Composting?

bkchickie · August 2008

I have a somewhat odd query, but what the heck. I throw away loads of veggie scraps every week. At my old apartment I composted, but my current building does not have the space or interest to install one here. I've researched indoor composting bins, and indoor worm bins (I'm sorry, but yuck), but it seems like you need to be a biochemist in order to keep them insect- and smell-free (and again, the whole worms-in-my-kitchen thing just turns me off). Besides, what would I do with my compost? I don't have a yard, and only two teeny houseplants.

According to the BBG, the nearest Greenmarket drop off is in Ft. Green (plans for one at the GAP Greenmarket are slowly gathering speed, but nothing yet).

Is anyone in the neighborhood looking for additional green matter (with a few tea leaves) for their compost bin? I would be happy to contribute.

rbenghiat · August 2008

i actually keep our scraps in the freezer, and then trek them 1x per week to the Union Sq greenmarket, which is on my commute. really easy - i have to switch trains anyway, so I just head up the stairs to drop off.

we thought about a worm bin but decided no. But, there's a whole world of worm bin advice if you want to go that root too. Just google.

bullyboy · August 2008

Wow, that's dedication.

Time for GAP to get cracking, I'd say.

rbenghiat · August 2008

yeah, well, it's easier than hauling recycling to the coop, which we also do (and which is always sort of traumatic - no matter how well I sort, I seem to get yelled at. perhaps they can smell that I'm not a member?

)

bkchickie · August 2008

rbenghiat wrote: i actually keep our scraps in the freezer, and then trek them 1x per week to the Union Sq greenmarket, which is on my commute. really easy - i have to switch trains anyway, so I just head up the stairs to drop off.

we thought about a worm bin but decided no. But, there's a whole world of worm bin advice if you want to go that root too. Just google.

Boy, I don't know. If that bag ever broke mid-ride....

rbenghiat · August 2008

nah - it's a few bags of frozen scraps, all in a cloth tote. no smell, no mess..

bullyboy · August 2008

I used to do the same thing when I lived in the Village. And I thought I was dedicated. My hat is off...

(Keeps you cool on the subway platform, though, doesn't it?)

sweet tea · August 2008

you can bring them to the prospect heights community farm (community garden), on st. marks between vandy and underhill. we'd be happy to accept them.

you can come during open hours, or you can join the garden and get a key, so you can come by any time. joining the garden is $5-$25 pay-what-you-can, plus come get an orientation tour after a meeting sometime. open hours are wednesday 4-6, friday 5-7, and...there are times on saturday and sunday, but i can't think of them. they're posted on the fence, but this time of year, the garden is often open all weekend since members are there working.

if our garden isn't convenient for you, you might try asking at another community garden near you.

bkchickie · August 2008

sweet tea wrote: you can bring them to the prospect heights community farm (community garden), on st. marks between vandy and underhill. we'd be happy to accept them.

you can come during open hours, or you can join the garden and get a key, so you can come by any time. joining the garden is $5-$25 pay-what-you-can, plus come get an orientation tour after a meeting sometime. open hours are wednesday 4-6, friday 5-7, and...there are times on saturday and sunday, but i can't think of them. they're posted on the fence, but this time of year, the garden is often open all weekend since members are there working.

if our garden isn't convenient for you, you might try asking at another community garden near you.

Wow, this is exactly what I was looking for and very convenient chez BKChickie! Hooray!!

halfpint · August 2008

sweet tea wrote: you can bring them to the prospect heights community farm (community garden), on st. marks between vandy and underhill. we'd be happy to accept them.

you can come during open hours, or you can join the garden and get a key, so you can come by any time. joining the garden is $5-$25 pay-what-you-can, plus come get an orientation tour after a meeting sometime. open hours are wednesday 4-6, friday 5-7, and...there are times on saturday and sunday, but i can't think of them. they're posted on the fence, but this time of year, the garden is often open all weekend since members are there working.

if our garden isn't convenient for you, you might try asking at another community garden near you.

