic label as being an angelic benefactor of purity?  What about all the food that doesn’t have that label, are they claiming its inorganic?  Luckily one thing we do know is that we can cast our food vote by growing our own food and generating good old fashioned organic compost.

Organic Compost—Natures Miracle

Organic compost is almost like saying organic water, because it is all part of a natural, organic system, but it is just part of our vocabulary nowadays.  Compost is simply anything that is decaying down.  This break down process is caused by aerobic bacteria doing what the best teachers do; breaking down complicated things into simpler things.  The broken down matter creates fertility, stimulating the web of life.

Do the Compost!

We all generate waste, but if we compost we can replace the word “waste” with “recycle,” a word that will make the environment and your garden smile.  A smiling garden full of color and beauty means health to the person who takes care of it.  You provide compost and care; the garden provides health.  Hippocrates said, “Let food be your medicine.”  When you do the environmental composting dance, you are turning liabilities into assets.  Everybody prefers assets.

The Steps In The Compost Dance

By adding a few extra steps to your daily culinary dance, you are becoming an environmental superhero.

Step 1:  Capture your food scraps in a compost pail

Step 2:  When your organic compost pail fills up transfer it to a home composter.

Step 3:  Reap the fertile benefits of organic compost

Organic vs Inorganic

True organic compost will be free of any volatile baddies that will harm you and the worms.  There is drastic heat-up in the composting process, but it is not known whether or not inorganic chemicals are cooked off—better safe than sorry:  keep ‘em out.

So Many Ways, So Little Time

There are tons of ways to generate organic compost:

• Classic Composting:  This process using aerobic organisms to break down your food scraps or other organic assets like leaves, into valuable organic compost.  You can be the agricultural ox and provide the muscle in the turning of a compost pile or you can use the nifty tumbling composters that are available today.

• Red Worm Composting:  put your worms to work on your leftovers.  Your worms will turn your waste into a worm castings; a nutrient rich fertilizer that levels up your gardens potential.

• Bokashi Composting:  The opposite of classic composting.  This Japanese system uses fermentation to break down kitchen compost.  Oriental influenced organic compost.

• Black Soldier Fly Larvae Composting:  Put the larvae of the black soldier fly on compost duty.  This is a great composting system for the urban chicken keeper.

• Liability to Asset composting:  Depending on your level of commitment, space, and ambition, you can turn other people’s scraps, leaves, or other liabilities that would normally have gone to the landfill, into organic compost to benefit your garden (or maybe you are an agrarian philanthropist and want to make compost and give it away).

The next time you are sitting down to a meal you can smile when you have leftovers because they are going to be recycled one way or another:  leftover casserole or organic compost.  I say compost your heart out!

If you liked this article on Organic compost, take a peek at this Envirocycle Composter Review

If you are a classic composter who takes pride in organic compost creation, you may want to ratchet up your composting technique.  There are numerous ways to teleport forward in your compost campaign, Bokashi composting is one way in which you can take a far-east example and add it to your eco-conscious-compost portfolio.

Bokashi Composting

The Japanese devised this technique that utilizes fermentation to turn your kitchen scraps to beneficial food for the soil.  The benefits of Bokashi composting include:

• No odors–this anaerobic system uses a bokashi bran to initiate the fermentation process in an airtight environment.

• Fast–the fermentation quickly breaks down the scraps into organic compost

• No turning–the bacteria turn the compost for you

• No separating–meat, dairy, fried foods, no problem; plop them into the bokashi bin and the invisible workers will break it down.

Bokashi composting is an ideal in-kitchen way to deal with your kitchen waste.

Classic Compost

If you would like to up the creative ante on your classic compost pile, add some spice.  Tumbling composters are a quick, easy, and efficient way to aerate your compost without having to turn it.  They have nifty designs now that easily turn on a base with a compost tea drainage area.

Another creative way to do re-invent classic compost is to use chickens to turn the compost for you.  After your bokashi composting or classic compost is complete, toss in the compost to your chickens and have them spread it for you.

