recently i went to a free composting workshop hosted by the city of Los Angeles (along with my food&craft&newmedia-loving friend alex of viva.le.mani). these workshops are offered once a month for LA residents and give a helpful overview of the art/science of urban composting. plus, they offer super deals on a variety of composters at city-subsidized prices. (i got an earth machine composter for $20!)
when i was growing up, my family always had a compost in our backyard, so the practice wasn’t foreign to me. but doing it in the city seemed a bit more intimidating, so i really appreciated the boost of confidence from this little workshop.
a few new-to-me tips that i took home…
for a healthy compost, be sure to keep a 50/50 balance of browns-to-greens. not enough browns? try adding some shredded newspaper. to keep away critters, never include anything that was cooked in oil/fat. and to keep away fruit flies, bury new fruits and veggies under the old compost in your bin. and if it starts to smell funky, you’re doing something wrong! i’m still getting started myself–so for more details, check out the LA city composting guide.
and let me know if you have any composting adventures or tips to share!
listening to: let it be me by ray lamontagne (listen)
:: image from lillieinthecity / flickr
One Comment
Ohhhh good tips! My grandma composts and I’ve always been curious about it. There are some great workshops going on in upcoming Earth Day events so I’m going to poke around and gather info. Exciting!