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Balcony garden step one: “growing” my dirt in a compost bin
Hey! It’s a guest post from the Camera’s Allison Barrett!
Allison
A few months ago I moved into a quiet apartment that had one amazing feature: A large balcony. We aren’t talking 4′ x 9′ or even 5′ x 10. We are talking a 6′ by 25′ balcony that had so many possibilities that the mind boggled.
I happened to move in next to a green thumb and, throughout the cold winter months, before she ran off to Arizona, we devised greater and greater plans for what to do with my space. Her balcony, even in the dead of winter, was a warm, cozy place with chairs spaced appropriately for company and gardening pots and tools carefully placed on the side, ready to be used again as soon as it was time.
Why compost?
So these grandiose plans came down to one simple fact: I needed dirt. Three options arose.
First, sneak out and “borrow” dirt from neighboring homes in the dead of night. Second, buy dirt from a dirt store. Third, and the most enticing, make dirt. Create compost using all the organic materials left around after making a meal, coffee and reading the newspaper!
The first one would land me in jail, the second was not very appealing due to a small budget and even smaller ambition to carry large bags of dirt up to the second floor where my apartment was located. The last one made the most sense. Eco-friendly, cost-effective and hey, I have a balcony, I have plenty of room to “grow” dirt.
What I knew about composting at that time could have fit into a very small paper lunch bag. With room left over. But, with the help of my gardening nerd neighbor and what I was able to find on the internet, I have successfully handcrafted a balcony compost system. A huge thanks to Balcony Compost for the directions, which I’ve slightly modified.
Materials needed:
Two 5-gallon buckets — available at any hardware store or at thrift shops — usually holding skis and other random objects for display in the store. Dump out the contents (carefully) and make the thrift store an offer.
One large plastic storage tub with lid — also available for pennies on the dollar at your local thrift shop.
Drill with small bit (or a hammer and screwdriver, my dad happened upon my grandfather’s old drill and gave it to me, bonus!).
Small, recycled plastic container with lid — you’ll use this in the kitchen to store your compost materials.
Shredded newspaper, about a weeks worth of papers — after using the color comics to wrap a gift for your bestie, of course! This is one of the things considered as “brown” material you need for composting.
Two cups soil/dirt — recycled from repotting a plant works perfectly.
One cup water — recycled rainwater, if your balcony and/or state allows you to catch it.
Kitchen scraps – as much as you can save up in a week or so should do. Carrot peelings, egg shells, coffee grinds, strawberry greens, etc. Nothing cooked and no meat. This is some of the “green” materials you’ll need for the composting process. Well, eggshells are considered “brown” but you get the gist.
Â
Materials
Make your compost bin:
First, I’d recommend safety glasses, just in case. Take the two plastic buckets and plug in your drill or get out the hammer and screwdriver. Â Around the bottom and top of the buckets, drill holes approximately one inch from the top and bottom, two inches apart, around the entire bucket.
Then drill five holes in the bottom of each bucket, this is to let water or “compost tea” drain.
Next, drill holes throughout the body of each of the buckets. You’ll want them to be about three to four inches apart, going around and up the bucket. This allows air to flow through and help create a nice, warm, composting friendly environment within the bucket.
Air holes
Start your compost:
Now, with the hard work out of the way, let’s make dirt!
Place one bucket into the plastic storage tub (this catches any water and/or compost tea from dumping all over the balcony and your neighbors heads if they live below you).
Place two inches of the shredded newspaper in the bottom of one bucket. Wet with the cup of water
Dump the kitchen scraps on top. Add the two cups of soil to jumpstart the composting process. Cover the bucket with the storage tub top and weight with a rock (or in my case, a large, purple hippo paperweight).
Place in sunny corner of your balcony and sit back to enjoy the feeling of a job well done.
Keep it up!
Use the small plastic container in your kitchen to save scraps as you make them. Mine usually has fruit discards, egg shells, coffee grinds (a lot of coffee grinds), flower cuttings and leaves from plant trimmings. Again, nothing that has been cooked and NO meat. Oh, and no used kitty litter or other animal droppings. First, it doesn’t break down quickly and second, you might be using this compost to grow peppers on your balcony next year. Do you really want it to be grown in poop compost?
Compost's temporary residence
Continually add more kitchen scraps until you get a good three to four inches of scraps in the bucket. This is where the second bucket comes in. Take the first one, dump the scraps and newspaper into the second one so that it gets a breath of air and decomposes more quickly. Drop in a few more scraps of newspaper, water with a bit of recycled rainwater (or tap, of course), recover and start the process all over again.
A few notes:
1. Scraps being left on the kitchen table in the plastic bin. I make sure and dump it every few days, but even when I have forgotten to, it hasn’t smelled bad. A little mold, but nothing too icky.
2. The compost bin on the balcony – does it smell? No. Except when I put garlic cuttings from my best friend’s garden in it. Then it smelled like I’d made pesto and forgot the basil.
3. This isn’t going to make you a lot of compost very quickly. In order to set up my garden, I did in fact have to purchase dirt in bags. But, it will be great for when you need to replant indoor plants or want to set up seeds for next year’s growing season.
4. Compost tea, if you collect it, can be used as a non-chemical fertilizer. Pretty cool, right? Google it!
Finished product:
Interior
And outside…
Exterior
Allison Barrett loves everything online, gardening and figuring out how to make things work. She works at the Camera as their Online Coordinator and always knows where her towel is. You can catch up with her on Twitter (@tofallfromgrace).
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I giggled to myself as I read the blog, that alone made it worth reading. But I also will remember the content and steps put forth because of that fact. Well done!!!
Good one Allison! I will put this on my facebook to spread the word. Al and I have a compost but you will have to come check it out to make sure it is up to par. XOOX
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