Have you heard about small space composting? Composting has several benefits, which mainly include boosting soil composition and enhancing soil texture. Adding compost to your garden bed improves drainage and boosts soil quality.

Many individuals usually compost in large outdoor spaces. But if you have a small area, that’s also fine. In fact, you can still start composting in a small yard or space.

In this blog post, you’ll learn more about the advantages of composting and how you can maximize a small space for it.

If you’re a beginner, this detailed post will provide everything you need to know about composting before you buy products for sustainable gardening. Let’s get started.

The Tools You Need for Small Space Composting

Before you even start small space composting, there are a certain set of tools you must have to get started and these include the following:

• Compost bins and containers that fit right into your small space.
• Compost fork or pitchfork for enabling you to move the organic material to a different location.
• Spades and shovels for digging and moving around the compost material.
• Soil fork for digging up bulky finished compost or almost-finished compost.
• A watering hose or watering can to ensure the compost is always moist, which is crucial especially if you live in a hot area to avoid kinking and cracking.
• Compost thermometers that can be used to gauge how hot, active or steady the compost is. This will help you know the ideal time for turning. It also helps to find out whether there’s adequate moisture.

Getting Started

After you get all these tools, you can proceed ahead to start a small space composting project. You can start by placing the compost bin in an easily accessible location, be it under your sink or balcony. Follow this up by placing compostable items into the compost bin and these include the following:

• Dirt
• Sawdust
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Clean eggshells
• Human and pet hair
• Napkins and paper bags
• Teabags
• Grass clippings and leaves
• Paper filters and coffee grinds

But there are certain items that can’t be composted and these include the following:

• Weeds
• Meat and bones
• Pet waste
• Oils and fats
• Bread
• All types of seafood
• Cheese and butter
• Take out containers
• Cardboard
• Compostable utensils, dishware, and containers
• Leftovers containing dairy or meat

Make sure you have the necessary tools to start a compost in your small home. If the compost pile doesn’t turn out as expected, there are a few reasons why this might have happened including:

• Adding excessive acidic waste which hinders perfect decomposition and produces a foul smell.
• Lack of proper aeration which is supposed to help microorganisms do their decomposition work as expected.
• The compost pile is too wet either because of adding too many greens, excess watering, or inadequately aerating the compost pile.
• Adding waste chunks in the compost bin that is too big, preventing the pieces to break down faster.
• The compost pile is too dry or lacks proper moisture.

The Best Methods of Small Space Composting

There are several methods of composting, but not all of them are suitable for small spaces. Hence, the recommended methods of composting for small spaces are the following:

Vermicomposting

The best method of composting for smaller spaces is vermicomposting, which involves using worms to turn your kitchen scraps into rich soil. Vermicomposting can be done indoors or outdoors, and it doesn’t require much space or equipment.

You simply need to have a bin with an opening at the bottom, and you’ll be good to go! Vermicomposting entails placing compost in a closed worm bin. Worms can digest just about anything organic, including food scraps.

They will help kickstart the decomposition process. The process is simple and you can turn your organic waste into the worms’ habitat by adding a mix of shredded leaves and sawdust with some moist soil as well.

The worms will then break down the food scraps into compost for you. The resulting compost can then be used in your garden or flower beds.

Community Drop-Off Site

A community drop-off site is an ideal composting strategy if you don’t have enough space in your compound. This method allows you to use other people’s waste as well as your own, making it more efficient than other methods.

The concept of community drop-off sites has been around for some time now and it has become very popular among homeowners who want to reduce their waste footprint as well as make a difference in the environment.

In fact, there are many ways in which these sites help with waste reduction and pollution control through recycling and composting. Modern technology and apps can even help facilitate community composting. For example, ShareWaste is an app that helps people share compost bins.

It links up individuals with compost bins looking to collect food scraps, which they then drop off at the nearest collection point. The app is already being used in countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium, where it has been hailed as a way of reducing waste and emissions.

ShareWaste connects individuals with compost bins looking to collect food scraps using GPS technology to locate where the bins are located, so you can easily find one near you and drop off your food scraps.

The app works by connecting users with bin owners who have access to their own compost bins. Users can then message bin owners directly from the app, and tell them what type of food scraps they would like to collect from them.

This way, people who have excess food waste don’t have to search all over town looking for someone willing to take it off their hands.

Small Space Composting with Worm Farm

The use of worm farms, also known as worm compost, is created using three-tiered trays where organic waste gets stacked. The worms will do all the work for you and they will turn it into rich soil. You can also add carbon and nitrogen which will increase the fertility of your soil.

Worm farming is a great way to compost in your small space. It’s a very simple method that requires little effort and doesn’t require much space at all. Worm farming is also one of the best methods of composting if you have a small garden or balcony.

Worm farm composters use three trays stacked on top of each other and filled with organic waste such as food scraps, old leaves, and grass clippings. As the worms digest the food waste, they produce castings that are rich in nitrogen and minerals.

These castings are then removed from the tray and used as fertilizer for plants.

Takeaway

Having bigger gardens isn’t a luxury many homeowners enjoy, especially since most people today are living in condos, apartments, or small houses. If you also find yourself in a similar situation, you shouldn’t lose hope just yet when it comes to composting.

After all, there are still ways to maximize a small space for composting projects. This in-depth post has highlighted the basics of small space composting you need to know.