How exciting to put garbage
to good use. I wanted to give this a shot for a long time, and after long weeks
of procrastination, I looked up a website called ‘Daily Dump’ on the
internet. Reading about home composting, it seemed like a very simple and non
fussy way to turn your vegetable and garden waste to rich organic manure. It
seemed like something I should be doing, since I do have a
few vegetable and flowering plants that require quite a bit of
nourishment.
The composting kit includes
three terracota pots or ‘khambas’. I
have started using two of them, dividing my daily waste. After a month
or so, or when they are half full, I have to empty the contents of both the
pots, (which are semi- decomposed) into the third pot, and leave it in there
for maybe another month or two for the process to complete.
Apart from the khambas, I also got packets of
powdered cow dung (which acts like the compost accelerator)
and neem powder (to keep flies away). I also got an accelerator spray
(lemon grass scented). A bag of dry leaves, and a bag of saw dust, along with a
rake and basket for sieving the compost when done.
While you need to stir the contents of the pots once
everyday, a spoon each of cow-dung and neem powder are to be added
once in three days, while the spray- once a week. If your compost mixture is
too wet, you need to add the saw dust or dry leaves to absorb the moisture.
The process seems a bit slower for me, since we do not
produce a large quantity of vegetable leftovers on a daily basis. But
hopefully, in due time I would have a pot full
rich nutritious compost! I will keep you posted.
