Thursday, February 08, 2007
Das Kompost Nazi
Some of my coworkers think that I'm a little weird (ok, probably very weird) partly because I encourage them to give me their orange & banana peels as well as apple cores and I routinely empty the coffee grounds from the break room coffee machine into a used container in my lunch box just so I can take all these things home and compost them instead of allowing them to end up in a landfill. I've even been known to pick fruit peelings off the top of the trash and bury them in the flowerbeds outside. During the warmer months, I also bury the expired fish from the aquarium department. It may seem eccentric and it has gotten a lot of strange looks from those driving by, but let me tell ya, my workplace's flowerbeds have never had such rich soil.
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6 comments:
I used to live in an apartment complex and I would take the fishwater from my tanks out to my flower beds. Everyone thought it was crazy but when my climbing roses took over the 2nd floor balcony they all wanted some dirty fish water.
I think that's awesome. Much better than using artificial fertilizers that eventually can leech into drinking water.
If you ever decide to grow tomatoes, my Dad swears by composting the soil with grapefruit rinds and coffee grounds.
PS - Been loving the fantastic pics! You definitely have a talent for capturing the beauty of each season.
coffee grounds compost well? I would think they'd be too acidic. Interesting! I'd always heard of putting coffee grounds around the roots of azaleas and hydrangeas to make their colors more vivid...but I never thought you could compost them. Good to know!
and hey...not only are the dead fishes helping the flower gardens, but they're getting a burial too...better than being flushed!! :) Next time someone gives you a strange look, just adopt a very sad face and say "Poor Goldie...he was my favorite!" They'll leave you alone after that...;)
Bacchus, I do the exact same thing both at home and at work... dirty fish tank water is very nutritious for most garden plants (except if it's a saltwater tank) though I've found by trial and error that it is ill advised for houseplants due to the foul odor it takes on.
Regina, thank you much :)
Shelby, they're not necessarily too acidic if being composted with a lot of other assorted biomass... keeping in mind that I throw most everything organic in the compost... newspaper, brown paper bags, all manner of food scraps, houseplant trimmings, etc. The grounds make up less than 5% the total volume.
You're such the responsible environmentalist! :)
I bet you recycle everything at home, too, right? In the apartment building I live in, no one recycles anything. That bothers me. All the other places I've lived in, we had to recycle glass and aluminum.
So... who gives last rites to the fishies?
Oh, sorry Suzanne... though I very much hate to admit it, I do not recycle much at home but I've been trying to rearrange my house, which would include moving a thing or two out of the kitchen, thus making room for recycling bins.
I give last rights to the fishies if I feel like making people leave me alone (amazing how peaceful life can be when people think you're crazy, LOL!)
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