How to Pick a Composter – My Adventure with Dirt, Worms and Kitchen Scraps

Though I profess to be green, and an inveterate gardener, it was not until recently (OK, yesterday) that I finally purchased a composter. It’s not that I didn’t WANT to compost, I’ve heard awesome things about the rich deep, healthy soil it produces, the eco friendly, waste recycling benefits and the cost savings resulting from not accidentally dropping a fork into the disposal with the leftover vegetable scraps and breaking it (the disposal not the fork)

It’s just that I couldn’t get my arms around which composter to buy or whether I could handle a compostor or whether we had somewhere to put a compostor or whether we would be moving or…

So, of course, my search for a composter turned into one of those fairly simple purchases, which after a tiny bit of research…. ends up taking a year. You know what I mean.

Lest you think it was just my inability to make a decision that drew out this process so long, I had one constraint. We don’t actually have a yard. We have a green space we share with childless neighbors who normally don’t care what we do with it. But, they may draw the line at installing a composter, so I was looking for a smaller patio unit.

And…since I WAS looking for a unit that would be displayed on my patio and proudly shown to all of my friends…I wanted it to be pretty! (So, shoot me, I have aesthetic needs.) Once I began my search, of course, one of the things I found out is…composters are, as a rule…UG-LY.

Sigh

There are, as I found out, several different types of ugly composters.

1. A drum or tumbler composter. These seem to be the ones most of my crunchy friends have – big. The basic concept is: put your kitchen scraps into the composter; spin it daily; then in a while (weeks? months? years?) you can harvest rich black soil.

How long one has to wait or exactly how much soil one can harvest or…what one does with scraps generated after the compostor is full, I haven’t figured out yet.

2. Worm compostors or vermiculture. This concept really appealed to me. Something about little wormy guys doing the composting seemed cool. I also liked the three tray approach here. Put the scraps and worms in the bottom tray. Keep adding trays of scraps to the top – the worms eat their way up. I wanted to be a “wormhead”!

But, I was the only one in my family who did. Then again, I’m the pet lover in the group.

3. Finally, I stumbled upon a system that, while not beautiful, was small, easy to use and yielded quick results. For me this seemed to be the perfect starter composter - a Bokashi system. This method uses a simple airtight container and what appears to be some sort of fermented material to speed up the process. A benefit to this system, as opposed to some of the others is that you can add meat scraps, as well as vegetables, fruits etc. (apparently meat and diary products create such a smell that they are not recommended for the other types of systems).

So far this has been an interesting experiment. I was able to rather quickly set up the system. The major challenge has been remembering I have it.

Far too often I find myself sticking my hand down the disposal to retrieve scraps absentmindedly dropped in the sink. They’re now too precious to waste!

BTW- I've noticed composters ARE getting a little more stylish. I'm taking a wait and see attitude - I'm sure I'll have even more attractive, yet useful, options in a year or so.

For More Great Works For Me Wednesday Ideas visit Rocks in my Dryer

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