Red Worm Composting

If Bokashi composting is not advanced enough, try adding a group of willing worms to break your kitchen compost down into super-fertile worm castings.   You can employ a simple twenty gallon plastic for a free worm housing fix or get a sleek, stackable system with spout for worm tea drainage.  Anyway you swing it, red worm composting is enjoyable and eco-saavy.

Black Soldier Fly Larvae Composting

This new technique is a great way for the urban chicken farmer to break down kitchen compost into high fat content snackables for chickens.   The only downside of these larvae is that they devour everything and do not leave any nutrient rich castings like the worms.  Looking at the bright side, they devour anything, similar to the bokashi composting system; eliminating the seperating chore.

Whether you look to bokashi composting or any other form of advanced composting you are investing in a sustainable practice that continues to give to the environment.  Leveling up your compost game has never been as engaging or enviro-friendly.

If you liked this Bokashi Composting article, click here for the SCD Probiotics Bokashi Bin review.

When embarking on a new adventure we have to outfit ourselves with info.  Information is a light in the darkness of our new endeavor.  One new adventure a lot of people are opening their minds and environmentally sustainable hearts to is home-scale composting.  This eco-sensitive practice is a huge benefit to the earth.  Here are some simple ideas to keep in mind when searching for a kitchen composter as you set out on your composting campaign.

Keep your Goal Ever Before You

What is the goal with your home scale composting?  Is it simply to reduce the amount of waste that you and your family are creating?  Do you plan on using it for a garden?  Do you want to keep the composting process in the kitchen or do you want the kitchen composter to be a transfer vessel to a larger tumbling composter or compost pile?  How long do I want to wait before transferring from the kitchen to its next destination?  The answers to these questions will dictate what resources and tools you need in the composting process.

Function

What function do you want the kitchen composter to perform?  There are smaller compost pails that can hold a small amount of scraps, serving as a collector until you can empty it.  Then there are larger systems like a bokashi bin that you can put right in your kitchen and dump all your scraps conveniently right into it—no separating meats and other dense protein foods.  Some people may enjoy employing an army of worms to break down their compost.  Some people may want to do some black soldier fly larvae composting if they keep urban chickens to cut down on feed costs.  The function of your composting project depends on your overall goals.

Style

All people are moved by beauty and this does not stop when it comes to choosing a kitchen composter.  Small compost pails come in a multitude of styles and variety, ranging from stainless steel to ceramic to bamboo.  If you are looking for a larger kitchen composter system, you can look to tumbling composters or set up your own compost bins outside.  If you would like a compact, streamlined in-kitchen system that is aesthetically invisible there are those available, too.

Modern, country, art-deco, techno-geek; there is a kitchen composter style that will fit your aesthetic.

Price Point

Luckily your composting quest is not hampered by price.  If you don’t want price to be an object, be creative.  Some people use coffee cans, the newer plastic coffee jugs, or even canning jars as compost pails.  Some people build their own compost or red worm composting bins.  Others choose to purchase a streamlined tumbling composter with compost tea holder or compact bokashi bin.  Whatever your budgetary guideline, you can find a kitchen composter that works for you.

Now you are info-outfitted for your journey.  The good news about this adventure is that it is simple and effective; whereas most adventures are fraught with danger and peril.  The beauty of this adventure is that the work the kitchen composter is doing for you, benefits you and the earth.

If you liked this article on kitchen composters, take a peek at the SCD Probiotics Bokashi Bin review.

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I am not going to drop statistic bombs about how much garbage we toss away every minute or annually, but I will say that we throw a lot of garbage away; garbage that could be transformed into black, garden gold (think of the cost of conventional fertilizers).  We all generate waste, but with a few fun steps we can transform a percentage of that organic waste into kitchen compost:  an investment in the environment and our gardens.

Kitchen Compost In a Nutshell

When we sit down and eat a meal, usually there are small tidbits (sometimes more) that are left over.  These can range from grains, to vegetables, to meat scraps, and anything under the culinary sun.

This is kitchen compost.

Some scraps are better to compost than others, depending on what kind of organic compost system you have arranged in your home.  There are a variety of options.

