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do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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Posted by
louisianagal z7bMS (
My Page) on
Sat, Jul 9, 11 at 2:26
| I hate to waste leftover drinks and so I have been trying to figure a way to save those in the kitchen, for the compost. I do throw out sour milk onto the compost pile, and often pour coffee out the front door onto the flower bed. I have a place to put (solid) kitchen scraps on the counter until the container is full and goes on the compost bile, but do any of you also save liquid kitchen (cooking) or beverage waste? How do you save? Or is this overkill? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| Yes, I have been known to salvage some of the kitchen water. It doesn't always get added to the compost pile, though (usually use it to water the garden) The other day, we steamed some vegetables (no salt) and the water got re-used. Same for the water from the dog bowl and leftover coffee. As to how I use it: I usually just add my liquids to my watering bucket or directly to the soil. I don't think it is overkill. In fact, I wish I could better utilize more of the gray water at the house. |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| After soaking beans, I pour out the water on my compost pile or around tree roots. |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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- Posted by claire z6b Coastal MA (My Page) on
Sat, Jul 9, 11 at 11:19
| If the volume isn't too great, I'll add it to my kitchen compost pail with some torn up cardboard or shredded paper to soak up the liquid. This is mostly for jelly jar or food container rinses. Leftover coffee is a rarity but I do the same with it. I use a biodegradable window wash liquid, so I empty the bucket onto the lawn or wherever is closest. I shred or tear almost all the paper that comes into the house, so I'm always looking for something to wet it down. Claire |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| I use a 1/2 gallon plastic ice cream container for my kitchen scraps. DH makes too much coffee often, so I just pour it in there as well. The coffee goes into composting mix with everything else. I have often saved water from boiling potatoes, etc. to pour outside. Water is heavy (8+ lbs. to the gal.), and I am walking with a cane now (temporary I hope), so it's difficult to do that as much as I would like. |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| One compost wacko (was it here, on this very forum?) even put a couple of buckets in his shower to catch the water that would have run down the drain! |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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- Posted by claire z6b Coastal MA (My Page) on
Sat, Jul 9, 11 at 17:19
| I've thought about using the gray water, but we have a septic system and are right on top of the local aquifer. I figure water that goes down the drain will first dampen the soil around the leach field, adding some nutrients for the surrounding plantings, and then trickle down to the aquifer. If the drain ran to a sewer and to a treatment plant, then was flushed out to sea, I'd reconsider. I suppose serious drought would make it worth collecting gray water. Claire |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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- Posted by feijoas Temperate New Zealan (My Page) on
Sat, Jul 9, 11 at 20:03
When I'm cleaning a food-encrusted pot or bowl, I'll add the 'soup' to my compost bucket or directly into the garden.
There's no way I'm tipping free nutrients down the drain.
As far as I'm concerned, the only 'too far' in composting refers to a distance greater than the composter is able/willing to walk with a full bucket.
That's when the garden by my back door really shines! |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| It's a good thing my backyard is fenced. No one witnesses the abandon I show tossing liquids and scraps. Love what feijoas said: "There's no way I'm tipping free nutrients down the drain." I collect all my urine and dump that undiluted on one of the compost piles, generally close to 2 gallons at a time. Amazingly effective for getting the pile cooking. Rosie, enjoying this thread |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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The only problem I have with this (I'm the OP) is so much guilt and/or angst about water going down the drains or when I'm just too busy (getting a late meal on table or serving guests) to go outside to pour the liquids on the compost or it's too hot (boiling) to pour on the garden.
I placed a large glass jar on the counter next to the solid scrap bucket, but it just doesn't hold enough. I just wish I could install a hose that goes directly from the kitchen sink to the garden(s)!
Laurie |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| In some places that are thinking the health codes have ben changed to allow the use of grey water in the garden, while other, more backward places, have not. It is no more difficult to repipe your waste system to capture that grey water with a septic system then it would be where there is a municipal waste collection system. |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| I am going to start doing this, makes a lot of "cents". |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| My sister used to throw her dishwater onto a bed of dahlias and they were the biggest and best in town! No dishwashers in those days. Dishwashing detergent provided nutrients and killed bugs. |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| Yes I have started collected liquids. If there is a small amount of soda or juice left, I pour those into the compost bucket on the kitchen shelf. This is a plain white 2 gallon container like the kind that joint compound comes in (bought at Home Depot). Cheap, attractive, and very easy to clean. I line the bottom with paper and put in a lot of paper products mixed with kitchen scraps, so that absorbs extra liquid. I also sometimes collect rinse water to water the plants or throw on the lawn. And sometimes use urine for fertilizer or the cold compost pile. I don't even clean latex paint brushes/pails inside. These get wiped with paper towels to remove excess pain first, then washed out by the hose to remove most all the remaining paint, and then scrub the brush inside. This is with no ill effect to the lawn, etc. I am careful about what goes down the septic systems. If you have a septic, the less that goes down the drains the better and the system will last much longer. Oil and grease go on the compost too. A grey water system is definitely on the list of features for my dream house! |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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- Posted by batya Israel north 8-9-10 (My Page) on
Wed, Jul 13, 11 at 5:02
| Of course I put buckets in the shower to collect water that would go down the drain before it gets to a comfortable temperature. Like, Duh. It goes right onto the garden by the door. A bucket a day throughout the year, sometimes two in the summer, and no, none of it goes to waste - we don't get a drop of rain roughly from Easter to October and this is the Middle East so it gets quite hot.. And yes, sometimes it's got a bit of gold in it........ The very little leftover coffee goes with the UCG, but we don't have much. Cooking water for potatoes and beets, and of course hard-boiled eggs with all that calcium goes again right on the garden - just put it outside the door after dinner and by bedtime it's cool enough. My compost runs to "too wet" anyway, so very little extra liquid goes there. The veggie peels, UGC's etc have usually more than enough moisture. Most of my browns are shredded office paper from work.
My not-so-secret weapon is the buckets under the air conditioners. As long as there's a cheesecloth weighted with rocks to deprive the mosquitos from a lovely place to breed, they fill up daily with untreated, distilled water. Since as far as I know, soil health should come from the soil and not the water, it's good ol' H2O free and clear, and nary a drop goes to waste. And wait till you see my watering system.....!
Peace
Batya |
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| All the water left over from cooking or boiling goes in as does urine, fruit juice, juice from tinned corn and peas. In it all goes! |
Here is a link that might be useful: How to make coffee compost
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| I just bought a house and will be shortly moving from a condo, where I was counter top collecting UCGs and kitchen scraps for the community garden plot to now having a sliding glass door from the kitchen right to the backyard! SO EXCITED! One thing that I have been contemplating is a large bin of some sort or maybe even a kiddie pool to be used for washing large dishes, soak-cleaning terra cotta pots, short-term rain collecting, etc. When washing the HUGE lobster pot or fridge crisper drawer or metal baking sheet/rack in the condo's sink, I've always wished I could just take it outside and spray it with a hose. This water could then be dumped into gardens or the lawn, etc. Does anyone do this? P.S. The soil is terrible in the new yard - haven't seen a worm yet, so I'll be all over this forum. I think I know what to do (compost pile, leaf mold pile, worm bin, etc) but I'm sure I'll be back with questions. So TIA! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Pollard, 22204
RE: do you save liquids to put on compost pile?
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| Small amounts of soda or canned food liquid go into the kitchen compost bucket. In summer we keep a Kitchen Bucket for dishwater, pasta water etc. When it gets full I take it out and fling it into the yard or water plants with it. Extra coffee goes into an ice tray and is used to make iced coffee in the summer without diluting the coffee. |
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