Wow, thanks for the heads up sweet tea. This gives me initiative to work on this rather than hope for the day that I have a roommate who isn't freaked out by composting.

sweet tea · August 2008

you're welcome. i had no idea there was such latent interest in composting.

the very best thing, of course, would be to join the garden and the compost committee -- just means being part of the group that keeps an eye on internal temperature, etc., and flips the piles when necessary....

also, if anyone knows a good source of "browns" -- woodchips, dead leaves/grass, sawdust from untreated wood (not plywood or otherwise chemically), we're always looking.

vanilla · August 2008

is there some kind of schedule for the garden meetings? i joined a few months ago and since they took my email i thought i would hear back from someone.... i'm less busy now and realize much time has gone by!

sweet tea · August 2008

so many people were going out of town that we canceled the august meeting; the next one will be mid-september, but no date has been set yet. generally the date gets posted on the bulletin boards at the garden a couple weeks beforehand.

if anyone is interested in joining and would like to get on the listserve to get announcements about meetings and the like, pm me and i will pass your email on to the person in charge of the listserve. vanilla, i think sometimes the addresses that get written down at a meeting don't always find their way to the right person. i'm guessing that may have happened to yours.

khuntiennang · August 2008

sweet tea: that's great to know. i never thought of it. since it is garden, i assume the composting is outdoor? how is it like in winter?

i was researching about composting for a while, and i thought about worm, but my husband doesnt like the idea. besides, we travel almost everymonth, and i dont want worms crawling around my apt when we are not around. i found something called "naturemill" [ http://www.naturemill.com ] which is perfect for indoor (such as in apartment) composting. but it's so expensive. but im considering it. anyone using naturemill?

sweet tea · August 2008

our compost bins are outdoors, yes. i have to admit that i get a bit lazy about making regular trips there in the winter, but as far as i know, there's no reason you can't keep composting. the compost heaps get quite warm on their own. things may slow down a bit in the winter if it's really cold, but i doubt they'll stop.

pitu · February 2009

The Gothamist wrote: Urban Composting Adventures: "Worms Were Trying to Escape"

There's a fun story on the challenges of urban composting in the Times's Home & Garden section today. For those of you who usually skip those pages due to a lack of home or garden, here's the breakdown: The Lower East Side Ecology Center gives workshops for people looking to recycle their food waste without totally stinking up their apartments. One attendee explains, "I’m a little nervous because I’ve heard the stories." She's referring to the harrowing tales of fruit fly infestation and runaway worms; the popular "worm condo" vermicomposting method uses about 1,000 worms to eat through scraps and, over the course of four months, excrete the "castings" that make up compost. (It can then be given to community gardens or distributed as gifts!) But despite one couple's choice to keep their worm condo underneath the bed, these people aren't so radical, just concerned about the environment. And rightfully so; the E.P.A. says keeping discarded food out of landfills does more than twice the good of keeping mixed paper out, because decomposing food that's buried and cut off from air releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas, at higher rates than paper.

flo · February 2009

http://www.horsebackride.com/jb/home.php

Sweettea- Not sure if you want to pay for your brown matter, but the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy has bales of hay that you can buy for around $12. It's not so close though and you would need a car (rental or otherwise) or supercargo thingamagig for a bike to haul it back though. (They are located near the Belt--reachable by biketrail.) Generally you need to go before 5pm to pickup the hay.

Maybe the Kensington Stables nearby has hay too? It couldn't hurt to ask.
http://www.kensingtonstables.com/

flo · February 2009

Sweetpea--just talked to a gardener friend who said you can get woodchips free at Greenwood Cemetery too.

arches · February 2009

Tks, Flo....we (Sweet Tea and I belong to the same garden) ended up finding a great source of browns from a woodshop down near the Gowanus. We get planer shavings, which are much thinner/smaller than woodchips and break down quickly....and they're free! The shop is happy to get rid of them (they have to pay to have them hauled away).

The composting effort has been ongoing through the winter - although it was touch and go during the really frigid weeks in January. Feel free to stop by and check it (or drop off some composting scraps). St. Marks between Vandy and Underhill.

flo · February 2009

Arches..nice. We haven't used any woodchips or woodshavings in our compost, (though we do use them to keep down weeds in paths) just hay (which we did pay for but it really comes in handy for us) and old leaves, grass and such, and of course most of our garden waste. Will definitely stop by your garden. Would love to see it.

Hope you guys have a great season.

Composting?

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