Sunday, June 14, 2009

Urban Composting Continued

I returned to our apartment after being away for almost three weeks to find a lot changes on the balcony.

I started composting I think in early May. After my trip, the compost had definitely "matured". It was teeming with fruit flies, so I had to move it to the back of our tiny balcony, as you can see in the photo below. It had not been touched since I left. The material had condensed considerably, all of the moisture collected at the bottom, and it smelled like parts of it were decomposing anaerobically, which means without oxygen. This means unpleasant odors. I turned everything over and added carbon to try to achieve the desired moisture level of "a wrung out sponge". My girlfiend, while supportive of this endeavor, does not want to share our small balcony with dozens of flies. I might have to donate it to a local large scale composting operation...

On the bright side, our herb garden is now a vibrant place of green growth. I was initially concerned because of its north facing orientation and tall buildings all around that allow very little direct sunlight. It turns out that this is a decent spot to grow our garnishes.



A month ago I took seeds from a store-bought tomato, pepper, and lemon and planted them in containers. They are all coming up. Lets see if the tomatoes and peppers will be able to fruit.

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