There is loads of joy in un-complicating every day issues. Unfortunately, we are good at diverting all our finest human qualities and energies in the opposite direction. One such issue at hand in Bengaluru is composting precious wet waste. I wanted to find my own answers and after almost 2.5 years, my experiments have helped me achieve at least this much of simplicity. I hope it gets better.

If you have already read the previous post on this experiment, let me take you straight to the harvesting episode.

Most of the organic material had degraded in 20-25 days in the composting bin but I thought of letting it stay for some more days. When I harvested it almost six weeks later, this is what I got. Nearly 70% of the compost was sievable and ready-to-use, while the rest had some leaves and stems undergoing transition. No sign of any cooked food scraps whatsoever!

 

Once the harvesting was over, I began preparing the next bin. This time, all the vegetable rejects were chopped finely. I added a bowl of sour curd and some cooked leftovers. All this was mixed thoroughly with almost a kilogram of Up’Grade. The entire mix went into the bin. On the top, to prevent fruit flies and loss of moisture, I added a two-inch-thick layer of Up’Grade, wrapped the bin with a cloth bag, placed the sieve on top of it and let it stay for nearly 20 days.

 

When I took out the mixture, it had reduced by about 40% in quantity. It was smelling nice although it had some half-composted contents.

 

On that day, we happened to have a load of orange peels, something I have avoided adding to the two experiments. Citrus foods, because of the high acidity levels, take longer to degrade. But this time, I thought of going the whole hog. What more, I had a packet of new compost culture at hand bought from a reliable source at Rs 80 per kg. I was told it would last a few months for a house of four members.

It’s time for a new experiment!

To procure Up’Grade, please contact:
Reap Benefit,
#1023, 3rd Cross, 13th Main, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar,
Bangalore – 560038, India
+91-9986615136/ +91-9886361805
info@reapbenefit.in