Apartment Gardeners Can Compost

Photo 1: Thick top layer of hand shredded newspaper

Photo 2: Shredded newspaper, egg shells, carrot tops, coffee grounds, and banana peel decomposing

Photo 3: Red worms working on scraps.

Photo 4: Finished compost ready to use directly in garden or to make compost tea.

For apartment gardeners and people with small gardens, I suggest trying a worm compost bin.  The bins are cheap (less than $10), requires little square footage of space, and are easy to make.  You will also have finished compost in less time than you would with a traditional compost bin.

Indoor Worm Compost Bin
I used to keep a worm compost bin under the kitchen sink in a small plastic container with holes on top.  I use handfuls of finished compost to make compost tea (i.e., mixture of finished compost and water).  Compost tea stretches out finished compost so I can provide nutrients to several plants.

For those of you who are hesitant about keeping worm compost bins indoors, I promise you my bin did not have any bad smells or fruit flies nor did any worms every try to escape.  The key is to keep the bins under the right conditions.  This may sound difficult, but it is not.  The environment must be cool or warm (but not hot), moist but not soggy, and not overloaded with kitchen scraps.  Note: I only fed my worm bin broken egg shells, fruit and vegetable scraps.  I also chopped or crushed scraps when I could to accelerate the time it took to get finished compost.  I also placed a layer of moist, shredded newspaper on top of my scraps to prevent fruit flies from discovering my bin.  If you notice the bin getting soggy, you can give the liquid to plants or place shredded newspaper at the bottom to absorb the liquid.  

Outdoor Worm Compost Bin
Now that I have more space, I created a large worm bin and placed it outside near the back door.  I love it!  The worms quickly break down all my scraps.  It is important to keep a thick layer of moist shredded newspaper on top of the scraps to keep the fruit flies to a minimum.  See Photo 1.  The fruit flies do not hurt the worm bin; They actually help break down the scraps.  I just try to discourage their presence because they are annoying.  Make sure you keep the medium moist or else you might attract ants. If ants ever attack your bin, just use a hose with a mister attachment and moisten the scraps and newspapers.  The ants should disappear in a day.

I am considering creating a second bin.  The bins are easily stackable because I drilled holes on the sides of the bin instead of on top.  My adult red worms have already produced several baby red worms so I will have plenty of worms for a new bin.

More Trash into Treasure: Diluted Brewed Coffee Fertilizer

I rarely drink coffee, but when I do I tend to make too much. I did a little research to find out what I could do with my left over coffee, and I learned you can turn brewed coffee into a fast-acting fertilizer by diluting the coffee with water.

The sites I visited suggested diluting the brewed coffee down to 1 part coffee to 4 parts water. I have been using a weaker solution (1:10 or 1:5 coffee-to-water ratio). I have about 1 to 2 cups of coffee left over so I just fill the coffee pot with water until it reaches the 10 cup mark, and use that to water my plants. Brewed coffee is acidic so I use this solution to water my acidic loving plants (e.g., blueberries, azaleas, hydrangea, roses, etc.).

I did not notice dramatic changes in my blueberries, but my 1 year old hydrangea noticeably perked up within a day after the first application.

Note: You should refrain from using this solution too often, especially if you use this on non-acidic loving plants.

Free Organic Nitrogen Fertilizer

Photo of Edamame Plant Trailing Up a Young Avocado Tree

Get free organic Nitrogen fertilizer and help our earth at the same time.

Instead of buying commercial Nitrogen fertilizers, first try planting a few legumes in your plant beds or container garden. Legumes have the ability to naturally convert atmospheric nitrogen (nitrogen dioxide) into nitrate, an organic form of nitrogen that plants can use. Peas, beans, clover, lentils, peanuts and alfalfa are a few examples of legumes.

By using legumes to fix nitrogen in our soil we are also helping out our planet. Nitrogen dioxide is a pollutant. It is a major component of smog, and can irritate the lungs, lower resistance to respiratory infection, and increase sensitivity for people with asthma and bronchitis. Some of the major contributors to nitrogen dioxide are automobiles and electric power plants. Additionally, home heaters and gas stoves can also emit nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen oxides also help form acid rain, which eventually runoff into our sewers and water channels. These increased levels of nitrogen in our bodies of water lead to explosive algae growth. This is problematic because algae competes with natural grasses in the water beds. Furthermore, algae overgrowth depletes oxygen supply that oysters, clams and other marine life rely on for survival.

In My Garden:
This is my first year planting legumes with my other plants. I chose to use edamame plants (a.k.a. "soy bean" plants) because edamame beans are tasty and they have some unique properties. For example, edamame beans "contain all of the amino acids needed to make a complete protein, just like meat" (Mayo Clinic). Edamame beans "also contain isoflavones, a plant-based compound that may reduce the risk of some types of cancer" (Mayo Clinic).
I planted an edamame plant in the same container as my avocado tree. The avocado seems to like the edamame's company. My avocado plant now has several new baby leaves. I cannot be sure it is because of the edamame's presence, but I can confidently say that my tree is performing better than last year, and that the edamame's presence is at least not harming my avocado plant.

Photo of Edamame Plant Trailing Up a Young Avocado Plant

Neat Fact:
Early Native Americans have used companion planting methods to grow corn, beans and squash. The Iroquois referred to these crops as "The Three Sisters," and considered them to be special gifts from the Great Spirit (Dodson). To read more about the Legend of the Three Sisters click here.
The corn serves as a support structure for the beans.
The beans provide "nutrients" to the other plants.
The squash acts as mulch and preserves moisture in the soil. Its prickly vines also deters raccoons from ravaging the corn (Dodson).


Sources:

Dodson, Mardi. "Companion Planting: Basic Concepts & Resources-Ancient Companions." National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. available at http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html (last visited Apr. 28, 2008).

Fahrenthold, David. "EPA Told to Set Timeline for Cutting Nitrogen Pollution," Washington Post. 26 Mar. 2008: B02. available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032502409.html (last visited Apr. 27, 2008).

Mayo Clinic. "Legumes: Using Beans, Peas and Lentils Instead of Meat." CNN.17 Jun. 2005. available at http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/NU/00260.html (last visited Apr. 28, 2008).

"Nitrogen Dioxide. " Clean Air Trust. available at http://www.cleanairtrust.org/nitrogendioxide.html (last visited Apr. 27, 2008).

"Nitrogen Cycle," Soil Food Web, Inc. available at http://www.soilfoodweb.com/ (last visited Apr. 27, 2008).