• Classic compost:  in this case you need to separate out dairy, cheese, meat, and any other scraps that can go rancid.

• Red Worm Compost:  put worms to work for you.  Break down compost and create super rich castings that create a fertility boom in your garden.  Just like classic compost, no dense protein foods.

• Bokashi composting:  A Japanese composting sensation that has the most potential when it comes to in-home, kitchen compost.  The beauty of this system is that you can compost anything (no separating).  Fermentation process that is different than classic compost.  No smells!

• Black Soldier Fly Compost Bin:  Another new concept in composting using the larvae of the black soldier fly to consume your kitchen compost down to nothing.  Urban chicken farmers will get a protein kick out of this composting system.  These larvae can scarf down anything; so don’t sweat separation.

Step 1:  The Kitchen Compost Pail

Get yourself a kitchen compost catch-all that will act as a storage device.  Some people use old coffee cans and some choose to invest in a nice kitchen compost pail that is decorative and functional.  Either way you go, this is your intermediary between the plate and your next composting step.  Depending on your kitchen compost system, you may have to do some separating.  If you have an in-kitchen Bokashi bin, you can just plop your scraps right in.

Step 2:  Transfer to Home Composter

When your pail gets full, move it to the next destination; it may be a red worm compost bin, back-yard home composter, or black soldier fly compost bin.

Step 3:  Reap the benefits

The beauty in composting is that there is very little sweat equity investment (unless you want to be a compost pile person and turn the old fashioned way) because you have time, worms, or fermentation do all the work and you reap kitchen compost-garden gold—take a peek at your local hardware fertilizer section and scope the costs!

If you wonder sometimes when you are dealing with kitchen compost, like scraping the plates into the compost pail or feeding your worms “Why am I doing this?” think about how you are casting a vote for the future beauty of the world and a bumper crop of homegrown veggies.

If you like this Kitchen Compost article, click here for our Envirocycle Composter review.

Composting is not only an adult project, but one in which the whole family–especially kids–can dig in and take an active role in saving the earth.  Composting for kids brings together the kid-friendly elements that are necessary for any kid endeavor to succeed, including simplicity, short intervals, and straight-out fun.

Compost ABC’s

Composting is simply the decomposition of organic matter.  It can be leaves in the forest or tomatoes from the salad we ate yesterday.  Using microbes and air, compost breaks down into simple organic matter to further fuel the fertility of the soil.

With composting for kids, they learn some necessary lessons like the value of recycling and being able to reduce waste.  Kids will think before tossing something in the garbage, “Hey!  We can compost this!”

Harness Natural Curiosity

When I was a kid I loved going into the woods and turning over a rotten log to see what kind of insect surprise I would find.  The same can be done in the compost pile or compost bin that you are using for your composting project.  Pill bugs, centipedes, and scores of other insect unidentifiables will make your youngster shout with glee.  The yuckier the better.  Kid’s minds are afire with curiosity for the natural world and composting for kids is a great way to kindle that imagination in a fun and scientific project.

Cue Microbes

Compost is full of microbes that our eye cannot see and our ears cannot hear.  Kids will be enthralled–especially if mom or dad can get excited, too.

Cue the Worms

Kids love worms.  They love dangling them and staring at them from different angles; they love letting them wiggle around in their palms; they love just staring at them as they tunnel through compost.  Composting for kids is an activity where your kitchen composter can turn into a red worm composting farm.  You can make it a family project and build a worm bin out of a plastic, 20 gallon storage bin or you can get one of the nifty stackable red worm compost bins–either way you do it, the kids will have a blast raising worms to eat garbage.

3 Tips To Get Your Youngsters Crazy For Composting

1.       Entrust the compost to the kids–whether it be putting the kitchen compost in the compost pail or using the tumbling composter (or if you have a no-kidding-around kid they could even turn the compost pile).  Kids like responsibility and knowing a duty belongs to them.  Of course, you will have to make it a game by building it up in their mind that there is value attached to this project.  If you entrust them with an adult or grown-up job, they will step up to the plate

2.       Keep a compost journal or sketchbook.  Have the kids keep track of what’s going on in the compost.

3.       Make a compost movie.  The more close-ups of mini-monsters, the better.

Composting for kids can be a valuable family experience, but also one that extends out into the world and makes a difference.  The kids will have a blast making the earth smile.

