Monday, April 30, 2012

Environment Environ-mend

I am hastened by the fact that in a few hours it will be the end of April and I have not written a single post for this month...  so let me just freshen my brain, take a nap and get back to you about a special topic in my heart --Environment.

On Earth Day, I took an unprecedented step :) in doing my part to lessen the impact of landfill to the environment by putting up composting pits on a small corner of my apartment's yard.  Here's how I am doing it.

Urban Composting using Flower Pots
Since I am using flower pots as my compost bins, allow me to first share with you how to do composting in pots. Then later, I will tell you about other ways to do composting.

What I used?
2 Flower pots - I use the standard size clay pot
Coco coir / Newspaper - Shredded
Garden soil
Fruit or vegetable scrap
Grass and dried leaves

First, free your flower pot with any traces of seeds.  We want to produce a compost, not grow a tree (not in this exercise anyway).  Place either the shredded coconut husk or newspaper at the bottom to assist in keeping the humidity of the compost.  Cover it with 5 centimeter of soil.  Now is the right time to throw in the scrap (about 5cm too) then top with 2:1 mixture of green grass and dried leaves. Cover with moist soil.  After a week, turn the compost.  [Photos to follow]

The key to composting is to maintain the right heat (keep the pot away from direct sunlight), moisture retention (might need to water to keep the moisture), regular aeration (once a week).

HOME  |  MADE in PH |  OUTDOORS | ORGANIC FARM |  KOOP