Things you wanna keep out of the compost

In my last entry, I discussed the kinds of items to be included in the compost. In fact, I found a whole list of bizarre things that can be included in the compost, ranging from pet fur to road kill (not quite applicable here, unless you're talking about the poor animals that mysteriously end up dead on the PIE...). Today, let's talk about things we want to avoid having in our compost.

Since the whole reason why we want to compost is so we know exactly what we're feeding our house herbs and food plants with, it might defeat the purpose a little to include the following:

1. Tissue with our/someone else's mucus. This may sound a little obvious, but since tissue is one of those paper products that we can include in our compost, I imagine when we're collecting stuff to recycle, we might just include one of these by accident. Do be careful, because we don't want to be feeding our compost viruses!

2. Leftover meat (either cooked or raw). The C-project described here is meant to be an indoor endeavor.  So meat products are a big no-no. Not only are they slow to compost, they might attract the wrong company with bad odors. So if you're thinking of composting leftover food, make sure you filter out those meat.

3. Pet poop. For the same reason why we want to avoid mucus-covered tissues, we want to avoid poop. Adding them to the pile only brings you more complications, in the form of bacteria and parasites, to name a few. There's also the matter of hygiene - my compost bin is right by my kitchen sink, so I wouldn't want poop anywhere near where I am handling food.

4. Diseased anything. There are many sites that advice against including diseased plants. I know it's tempting to just include those greens that used to do so well in your garden. But, if including them makes it impossible to use your compost soil for your new plants, I think it's better to just avoid them.

There are many other things that different sites and books recommended excluding from our compost. I think as beginners in indoor composting, we should avoid all things that are known to smell. If you have your compost in your kitchen, another thing to avoid would be having items that breed or contain bacteria around. I guess if we followed all these precautions, our composting project should be a fun one!

Here's a list of the sites I referred to while preparing this entry...
>> 22 things you didn't know you could compost, WebEcoist
>> 7 things you should never compost, Veggie Gardener
>> How not to compost: 10 things to leave out of the bin, Planet Green

The stuff that becomes "gold"...

Now that we've got our compost bins and we're all ready to start on our home C-project, the next question really is - what do we compost? Most sites and books recommend starting a compost pile either with worms or compost soil, which can kick start the composting process. I chose to have compost soil (since I happen to have them) instead of worms for this project.

Egg shells, garlic skin, carrot peels & Ti Wang Choy ends.

Most families in Singapore tend to have pretty much all their meals out; cooking can be an infrequent affair. I also find it challenging to have to prepare all my meals at home especially when work hours get hectic. If we didn't have to cook for the pets, I doubt we would have much to compost. As it is, we have lots of potato and carrot peels, sometimes veggie-roots, and egg shells for recycling.

For our C-project, here are some of the things you can include and hope it becomes "gold" in your compost:

Potato, carrot peels, coffee & tea.

1. Veggie scraps - in the form of peels or ends. I filled mine up with potato and carrot peels on the first day. Today, I topped it up with garlic skin, more carrot peels and Ti Wang Choy ends.

2. Egg shells - The important thing to note when adding these shells in our home compost is to make sure we wash them clean and crush them first. Egg remaining in the shell is likely to start stinking. If you have a small kitchen like I do, I would want to make sure those shells are clean before they go anywhere near the pile...

3. Tea leaves or coffee grinds - One of the articles I referred to on Gaiam life, Can I compost this? lists tea leaves as green materials and coffee grinds (including the filter) as brown materials. Both contribute differently and we should bear in mind the kind of green vs. brown proportion we want (roughly 50-50). If you're a heavy tea drinker and lighter on the coffee, you might want to ask for some from friends who have coffee grinds or seek out alternative brown materials for your compost.

4. Peanut shells - I think this is something most household would have, especially around Chinese New Year. This is excellent brown material and the next time you have a party where peanuts are served, save the shells!

5. Newspaper & cardboard - Newspaper and cardboard are considered brown materials and need to be shredded before they get added to the compost pile. You might not want to have a compost full of newspaper but adding some of these dry materials will help with the smell and can be used as "bedding".

These five are materials that I imagine we come into more contact with. Another material could be flower clippings from floral arrangements or even flowers that have withered. I would be cautious about adding flowers that have been dyed, but other than that, they make a good addition to your compost.

In my next entry, I shall talk more about what NOT to add... Do watch out for it!

Here's a list of some of the sites where I got my information from...
>> Compost This! What to put in your composter @ Gaiam Life
>> Composting at home with Ohio State University 
>> Indoor composting tips and techniques @ compostjunkie

All you need to pot a plant

These photos were, again, taken at night. A big thank you to my friend who stayed & took them for me while I occupied myself with the plants.

Here're the items I used for re-potting:
Organic compost, my hand shovel & pair of scissors, Japanese loose tea bags, medium-sized kitchen bag, the plant I intend to re-pot and my new container from Ikea.

Trimming the kitchen bag. 

Ripping the tea bag and laying it flat.

First, I trim the bag so it fits nicely in the container. Then, I poke a few holes at the base of the bag and use it to line the container. Then I prepare to line the base with the tea bag that I've ripped open. I use it as a base, primarily to minimize the loss of soil while ensuring that excess water can drain easily.

This is what the base of the bag should look like after it's lined with the tea bag. 

I start filling the bag with soil once the prep-work is done. I usually use a mix of potting soil, compost and the mixed soil I get from nurseries. You might want to research the type of soil your plant favours. My orchids tend to have little to no soil - I use just charcoal because orchid roots are sensitive to the amount of water they sit in. Too much and they start rotting.

Filling the bag with soil. 

This time, I am re-potting the false heather I bought from Ikea. The plants you get from nurseries, supermarkets and Ikea usually come in unattractive plastic pots. Some people choose to keep the plants in those pots and place them in more decorative ceramic pots. I usually re-pot mine, primarily so they have a bigger space to grow and also because I like having more than one type of plant in each pot.

Placing the heather to the left of the pot.

I've trimmed some branches off my lemon-balm and in the picture, you'll notice that I've cleared off most of the leaves, leaving just some at the top and a nearly bare stem. These stems are then inserted into the soil. Once they're where I want them to be, I place them in the sunniest spot of the house and wait for those lemon balm to take root and the false heather to adapt to its new home.

Newly potted greens

If you're adventurous and would like to try growing a plant from seed, just be sure to follow the instructions given at the back of the pack. Seed packets are sold in all supermarkets that have a plant section and of course, in the nurseries. They usually feature a picture of the plant in bloom or with fruit and clear instructions on care for the plant.

A periwinkle seed packet. 

The seeds come in a sealed packet. 

Here I have a sample of periwinkle seeds. The outer package is usually paper while the seeds are contained in a sealed bag within. If you have a bag of seeds but don't intend to plant all of them at once, make sure you seal the inner bag again. Otherwise, you'll find it hard for your leftover seeds to germinate when you eventually decide to plant them.

Gardening can be as easy or as tedious as you want it to be. If you're an amateur like me, there's no harm in starting out simple!