If you liked this Composting for Kids article, check out this Worm Factory Review.

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Wouldn’t it be nice to have a group of willing people to help you out with things you need to get done throughout the course of the day?  With composting at home all you have to do is put some willing and eager worms to work for you.  Less time composting, more time doing what your heart desires.  When it comes to red worm composting, you can do a lot by doing nothing.

Worker Worms that will Work for you

Red worms love to chow down on your food scraps.  Annually the united states creates an excess of waste and a great percentage of that is organic scraps that can be broken down into productive fertilizer.  In this case trash is definitely treasure.  If you have a red worm composting bin; you can magically transform trash into treasure.  Actually, the worms will do this for you.

What Will the Worms Do For You

Worms love to eat things that you don’t eat, can’t, or just plain don’t want to eat.  They do this out of their general love for all things breaking down; including that tomato you couldn’t quite finish yesterday.  The worms will eat the garbage and transform it into a highly fertile substance called castings.

Hunger and the Worm

A healthy worm will eat up to one-third of their body weight in garbage a day—and this is a conservative estimate.  They may even be able to process up to half of their body weight.  That is pretty impressive for little squirmy creatures.  If you start red worm composting try to get a general feel for how much your worms are consuming on a daily basis.

Is There Something They Won’t Eat?

Worms don’t like dense protein foods like dairy or meat.  So, in a way, they are like vegetarians.    To stifle odors, all heavy protein foods should be kept separate from your red worm composting bin.  If you would like to try Bokashi composting—a style that relies on anaerobic fermentation—it is an efficient way to deal with dense protein foods.  Using Black Soldier flys in a bin system is another way for a home-scale composter to deal with heavy protein.

Your Red Worm Compost System

When red worm composting, you need a barracks for your worms to do their work.  If you like to be more self sustainable, you can build it yourself out of a twenty gallon plastic storage bin.  If you want one that is more stylish and functional, look into ones at a local store or online.  Whichever form you choose, the worms need a place to hang out and do their garbage-breakdown-thing.

A Worm Can Change the Course of Human Events

Doing something as small as composting will help change the world for the better.  Our partners in this better world are our friendly red worm composting partners in environmentalism.  When it comes to what they do in nature, they are responsible for—amongst other things—fertilizing and adding air to the soil.  At your home, they are the small guys that do some serious good by gobbling down garbage that is envirocyclable.

An adventure is a compilation of many small steps.  You may seem like red worm composting is a small step, but it’s a huge investment in the fate of the earth.  If every home in your neighborhood composted, thousands of pounds of recyclable waste would be transformed into living topsoil.  If a whole state did it!  Imagine that!  A whole country!  The whole world!  Wow, that is some serious change occasioned by the worm!

If you liked this Red Worm Composting article, check out this Worm Factory Review.

One way you can save the world in a very small and very easy way is to compost.  The composting process doesn’t have to be a back breaking routine between you and an ugly pile of stinky food scraps.  It can be done in an efficient way that uses nature to help activate the process with no bad byproducts like smell or flies.  If you put a Bokashi bin to work for you, you can turn your kitchen scraps into black gold.

No Foul Odor

This can make or break a compost project.  People will not deal with odors in their home, so if you break down the waste with fermentation than there is no air to activate the process, like in classical composting.

Think about how sauerkraut is made.  This is the same principle behind the bokashi bin.  Sauerkraut may be potent when you open it up, but bokashi composting is working hard to get rid of the smell for you.

Quick and Efficient

A bokashi bin casts out those steps that make classical composting a chore.  You don’t have to seperate, aerate, or deal with issues like odors or flies.

Layer cake your bokashi bin with some kitchen scraps and the bokashi bran additive and you will activate those anaerobic microbes into action.

