Composting, our way...

I mentioned in my post yesterday that me and my roommate compost our scraps. In the comments I was asked what I did with them and, conveniently enough, I had already decided to write about it because it came up in a writing workshop that I went to last night as something that maybe I should expound on. (Yeah, I used the word "expound"....don't think i ever have before....feels good)

When I moved into my current 2 bedroom apartment, my roommate Missy already had a composting procedure set, so all that I do is because of her. The only other time I had composted was at my sister's house and we would just throw stuff on a pile in the backyard (she now has a more detailed plan). 

One thing I should say first is that composting isn't as hard as you think it might be. Granted, it can be....it depends on how into you get really. But what me and the roommate use is one of these giant black composter bins. 

Pretty, right?

It's situated between our house and the neighbor's house next door. The best location for it is somewhere where the sun will hit it the most......unfortunately, that's not where ours is. But I think it's the only place Missy and her ex could've put it since the backyard isn't for their use and the front yard isn't somewhere you'd want to put it. 

Since we live on the second floor of a house it's inconvenient to have to go chuck scraps in after every meal we make, so what we do is put the scraps in a container that we keep in the freezer. When it's full we take a trip down to the composter. You're supposed to cover your scraps with straw or old dry leaves. This warms up the compost and helps it decompose faster. 

Last year we used our compost for our garden. It was so wormy and buggy!! It was freaky! I wish I had taken a video of it since pictures don't do it justice! The word that probably best describes it is "teeming." 

Missy and the top of the great beast

Me trying to not think of all the creepy critters and how I might splice into them with my shovel....

See the worms??

If you don't have a compost bin and don't have room for one (or live in an apt complex), you may want to check around your neighborhood and see if anyone has one you can use. Kittee will probably talking about the community one she discovered recently on a walk. I had heard about it recently because I have a friend that lives right near it.