Composting at Home - The Green and Brown Material

Making your own compost is probably the simplest way to ensure high quality compost and save some money. It's really not as complicated as you may think. Once you are ready with your own Composting Tumbler, as explained in my earlier video post, now you can put Green (Nitrigen) and Brown (Carbon) material, which are generated in your own house and garden, in the Compost Tumbler.

Brown Material (Carbon)

Kitchen Scraps

Fruit & Vegetable Scraps

Grass Clippings

Garden Green Plants/Weeds

Flower Cuttings

See Weeds 

Coffee grounds

Tea leaves etc..

Green Material (Nitrogen)

Dry leaves

Eggshells (Nitrogen/carbon)

Straw or hay

Wood Ash / Saw Dust /Pellets (High Carbon level. Be careful not to compost any sawdust or wood that has been “pressure treated” or otherwise treated with a chemical preservative)

Shredded Paper/News Papers (blank colour printed) and not glossy papers

Cardboard without plastic laminated

Corn cobs/stalks (It is slow to decompost)

Green Comfrey leaves (Excellent compost "Activator") etc.

POINTS TO REMEMBER

• Preferably make/get two compost tumblers. After one tumbler is filled with brown/green material, use second one so that first one get cooked as first batch.
• Try to put all the referred items shredded, in small pieces and crushed to decompose fast.
• Sprinkle water occasionally so as to keep the required moist keep the required moist in the compost and not soaked and sodden.Optimum moisture content for compost is 40-60%, damp enough so that a handful feels moist to the touch, but dry enough that a hard squeeze

  

  One month old Batch

  produces no more than a drop or two of liquid
• Always keep the compost tumbler lid closed to retain moisture and heat, which are essentials for composting.
• Rotating/turning the compost tumbler is important so that the required oxygen is added to the compost. Please see the video in my earlier post "Compost Tumbler Making". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TX-jHJ-VhI.
• Keep the compost tumbler in warm place and not

  

  Four days old Batch

  directly under sun light.

CARBON/NITROGEN RATIO

Basically, all organic matter can be divided into carbon-rich (brown stuff) and nitrogen-rich (green stuff) materials. Using the right mixture of brown to green stuff when building a compost pile encourages the pile to heat up and decompose efficiently. Although nearly any combination of organic materials eventually decomposes, for the fastest and most efficient compost pile, strike the correct balance (C/N ratio) between the two types of material — usually 25 to 1 (that is, 25 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen).

Seeds Sowing Chart-South/North India

You can obtain the information from the following link http://geekgardener.in/sowing-chart/#chartI

Compost Tumbler making

Please see my video on "Economical Compost Tumbler for Home Use" by clicking the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TX-jHJ-VhI

Inspiration - Garden on Terrace

Pl. see the following link of Garden on Terrace created by Ms. Jamila Mohamed Ahmed published in The Hindu dated 7th Dec. 2012 http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/garden-on-terrace/article4129908.ece.

Tamil Nadu Govt. Initiative

Dear Friends

There was a news item published in Times of India  dated 23-9-13, which is appended below:

The soaring price of vegetables has caused much heartburn, but people in the state may soon get their greens for free.

If the state government has its way, residents could soon be plucking fresh vegetables from their own rooftop gardens. As part of the plan to soften the blow of food inflation, the government will distribute do-it-yourself rooftop garden kits to residents.

Encouraged by a few individuals who have responded to rising prices by growing vegetables on their balconies, the government plans to introduce the scheme in Chennai and Coimbatore to begin with.

"The opportunity to beat rising prices by growing vegetables at home has led to people trying their luck with gardening. The government wants to chip in with support," a horticulture officer said. The horticulture department will roll out the scheme with support from Tamil Nadu Agriculture University.

People interested can apply online and the government will supply them with 20 UV stabilised 200 micron thickness polythene bags, 15kg of coir pith and manure, seeds for vegetables and greens, besides instruments, organic fertiliser and a 20sqm polythene sheet. It will make 20 bags available for each person at a subsidised price. Indian Overseas Bank offers loans to individuals for rooftop gardening.

Vegetables such as brinjals, tomatoes, chillies, cluster beans and amaranthus can be grown in the summer and spinach, radish, beetroot, snake gourd, bitter gourd, ribbed gourd and bush beans in the rainy and cooler months, said A Sadasakthi, professor, TNAU.

A brinjal plant yields an average of 5kg of the vegetable in six months, while two tomato plants yield up to 8kg. The government decided to use coir pith instead of red soil to minimise the weight of the plants.

Constraints of space may be a problem for many people in the city, but not for those who know how to use space effectively. "I found my tiny roof has lot of potential," says A M Malathi, who loves vegetables. The Medavakkam resident has been growing large quantities of pumpkin, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, snake gourd, ladies finger, cluster beans, brinjal, yam, and seasonal vegetables like beetroot and carrot.

She sometimes grows cauliflower, cabbage and capsicum. "I try dal once in a while too," she said.Vegetable gardens have the added advantage of making the house cooler. Exnora founder M B Nirmal said growing vegetables has other benefits as well. "It helps calm the mind and nurtures a love for nature," he said.