We compost in our kitchen. Yes, we do. And I must say, when Mark suggested it, I was NOT enthusiastic. But I admit, I am totally happy to be rid of that nasty compost bucket (stock example) that was usually covered with fuzz by the time we took it out to the compost pile.
We have been doing this for over five years, and we are still happily married, so you know it works. Of course, that he puts up with eight pet cats and a stray cat habit, makes it very easy for me to put up with rotting food in the kitchen.
So, the way it works is this. You take a tall kitchen garbage can. You put some sticks in the bottom. You take a slightly smaller garbage cans and drill some holes in the bottom (for air). And you set it inside the first, on top of the sticks. The sticks keep the second can off the bottom of the first, so air can circulate and things don't get entirely nasty. (Needless to say, this is not the way Mark would probably present this). Then you throw some wood shavings in the bottom of the second can. When you have food scraps, you chuck them in. When needed, cover them with a thin layer of wood chips. This happens more frequently in the summer and less frequently in the winter. Food, chips. Food, chips. When full, take it out the compost pile. Now you have a good start of the proper mix of carbon to "greens" so your compost will heat up and decompose properly. No nasty compost bucket full of furry slop, and no nasty smell.
There is always a critical mass in summer if fruit flies get in the thing, in which case it goes out on the porch, and then gets dumped, cleaned, and we don't compost for a week or so until the fruit flies live out their short lives. But this isn't an issue most of the year.
Covers keep the mess out of view.
And there you go. Cat angle? None. And no, we don't compost cat poop. It goes to the landfill. It's about the only thing in our household that does.
Covered compost. It's not pretty, but no one sees it once the lid is on. And it beats the heck out of the bucket we used to that required major nose holding and turned into a slime haven.
Ha. Look! Where there's an idea, there's a PDF!
3 comments:
Tom is the only cat who has learned to knock over the kitchen trash can. Dog never did, but when we had Beauford he had ambitions, and we had to protect the trash.
Is this an issue?
For some reason our animals leave the trash alone. It's probably a help that we aren't big meat eaters, but even when we've fallen off the wagon and there are meat scraps around, they've stayed out. I don't think that's due to any skill on our part. I think we're just lucky.
If Sadie took an interest in the compost, we probably would move it to the pantry and put up a baby gate. But so far, we've had no problems. Fruit flies, yes. Tipped cans, no. (and those fruit flies will drive you crazy, so when those appear, OUT it goes).
Yummy! Just kidding... ;o)
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