No Flies

There are simple ways to get rid of flies, but why not employ a bokashi bin and make your home composter project easy?  With the bokashi bin system, the compost is not exposed to air, so flies have nothing to smell; nothing to hang around.

Compost Assets

Everyone knows cultured vegetables like sauerkraut are good for human digestion.  So you can imagine composting done with fermentation is equally healthy for the earth. I guarantee your garden will smile when you plop on the bokashi compost.   Fertilizer is so expensive currently, you will be adding an equally large smile to your bank account by not having to fork over any extra dough to grow.

Bokashi bin composting allows the whole kitchen scrap to garden gold process to be easy and efficient.

If this article sparked your interest in Bokashi composting, check out this SCD Probiotics Bokashi Bin Review.

Worm Factory 360

Worm Factory Review – What You Need To Know

Click here for the Worm Factory 360

This is our Worm Factory Review.

For more information on the Worm Factory, click the link below:

Worm Factory

I really get into composting, so when given the opportunity to get a composting bin and start red worm composting, I was psyched.  Normal composting is fun, but when you add willing worm workers into the mix, it makes it even more fun.  The Worm Factory is a worm compost bin that will allow you a way to break down your food scraps and create super-rich worm castings and organic compost which will make your garden go crazy.

With worms doing the work, I can enjoy the green composting project a lot more and see the neat work they do.  It’s also a kind of citizen science project that is informative and allows me to contribute to the green movement with a simple system.  The Worm Factory is a good tool that helps me do all these things.

Worm Factory Review – What is it

The Worm Factory is an upright, red worm composting bin with removable trays that are stackable.  You fill your bottom tray up with shredded newspaper and kitchen scraps, load it on the 4-legged base, add your worms and your lid and you’re in the worm business.  It’s really easy.

The Worm factory also has a siphon system and spigot that allows you to drain off any liquid that leaches off the compost (and you will have a lot draining off).

Worm Factory Review – What I Like

I like the fact that the Worm Factory comes with everything you need to start the red worm composting project.  When I first started I built my own bins and you have to gather all the materials.  The Worm Factory comes with everything you need (bedding, scrapper, thermometer); the only thing you have to get seperately is the worms.

Going along with the fact that it comes with everything, is the informative material they include to start your project.  Between the DVD and the instructional manual, it’s simple to get started.  It sure beats having to dig up all the info on your own.

I really like the look of the Worm Factory.  It is designed to be efficient, but it also looks neat.

Another thing that I think is a real benefit is the Worm Factory‘s convenience and ease.  You take the lid off and feed the worms when you have scraps.  When the tray is full, add another tray with more scraps and the worms move upward to the feast.  Simple.  When it comes to something you are going to be doing every day, the simpler the better.

Worm Factory Review – What I Didn’t Like

When it comes to composting, my wife and I generate a lot of scraps from meals, so the Worm factory tends to fill up fast.  If you don’t have an alternative composting system, like we do then you will get a backlog of kitchen scraps quick.  The worms take time breaking down the kitchen scraps to organic compost.  I have other composting systems, so you might want two of these Worm Factories or just get another composting system going, like a tumbling composter or some other alternative.

The worms can get out.  This is not a negative particular to the Worm Factory, but with any red worm composting system—even ones I have made on my own.  If you keep a light on in the area you keep your bin, it will act as a deterrent to fleeing worms.

Worm Factory Review – Overall Thoughts

Raising worms to eat my garbage is a blast.  With the Worm Factory it makes it so easy and efficient to be an eco-conscious eater and really good gardener, too—between the worm castings and worm tea.

Red worm composting has been a fun project for me, it would also be an engaging project for kids—all kids love creepy crawlies.  Fun is one thing, but when something can be fun and easy, I am all for it.  The Worm Factory allows me to do something that is important—saving the earth through composting—in a super simple way.

Click here to buy the Worm Factory.

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If you are on a search to learn about composting and you don’t have a lot of space, a small composter might be just what the garden doctor ordered.  There are some essential elements to keep in mind when starting your composting crusade.

