This article is from the “Balcony Compost Newsletter (Compost This!)” Please use the form on the right to sign up for the semi-monthly newsletter if you thought this information was helpful

Ah yes, summertime flies…sure does go fast. No silly, I’m talking about those little annoying flying things that always seem to be inside my kitchen scrap bin that I take out to the compost bin once a week. What can we do about them?

1. Have a kitchen bin big enough to fill with carbon layers. I use a 3 gallon rubber container with a lid. 4 bucks at Big Lots.
2. I suggest starting with plenty of shredded newspaper at the bottom and mix in your kitchen scraps when you get them. Keep adding more carbon if things get infected. It dries out your scraps and masks that succulent fruit smell those flies love so so much.

If you do have a lot of fruit flies, keep the lid on and take it outside before opening it and then let those suckers buzz away. Keep it outside and open a few hours during the day to dry out the materials inside. During fruit fly season you may want to plan on taking your compost to the outside bin more frequently.

I haven’t yet found the perfect solution, but having an air tight lid and a pet spider in the vicinity seem like a good idea.

This article is from the “Balcony Compost Newsletter (Compost This!)” Please use the form on the right to sign up for the semi-monthly newsletter if you thought this information was helpful

Paper as we all may know is carbon based. So it’s great to compost, right? Yes! BUT! There are lots of different types of paper out there and some are more compostable than others.

The best paper to use for composting is newspaper. This is because the great majority of newspapers use safe vegetable based dye for ink. The inserts, though, are no bueno. That’s because they aren’t made by the newspaper company and often are glossy and printed with inks with high metallic content.

The only reason you need to care about this though is if the compost is going to be used for edibles (like your tomatoes). Otherwise no biggy.

Normal office paper can also be composted. The reason pages are white is because they are bleached. Worms hate bleach. Bleach is a toxin so we can’t blame them. This also shouldn’t be composted for edibles.

Glossy paper is bad.

Make sure to shred your paper! The more surface area the better. For both the worms and the microbes.

This article is from the “Balcony Compost Newsletter (Compost This!)” Please use the form on the right to sign up for the semi-monthly newsletter if you thought this information was helpful

A major deterrent many people have about composting is smell. Understandable! We’ve all had kitchen scraps composting in our garbage bins creating a smell that leaves you gagging. Please keep in mind:

Your compost should not smell!

Don’t get me wrong. Compost, like anything else, can be done improperly. Why not take these easy steps to keep your compost smelling foresty fresh:

• Make sure your compost is only moist. Soggy wet compost can smell like a soggy gym sock.
• Don’t add meat or cheese.
• Make sure your compost is well aerated. If it’s packed down, mix it up and allow air through.
• Compost thrives on a good mix of green and brown components. A lot of green components can be smelly, including the majority of your kitchen scraps. Add more brown to suck up moisture and smells. Here’s a list of some good urban browns: shredded newspaper; toilet paper & paper towel rolls; rice; dryer lint; vacuum cleaner sweepings; coffee filters; tissue.