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