Hurry Up

Composting doesn’t happen overnight.  There are quick and effective ways to speed up the process, but it is not miraculous.  Instead of turning compost the old fashioned way, consider a tumbling composter.  A small composter, given less materials in the correct environment, may speed up the process.

Save Your Space

If you live in an urban area or just do not want to sacrifice a lot of space to a large composting system, you may do well with a small composter.  If you have a small composter, you can have a small sacrifice area on the deck or in the yard or in the kitchen and still do a good environmental deed.

You Don’t Have to Stick Your Arm in So Far

A lot of people are conscious of the reach-in.  When you have a large composter, sometimes to get compost off the walls of the barrel you have to stick your arm in to clear it off.  With a small composter, there is not so much of the reach-in.

Ease

The smaller something is, the easier it is to take care of.  You don’t want your small composting session turning into a cardio-routine, so a small composter is the way to go.  With a small composter set up on a table that is set at waist level, you can easily aerate it 2-3 times per day with relative ease.

If you are looking for another easy composting fix, consider bokashi composting.  A compact composting system that utilizes fermentation to turn your kitchen scraps into garden gold.

I will take some aesthetics with my functionality

We all take beauty and aesthetics into mind when purchasing anything for our homes.  Be sure that you are comfortable with the way in which your small composter looks.  If you want to level-down your composting project, consider a small composter which will be a huge benefit for your eco-conscious composting.

If you enjoyed the Small Composter article, be sure and read the  envirocycle mini composter review.

Envirocycle Mini Composter

Envirocycle Mini Composter Review – What You Need To Know

Click here for Envirocycle Mini Composter

This is our Envirocycle Mini Composter Review.

For more information on the Envirocycle Mini Composter, click the link below:

Envirocycle Mini Composter

If you want to be able to compost kitchen scraps, but are missing a few key ingredients like time or space, this small composter is perfect.  I wanted to be more green and composting with the envirocycle mini composter is an easy way to go about doing it.

I think this is the perfect way to contribute to the green movement and getting rich compost at the same time—and the fact that it is so easy sweetens the deal.

Envirocycle Mini Composter Review – What is it

The Envirocycle Mini Composter is an example of a tumbling composter.  It makes the process of aerating compost really easy (and kinda fun).  The small composter itself is made up of a drum and a base.  All you have to do is put your scraps into the drum, latch the door and spin it.  This aerates the compost—fueling the process of breakdown.

The base also functions as a catch-basin for all the liquid that drains out of the drum.  The Envirocycle mini composter is compact, easy to manage, and doesn’t weigh that much.

Envirocycle Mini Composter Review – What I Like

I like the compact size of the Envirocycle Mini Composter.  It is a huge bonus when you have very little space.  It is ideal for a person that lives in the city.

This small composter makes it really easy to make compost with a very minimal amount of work.  I love that it’s so easy.  Spin a couple times a day—more if you want compost faster.  You can put it up on a table at waist level making it really convenient.

The whole design is neat looking and it’s efficient, especially the base that collects the compost tea that leaches out of the compost.  Most tumbling composters have the problem of being too wet, but the catch-all base gets rid of that problem.

Another thing I like about the Envirocycle Mini Composter is that it is made from recycled plastic.  Composting is a form of recycling so I am conscious about purchasing things from companies that have the same mindset.

Envirocycle Mini Composter Review – What I Didn’t Like

I like the tan color of the Envirocycle Mini Composter, but it’s not the best color for composting.  The color is more appealing for urban gardeners who are more conscious of design, but still the composting process would be better if it were black.

It doesn’t hold a lot, so while you are working on one batch of compost, you tend to have a backlog of scraps that are piling up that need to be put in the composter.  This may not be a big problem if you live alone, but it may turn into a problem if you have two or more people and tend to eat a lot of vegetables.

Envirocycle Mini Composter Review – Overall Thoughts

There are not a lot of cons for me when it comes to this small composter.  Overall I think the Envirocycle Mini Composter is an excellent choice if you want to be able to make some compost, but want to keep the composting process as simple as possible.

Click here for the Envirocycle Mini Composter

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