Countdown to Christmas - 14 Days

Yikes! A recovered Baby O = time to catch up with blogging! Here goes some backdated posts:-

It has been exactly six months since I started my compost bin. Time to unearth the treasures buried! All those dried leaves, fruit skins and vegetable peelings have turned into this beautiful, rich compost! There were also lots of darkened branches, roots and leaves which have not completed their composting process so these needs to be filtered before obtaining the compost proper. I have already added some to the soil of my crops. Am hoping when I return after Christmas, everything would be just blooming!

On top of that, my crops are growing well and bearing fruits! We have over ten different types of herbs, fruits and vegetables in our little garden now. Can't wait to taste the first harvest!

Such a satisfied feeling when you see your plants thriving and ultimately lead to the end result of producing fresh, pesticide-free goodies!

Thankful to have garden space and fertile soil as well as lots of garden squirmy 'friends' helping in the process!

2nd batch of garlic

Hong Kong kailan

Chilli

Mint

More compost update

I went to check on my compost two weeks ago to see if I should turn it again. When I remove the cover this time, I discovered tonnes of big, fat (ok, this is not for the squeamish!) maggots!!! They were all having a big, fat maggot party! Ewww!

Well, I sort of expected it as I have read somewhere before that a compost heap that is too wet may attract some of these creepy crawlies. I must have incorporated too much vegetable peelings and fruit skins in there without adding enough 'browns' such as dried leaves, twigs and branches. The other possibility is I may have watered the compost more than I needed to in a humid country - I have yet to search for a composting site from a tropical country for help in this area. One last cause could be due to the addition of egg shells. Some suggests to wash the egg shells before crushing them into the pile while others say just dump them in. I did the latter which might explain how I created maggot haven!

On the other hand, I did also read that maggots help with the decomposing process and their by products are actually great addition to the compost! We went back to our hometown over the weekend and when we got back, the compost heap has reduced in height quite obviously thanks to all the action going on! So the question is, to keep or not to keep our little friends (or foes) the maggots??

Anyway, I have stopped watering the heap of compost and added more dry fallen fir tree leaves into it and gave it a little stir (sorry to be such a party pooper, Mr and Miss Maggots) to dry the heap a little. I actually prefer the heap decomposing without the sight of these wriggly stuffs. I haven't seen them today after changing the moisture level of the composition. Let's see if it is bye-bye maggots in the next few weeks!

Note: After writing this post, I did a quick search and found Composting in Singapore, a great sight for beginners starting a compost with tonnes of pictures and info. They mentioned that our hot and humid weather is perfect for composting (thus I shall stop watering the heap and let it decompose under our brilliant tropical climate naturally). They also mentioned that the larvaes of Black Soldier Flies (BSFs) are compost friends! Ok maggot-y thingys, you can stay. But can you like remain at the bottom of the compost heap so I don't get goosebumps every time I need to remove the cover and throw in more materials to feed you? Oh, and bravo to Composting in Singapore for their effort in starting a compost bin even though they live in an HDB flat in Singapore as well as sharing all the great info on their site!

Note 2: Sorry no pictures as I can only bear to lift the cover up, dump more materials in and close it back. Maybe when I gather more guts next time round!

Ooooohh... This Mama can't wait!

I have since 5 minute ago watered my first crop! In three separate pots are the seeds of okra (ladies fingers), chilli and pumpkin. And planted in the garden plot itself are ten garlic bulbs! I didn't know it was that easy to plant garlic! Just put a bulb every 10cm or so of compost mixed soil somewhere with plenty of sun, water and wait! Just wished my compost was ready to be used. I am just hoping to see some shoots sprouting out of the soil soon!!! Fingers crossed! Watch this space for updates!

Compost update

It's been almost a week since I started a compost heap in one corner of our little garden. The last few days, I've been watering it (yes, you have to keep it moist enough for it to decompost) as well as feeding it more 'food' ie. vegetable peelings, fruit skins, dried leaves....

Today, I took out the wire and removed all the scrap to 'turn' the compost. This is supposed to introduce more oxygen to help with the composting process. There are some articles that suggest that turning a compost may not be necessary like this one.

While I was turning the compost, I noticed a few things. The leaves of the ginger plant as well as other plants with the same type of leave texture as shown in the picture seems to decompose slower. They probably need to be chopped into smaller sizes to speed up the process. Branches should also be only a few inches long. The orange peel were still very intact but to be fair, they were only added a few days ago. Anyway, as a general rule, the smaller the items, the faster they decompose.

Contrary to common initial perception, the compost was kind of sweet- instead of foul-smelling even though some of the items were rotting away.

After giving the compost a good mix, I then re-wire up the mesh and place the compost back in while giving it another round of watering.

Many would think that it's complex to set up a compost but if I can do it, you can too as it is fairly easy. Mine is simply made up of wire mesh secured into a loop and covered with a pot dish which acts also as a weight to keep the compost material down. As mentioned in my previous post, there are tonnes of articles and videos online to help you get started. Here are some:

For a video guide on how to make a compost bin, try this video.

For a video guide on how to compost, try Garden Organic's two-part video. They are a little lengthy but detailed and presented clearly.
Part 1
Where to put your compost bin - What can and can't be composted - Filling the bin - Compost activators - Getting the mixture right - Hot and cool composting
Part 2
When is the compost ready - Using your compost

This Mama started a compost heap!

I was watching Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on Escape to River Cottage last night. He basically left the city to live in River Cottage and reared his own sheeps, pigs, cows, chickens and planted his own crops. Back to the basics of living! He mentioned last night that the older he gets, the more he wants to re-use refering to what to do with leftover food.

Just maybe two days back, I was thinking to myself that as I'm growing older, I'm collecting more 'rubbish' to be re-used or recycled! Right now, I have a few washed and dried empty milk cartons for a little project for Baby O. I also have a bag of bread crusts (leftovers from Baby O) in the freezer waiting for a suitable recipe. I was trying to collect the skins and ends of vegetables to make vegetable stock but collect them now for my little compost heap!

There are plenty of helpful websites and videos online to show you how to get one for yourself. Even if you don't have garden space, you can get one started with just a bucket in your kitchen! I found a little corner in my garden for my bin. It is basically a holding bin made up of wire mesh. I then fed it with the dried up plants, grass clippings and some plant trimmings (Mom graciously helped to clear the garden during her stay here. Thanks Mom!). Voila! Now it needs to be watered for the magic to work. Fingers-crossed, we shall have some nice little compost in two to six months' time!