We thought we would take some time to share how we handle composting at the Freed Family Farm.
Our compost system is far from perfect, but it is definitely something we can continue to expand as we continue to grow (pun intended) our farm.
We have several sections of our compost. First, we have a dual chamber tumbling composter in our back yard. We bring any composable kitchen scraps out at the end of the day and give it a spin. This is a convenient way for us to get the compost out of the house and into a location where it can be for a while. The food scraps break down in the composter over time making room for more food scraps. We still find that this usually fills up before fully forming usable compost.
At this point, we empty the contents of the composter and load them into a wheelbarrow. We push this very heavy load three blocks down the street to the garden space where the next phase of our compost system is set up.
In this space we mix the kitchen compost with the garden compost. We have created three sections using used pallets from a local lumber/hardware store. The idea is that we have two sections with compost in them and a third section to move compost into as a means of stirring it. The top layers from one section will become the bottom layers of the next section.
Any organic matter we collect from the garden gets placed into one of these sections along with the kitchen compost from the house. Over time, this breaks down into the usable compost which we spread into the garden as we plant.
As our garden continues to expand, our compost needs are also continuing to expand. As you can see in the pictures, we have more compost to break down than space we have allotted for it.
If you have any suggestions for how we might efficiently expand our composting system, feel free to share a comment below.
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