How to Compost Indoors

Indoor composting is an efficient way to recycle kitchen scraps into a rich nutritious garden soil amendment. Don't worry; indoor composting does not have to be smelly. Automatic composters come with strong built-in air filters. If you choose an anaerobic method or worm composting instead, the molecular reactions reduce odors during the composting process. So stop throwing away those vegetable peels, egg shells and coffee grounds. Follow these easy steps to compost indoors.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Aerating automatic compost unit
• Kitchen scraps
• Brown cardboard
• Baking soda
• Bucket with bottom drain
• Molasses
• Garden grade ceramic powder
• EM (Efficient Microbes) powder
• Wheat bran
• Plastic storage bin
• Drill
• Newspaper
• Red worms

Automatic composter

1. 
   Automatic aerating composter

   Set a commercially available aerating composter unit in a kitchen cupboard or pantry with access to an electrical outlet. Slip the internal tray and air filter into the unit and plug it in.

2. Add organic material leftovers and kitchen scraps to the bin. Close the lid tightly between additions and leave the unit turned on at all times. Mix in a fistful of clean sawdust or shredded brown cardboard and a tablespoon of baking powder after one week of operation.

3. Remove the internal tray filled with finished compost when the indicator light comes on. Each batch will take about two to three weeks.

Bokashi bucket anaerobic indoor composting

4. Make bokashi by mixing together two tablespoons of organic molasses, one tablespoon of garden grade ceramic powder and one packet of EM (Efficient Microbes) microbial starter powder into a gallon of hot water. Pour the mixture over 10 pounds of wheat bran and stir.

5. 
   Bokashi bucket

   Place the bokashi in a plastic bucket with a drain in the bottom. Seal the bucket with a tight-fitting lid. Allow the bran mix to ferment for two to three weeks in a warm dark cupboard. Open the spigot and drain off any moisture every three to four days.

6. Add chopped kitchen scraps to the bokashi during the next two to three weeks. Seal the bucket lid tightly between each addition and draining off accumulated water several times a week. Next, allow the contents sit undisturbed for at least three weeks for thorough fermentation. Mix the finished compost into garden soil.

Worm composting

7. Drill 10 half-inch holes in the bottom of a plastic storage bin and six to eigh holes in each side of the bin. Set the bin on bricks on a tray to allow moisture drainage out of the bottom and air circulation.

8. 
   Plastic storage bin with newspaper for worm composting

   Tear up newspaper and moisten it in a bucket filled with water. Wring out the water and fill the plastic bin to within three or four inches of the top. Bury handfuls of chopped up kitchen scraps in the paper and allow it to sit undisturbed for two to three weeks.

9. Place red worms, ordered from a garden supply retailer, into the center of the bin. Keep the bin in a warm dark spot.

10. Continue to add handfuls of kitchen scraps down into the moist newspaper for up to three months. Add additional newspaper as the compost mix settles.

11. Spoon out the worm casings and add them to potted plants or tip the bin out into the garden and mix it in with the soil.

Tips & Warnings

• Chop kitchen scraps into small chunks before adding to any indoor composter for thorough, more rapid composting.
• Do not add meat or fat of any sort to the compost mix.

Resources

• Nature Mill---Indoor composting equipment
• SCDworld.com---Sustainable Community Development: Bokashi
• Fine Gardening: Worm Composting