Why You Need Multiple Composting Systems

I first started my composting journey with a worm farm. Having a worm farm is excellent and has definitely helped me to reduce food waste, but what I quickly found out was that even with more than 3,000 individual worms, they just couldn't handle the amount of food scraps my girlfriend, her family and I were all producing. (My girlfriend and I have been living with her family while we save to buy our own home). What I needed to do was add another compost method to my arsenal so I can further reduce my organic waste. I want to talk about some of the reasons why you need multiple composting systems, just like I do and the benefits each system brings. Having more than one system is good because they all do different things, but it is also important to stress, that you don't need to have every method I have listed, you may one need two or three.

Limitations

The downside to having just a worm farm is that worms can't compost everything, there are limitations and that is why I needed to introduce a second composting method to my life. Worms aren't great at composting large amounts of onions and citrus peels. You also can't compost things like meats, cheeses, fish and dry foods. There is also a limit on how much leaf litter and other dry brown materials you can feed to them. If you feed worms too much food in general they won't be able to get through it all. Many people have more than one worm farm which is a great idea but I think that you should diversify and create different types of compost through various methods.

Soil is key

When it comes to gardening getting the soil right is the most critical thing you can do. By composting organic materials we can create beautiful, rich, nutrient-dense soils we need to grow healthy and productive plants.
Organic rich compost contains the vital ingredients for plants to grow strong and healthy and to produce lots of fruit and flowers. By continuously adding fresh compost to your soil you can consistently add nutrients back into the soil and even remove the need for fertilisers because the compost provides all the benefits of fertiliser.

Reduce waste

Through composting, we can reduce our waste and the more systems we have, the more we can compost and the more waste we can reduce. The stats are incredible, about 40% of a households trash is made up of organic waste. So, by composting all your organic waste in multiple systems means you automatically reduce your waste by about 40%. All that organic waste can be used in one way or another to benefit your garden instead. Anything that was once alive can be broken down in some form of a compost system.

Diversity

In nature, we see diversity wherever we look, in the trees and plants, the animals, the landscapes and even in the soils. By using multiple composting methods we can improve the diversity of our soils. Compost can be made from a range of different organic materials and the more varied the materials being used the more diverse and rich in organic content the final product will be.

Composting methods

Below are five different composting methods we can all try at home, none of them require a lot of maintenance and are easy to start now.

Worm farm

By far the easiest composting method you can start straight away is a worm farm. The benefit of a worm farm is you just feed your worm the leftover scraps from your meal preparation and dry material like dead leaves. They take about 15 minutes of maintenance a week. The only work you need to do is add the food to the top tray, apply about three litres of water every fortnight and turn and aerate the compost.

Compost bin

A compost bin with a lid is another great option. They come in various sizes and are an excellent way to compost larger amounts of organic waste. Compost bins require a little bit more maintenance than a worm farm but still only require about 30 minutes of work a week. Compost bins are not really suited to those with a balcony but they don't need a lot of space so can be used by those with small yards and courtyards. Just remember to add a bit of water and turn the heap every few days.

Compost Tumbler

A compost tumbler is similar to a compost bin but a much smaller version that doesn't really need to be turned because they are designed to be spun. This is perfect for those that don't have a lot of space like apartment dwellers with balconies.

Bokashi

The bokashi method is technically not composting but a form of fermentation. Bokashi is an excellent addition to the other types of composting in this list because you can add things like meats, fish, cheese, oily paper towel and large pits like avocado. Just add your waste into the bucket and sprinkle the bokashi bran on top and it will ferment the waste. Once the waste is fermented you have to bury it or add it to your compost bin where it will break down further. This method takes about 10 to 15 minutes of work per week.

Ensopet

If you're like me and you have a pet, the ensopet is perfect for you because it breaks down your pet's waste with a bokashi type bran mix. The ensopet bucket is dug into the soil and any cat or dog waste is thrown inside with a handful of ensopet bran and the waste will break down and benefit the surrounding soil. This takes about five minutes of work a day. Please note it is recommended to bury the ensopet near non-edibles.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article about why you need multiple composting systems. Let me know what composting systems you use and how many you have, I would love to hear from you. Until next time, keep composting.