Part of any drive towards living a more self sufficient life involves trying to grow as much produce as possible.
To this end we should all be composting as much as we possibly can. Compost works wonders for your soil, and the richer it is the more we can grow.
But are you forgetting something?
Every day many people who have a compost heap neglect a very important part of the composting bible – the Kitchen.
The kitchen produces a vast amount of compostable material every day but it is all too easy to just throw scraps in the bin, thinking it won’t make much difference to the size of the compost pile.
Think again.
It is not just the scraps from food preparation that should be added to the heap. What about the pieces of paper, card etc that we rip up for (hopefully) recycling? Why not add some to the heap? A mixture of degradables is essential to have a compost heap that works efficiently, so add an odd layer of paper or cardboard now and then.
There is one even more important source of nutrient rich matter that shoud be added to the compost heap – washing up water!
Many of us want to be more environmentally friendly but each day we happily pour grease laden washing up water down the drain. Greasy water causes major problems in the Sewer Systems as it congeals and sticks to the walls of the sewage pipes. It causes major blocks and is added to the cost of your bills. Compost it instead.
Simple Kitchen Composting Tips
To make maximum use of all that is compostable from the kitchen the following can easily be performed.
- Get a cheap bucket sized container with a lid
- Place it in a cupboard or somewhere near to the kitchen but easily reachable (outside if space is a problem)
- Place all kitchen scraps in the bin whilst preparing food etc.
- After washing up pour this valuable asset in to the bin
- Empty as required on to the compost heap
Many people overlook the value of dirty washing up water as a compostable commodity. It is very nutrient rich water, full of small food particles and grease. It will help your compost heap degrade quickly, the added water will keep the heap suitably moist, and you will be doing your part to cut down on the needless addition to the sewage systems. All the water that is poured down drains adds tremendously to the costs that are passes back to the ratepayers.
Hopefully you will now have an even better compost pile and the veggies will be growing in abundance!
For a more self sufficient future
Excellent suggestion, I never thought to retain the washing up water!
Joanna’s last blog post..Pirates of the Living Room
Hi Joanna, glad you found the suggestions usefull. Look out for lots more tips coming almost daily.
Good tips!
I wash my dishes outside (weather permitting) in a dish pan and then use the dirty dish water to water my landscape – trees and bushes. I also compost most paper trash in the compost heap or wet it and use it for mulch around my garden with leaf mulch on top to hold it down once dry.
In the photo above are those rocks? I use chunks of recycled concrete to border my gardens. My two ponies eat most of my kitchen scraps (plant base foods) and my dogs eat any of the meat leftovers (we don’t eat much meat).
A Love for Horses – Joni Solis’s last blog post..Manure Management and Composting Programs
Hi Joni, strangely we have never got in to washing the dishes outside. Weird as in the Summer just putting your hands in the washing water sends you in to meltdown here! Maybe washing up under a shady tree would be a much better idea!
Yes, we use rocks to border the plots. That is one thing we are not short of here!
Thanks for the great comments.
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.