Howdy everyone !

I hope you are having a lush time, whether  it is Summer or Winter, wherever you are !

Today I will be writing to you about composting, when you only have a little room available : many of us want  to do our bit for Planet Earth, but living within cities isn’t always easy for initiatives. As long as you have a tiny space with fresh air available, on a balcony for example, composting is still possible ! There are other ways of composting, which are just as easy to put into place, within plastic bags, in a closet for example, but I won’t talk about those today. (you can refer to this French book or the original English version for more info)

Today, I’m going to explore an easy type of compost, which is dead easy to put in place and to get going, as it only requires a tiny amount of interaction, apart from feeding it your rubbish and eventually watering i. Decay time takes in average 6 months. It’s a “live your own life” type of compost, which means you might just as well leave it alone to mature.
So, before we begin, why should you compost ?? Well, all organic substances end up decaying to produce humus, or earth, ground, a rich substance that can be reused for cultivating plants or veggies, or simply to dispose of in a garden, as a way of giving back to nature. So, instead of letting it rot in a  massive, overfilled bin bag, you might use it for your plants, which would give them nutrients to grow and become even more beautiful, while at the same time, reducing the amount of garbage you produce each year. I halved my weekly amount of rubbish simply by composting all my organic stuff.

And how does it work ?
For more ease, I use 2 big terra-cotta plant jars, pierced down the bottom, this lets my compost aerate easily, and lets any extra “juice” or liquid seep through and exit (you can use a terra-cotta plate down the bottom, to not let that drip on the lower balcony if you have downstairs neighbors, else else, I’m not certain they’d appreciate). The reason why I use two jars instead of one, is that while one is decaying, the other one can be used and filled, and when one is full, the other one has been emptied by then. Two terra-cotta jars are also easy to fit on a small balcony as they take almost no room.
To make your compost, just throw your stuff in, let it decay, turn the mixture upside-down, or around, with a stick, once in a rare while, to blend your compost, and to aerate all the parts, so that you don’t get one big mass down the bottom and stuff which has a harder time breaking down up the top. If the weather gets too dry, you might want to sprinkle a bit of water, just to make sure your friendly bacterias and fungi aren’t too dry, thus, you keep the compost environment friendly for your guests
Once your jar is full, set it aside and start working on the empty one. You know your compost is ready when the content looks like earth. You can then empty the compost jar on existing humus in a garden, blend it with earth or use it in other plant jars. If you give your fresh batch of humus to plants, you might want to mix it with a little standard “earth”, as it might be very rich and could burn your plants.

What can I put in there ?
- Basically, everything organic.
- Plants,
- Dead leaves,
- Flowers,
- Bits of fruits, veggies,
- Rotten veggies or fruits,
- Mushrooms,
- Coffee residues (I throw pads in, as the envelope is made of paper),
- Bits of paper and cardboard (it is necessary for the  carbon),
- Seeds,
- Tea bags & leaves
- Vegetable oils …
- !!! You should avoid citrus peels, as often, the fruits are covered with pesticides, those are harmful for the living substances and bacteria of your compost. You can only if the citrus is fully organic.

What should not go in ? and why ?
You should avoid the following :
- Citrus peels, unless they’re completely organic.
- Bones, because they take a long time to decay, if they do decay, at all. They might also bring rats and other nuisance to your compost.
- Egg shells, those are only proper in worm compost, not in this kind of mix.
- Plastic, because, duh, it won’t obviously decay unless it’s one which is corn-starch based (but they still take a long time [over 6 months that is], I have tested)
- No glass, for the same as above reasons, and because you might cut yourself when handling the obtained humus.
- !!! No animal litter [cats & dogs that is, as they are meat eaters], it brings rats and other pests and won’t be easy to decay.
- No chemicals, as you want to preserve your compost biodiversity.

I always keep a smaller jar in my kitchen, which I fill as I cook, cut, or make tea… When it is full, I go and empty it into my bigger jar, this way, I avoid unnecessary trips ; and when it is warm outside, you may want to have that small kitchen jar emptied as often as you can, in order to avoid flies and maggots, just saying… Rinsing it once in a while with water is a good method to keep it clean.
Another concern you may get about the compost is insects, flies, and ants… I personally just let them be, because I do not see the point of driving them away, I already got the best out of the food, and if they want to get their share, it’s here for them as well, I won’t be using anymore of it, and anyway, those insects are just doing their jobs : making the Earth “clean” for you, by removing ‘leftovers’…

As you can see, it is all very simple and requires very little intervention on your behalf. So why not ?
There are also other types of compost you can put in place if you have the time and space. The best known ones are probably the worm composts, the closed bag in the closet, the “Japanese” type of compost, and many others that I can’t think of right now… It’s dead easy to get started, and it surely guarantees a reduction in your home-waste, without any smelly odor or disagreement.
So, why not get started today ? I could surely help you if needed, as all this has been tried and tested by my good care !

I surely hope this article gave you plenty of ideas, and if you have any questions or want to share comments, feel free to post !
Lots of love,

Angie

References & Ressources :
- “Petit Livre du Compost” – ed. Larousse (FR) – English Version here “Little Book of Compost”
- Wikipedia : Composting [FR] : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compostage
- Wikipedia : Composting [EN] : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost
- Garden Organic : Making your own compost [EN] : http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/composting/index.php
- WikiHow : How to make your own worm compost [EN] : http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Own-Worm-Compost-System
- Région Wallone : Compostage [FR] : http://environnement.wallonie.be/education/compost/index.htm
- Ecoconso : Composte [FR] : http://www.ecoconso.be/spip.php?article189