Composting is underrated! At Jiwa Garden we're doing our best to contribute to a healthier future, better soil, and reducing the waste that goes to landfill. Our workshops teach you the basics and take you on a journey.
Hot compost, liquid compost, aerated windrow composting, in-vessel composting, vermicomposting... so many different ways to make compost!
What is the first step to finding solutions to our waste issues?
Separation! If waste is separated, it is almost impossible to recycle or reuse it. If we don’t all put in efforts to support the proper disposal of waste, solutions are difficult to be implemented.
Can we recycle organic waste such as food scraps, old vegetables and fruits?
Recycling it turns it into compost! Compost is natural fertiliser filled with nutrients, minerals and fungi that feed the soil that we grow food in
How to make good compost
To make good compost, you need about 70% carbon rich material, and 30% nitrogen rich material. You also need to make sure enough oxygen is able to enter the compost pile, to get the bacteria working properly, that will decompose all materials into smaller particles until it’s fine compost.
What are examples of materials that are high in nitrogen?
Vegetables, Fruit, cow manure, horse manure, green leaves from trees, green grass clippings, coffee grounds!
What is the other main chemical element we need in compost, next to Nitrogen?
Carbon! Carbon rich materials are things that are looking rather dead, brown and dry, such as:
Dry leaves and shredded branches, straw, wood chips, saw dust.
Compost making at Jiwa Garden
The hard work of bacteria and microbes and the decomposing of organic matter sets free a lot of energy, which is expressed in heat. The compost pile reaches temperatures of almost 70 degrees Celsius in the process. If it gets too hot, the beneficial microbes will die. To prevent this, we need to turn the compost pile every other day, to turn the hot centre of the pile into the outer layers, and vice versa. We repeat this process for about 60 days, and go from smelly food waste, to beautiful, black gold.
Jiwa Garden picks up around 200kg of organic waste from local fruit and vegetable stores as well as from the market in Canggu, every single day of the week. Enough Carbon rich material has to be prepared as well, and then layer the compost like you’d layer a cake! Starting with a carbon rich layer, then nitrogen, carbon and so on, making sure that we stick to 70/30 proportions.
At Jiwa Garden, we also track all turning and temperatures of all piles in order to keep track of our operations, and have data to see how effective our operations are.
Join our compost workshops
The Jiwa Garden team likes to invite others to join and learn about the different types of compost, how to use the right materials, and how to turn waste into actual black gold. Join for a fun half day workshop, get your hands dirty and go home a better gardener than before!
Comments