|
| This may not be the location for this question, but we'll see. I have been collecting coffee grounds and kitchen scraps in a small container in my home. Every few days when it's full I take it out to my small garden plot, dig a little trench in between my plants, and bury the waste. I would say it's about 1-2" below the surface. I go back a few days later and most everything is gone, I assume my many earth worms eat it up.
My question is am I harming my plants by doing this? I know decomposition takes nutrients out of the soil to break down the materials, but if the scraps are not right next to my plants and I assume worms are eating them up pretty quickly, is it harming or helping? I do have a compost pile, but it's full at the moment so this was my alternative to just pitching the stuff in the trash. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Seems like the right place for this question. While two large mesh bins take most of my compostable materials, I also like the compost pit. When I have smaller amounts of veggie and fruit wastes, I often dig a approciate size hole, and bury the stuff. First in is some dry leaves and or dry compost, then the green stuff, then more leaves and or dry compost, then dirt. Topped off with a big flat patio-like stone to remind me where the last hole is. The hole is dug either inside the mesh bin (4' by 8' bin), or in a vacant patch in the garden area. Once in a while I dug the hole a bit deeper, and planted a tomato on top. The year the tomatoes did the best, two or three bluegill were put at the bottom of each tomato hole with some dry compost to absorb the odors. The dog took no interest in the fish scent. I wish bluegill or other fish were available each spring when planting. |
|
| I've done the same thing in several gardens in different zones over 30 years and the results are very beneficial to the soil and the plants. IMO the kitchen scraps are mostly nitrogen with less carbon than one would add to a compost bin and mostly things the worms like so they break down quickly and the worm castings provide nutrients. I call it feeding the worms. The only things that don't break down quickly are items such as onion peelings, corn cobs, squash and melon rinds, avocado pits, and other tough fibrous material. However over time most of those decompose. Occasionally I get obsessive and chop things in tiny pieces but it's really not necessary. |
|
| Thank you for your responses! I learned my lesson with tough stuff like cobs and pits taking forever to break down in my compost pile so I usually just put those in the trash. The things I usually bury in the garden are lots of coffee grounds, vegetable skins/stems, fruit skins (from peeling for baby food!), and egg shells. Typically the egg shells are all that is left after a few days in the dirt, I assume the worms eat up the rest. I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing!! |
|
- Posted by lazygardens PhxAZ%3A Sunset 13 (My Page) on Thu, Jul 21, 11 at 19:49
| Kpev ... what you are doping is called "trench composting", and it's a GREAT way to deal with kitchen trash. Next year move the rows of veggies so they are over the trenches from the previous year. |
|
| Same question previously asked. "You could add both your kitchen and yard waste directly to your garden and the Soil Food Web, not just the earthworms, will digest that material and convert it to nutrients your plants can use, aka sheet composting. However, there is some evidence out there that making compost, the Indore method, is better and produces a soil amendment that is overall better for the soil then sheet composting is. If you are doing the Indore Composting Method and have a number of earthworms working that material then your material is too wet for the bacteria to work it. Earthworms need a fairly moist environment to live and work in, an environment that is too wet for the anearobic bacteria can live and work in." Same answer to the question previously asked. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.