Appreciation post: my little compost bin finally paid off

I started composting in my apartment kitchen about 3 years ago with just a little 5-gallon bucket under the sink. Last month I finally got a full batch of usable soil out of it, and I honestly didn't think it would work given my tiny space. I live in Portland, so I can drop scraps at a community site, but I wanted to try doing it start to finish on my own. It took a lot of trial and error with balancing greens and browns, and I had to stop myself from throwing in too many citrus peels. Last week I used that soil to repot a sad-looking snake plant on my balcony, and it actually perked up in like 3 days. Has anyone else managed to keep a small-scale compost going indoors without getting fruit flies everywhere? I still struggle with that part.

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_lewis13d ago

I saw this tip on a gardening sub where someone said to bury your greens under a thick layer of browns like shredded cardboard or dry leaves, it works pretty well for me so far lol. I also keep a little dish with apple cider vinegar and a drop of soap near my bin and it catches most of the fruit flies before they get out of hand. That snake plant coming back to life must have felt so satisfying, like watching your own dirt do its job haha.

benreed13d ago

Watching your own dirt do its job" is a beautiful sentence, @vera_lewis, and one I will be repeating to everyone who asks why my apartment smells like a damp forest floor. The apple cider vinegar trick saved my kitchen too, though I also learned the hard way that a neglected coffee ground layer is basically a fly resort. My proudest moment was when a friend asked if my soil was store-bought and I said "no, that’s the remains of my bad banana decisions.