Last week Raghu and Meera decided to make a compost pit from vegetable scraps and dry leaves they had gathered. Today we bring to you an outdoor activity you can do with your children in your garden. Making compost will introduce kids to the natural cycle of growth and decay and should encourage them to become recyclers!
An effective and environmentally friendly solution for turning yard waste
and kitchen scraps into a beneficial soil additive, here are the steps to build a compost pit in the soil with
kids -
1. Explain to the child what composting is in a fun and simple way. Let them know - Composting, although managed by
people, is a process entirely undertaken by small "critters" such as
insects, fungus, and bacteria that will work in nearly any conditions.
2. Find a
place in your lawn/backyard and dig the hole for your compost pit. Your
compost hole should be about 1 foot (30 cm) deep. The area of the hole will be
determined by the amount of organic matter you want to add.
3. Chop your
composting materials finely. Underground composting proceeds more
slowly than above ground setups, and maximizing the surface area of your scraps
is key to speeding the process. Aim for pieces of scraps no bigger than 2 or 3
inches (5 - 8 cm) in any dimension.
4. Add the
organic materials to the compost pit. Pile your food scraps and yard
waste into the hole you dug to a depth of about 4 inches (10 cm).
Put in
|
Don’t use
|
Fruit and vegetable peelings
Dead flowers and plants Grass cuttings and nettles Small branches and twigs Tea bags, coffee grounds and filter paper Shredded and scrunched paper and cardboard Egg shells Saw dust |
Meat and fish
Dairy products Processed foods such as pasta and bread Pet litter Large branches |
5. Cover
your compost with soil. Once you have finished adding your organic
scraps to the compost pit, you can refill it with the soil you removed.
6. Keep the
compost pit wet while it is decomposing. Underground compost
decomposes slowly, because it doesn't have access to as much fresh oxygen as
aboveground piles. To speed the process, ensure the area stays fairly wet. You
can use a garden hose to wet it in the dry weather.
7. Sow
plants/vegetables above the compost after it has decomposed. A major benefit of
underground composting is that you don't have to perform any extra steps to
harvest the compost and amend your soil. The soil below is now perfect to create a vegetable garden on it!
Compost |
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