Composting in your backyard

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Composting?

Before finding out what composting is, as everybody in Macedonia I was throwing the organic leftovers (fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells, non printed paper) along with other trash (plastic, cans, etc) in plastic bags – from Vero by any chance. Because they say plastic bags are bio digradable and are granted the right to give them for free that way 😉 Then I would throw the plastic beg in a container, the standard way. While on the way, a few stinky drops from the rotten watermelon inside would fall, which was a major reason to wrap everything in another plastic beg. So as to keep the drops within the plastic. Their most natural environment.

Honestly, I find it even difficult to remember when and how was I suddenly compost – educated. Probably somehow the idea that organic leftovers which easily degrade in the open are wrapped in plastic appeared to me, or that we contribute to the quantity of garbage each day that way, or during the many visits of organic producers and understanding what is happening to all that plastic which end up all around as and in nature, or that we are throwing away valuable resources actually……

A compost is a place where you can collect and naturally decompose organic waste (by organic we don’t mean only leftovers from products produced organically, but in general fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells..) with the help of the magic from Nature. After a few months, from something seemingly a waste, I get home made good quality fertilizer which I use in my home garden. One huge advantage is that I know where this fertilizer is coming from and what’s in it exactly. It is very important that what I use in my garden does not come from a farm where the animals are not grass fed, or it is being produced in unhealthy and polluted environment. It is so important because the micro and macro nutrients necessary for my plant to survive and have a healthy produce – get them exactly from the compost.

There is more then one kind of compost according to the how, when and where it is made. You can do a bit of your own research, the internet is full of information and explanations. (In case you still do not find what you need, we will be happy to share our experiences and literature, please contact us on info@dobrazemja.org). One remark from my own experience – do not distance the compost location the furthest from the house you can! Usually, the first idea that comes to our mind is to locate it far away from the balcony/house so we don’t sense the decomposing smell or be bothered by the fleese being attracted by it.

Following that logic, here’s my own math:

From the balcony/kitchen to the place of my compost (the furthest corner of the yard) there are 30m/one way (two ways, that is 60m/going). Daily, I do this walk at least once. That is 60*7=420m/week, or 1.680m monthly, or around 20km annually! If my average walking speed is 4km/1h, I spent 5hrs annually walking to the compost and back. Which is not so bad from one perspective, you will say 😉 But speaking about efficiency of a system or trying to improve the organization around my garden, I could have planted seedlings, or caressed my dog, or sleep for 5hrs! Adding to that the fact that our contribution to Drisla since we started composting has decreased or at least 50%, we are a happier family.

Good luck!

Biljana Filipovska, summer 2016

In this section we publish experiences and impressions for nature and natural approach to living and usage of resources. If you would lik to contribute with your own story, contact us info@dobrazemja.org.