***Click here to watch the instructional video.
You realise your compost bin still has a good amount of space left, and you’ve got a pile of raw food scraps left after preparing a meal. Can you add them to your partially filled compost bin?
Of course!
Check your compost bin, and you’ll realise that with time (about a month or so), some activity has gone on inside. This means that some food scraps would have turned brown, and are starting to blend into a soil-like state. But adding new food scraps at the top won’t affect their composting process at all.
What should you do then?
Simply dump your new food scraps into the bin, forming a new layer of ‘greens’ on top of the old compost mixture. This layering method is good if you want to use the finished compost from the bottom of the bin whenever it’s ready.
After adding in the new food scraps, mix in some compost (or coffee grounds) and ‘browns‘. How much to add? It really depends. If you add in a bowlful of raw food scraps (also known as ‘greens‘), add in a same bowlful amount of ‘browns‘. This ensures a 50/50 mix of greens and browns in your new layer of compost. Add in just enough compost or coffee grounds to cover the food scraps, as if you are lightly “salting” them, because they contain microorganisms to jump-start the composting process.
Usually, composted greens and browns gradually gravitate down towards the bottom of the bin, since they shrink in size.
Finally, cover the top of the pile with some ‘browns’ to keep the temperature in. Some good material are fallen leaves or cardboard. We also highly recommend hay! This allows the microorganisms to thrive and work in warm temperatures that are just right for them. Moreover, hay allows you to leave your compost bin uncovered for rainwater and sunlight. You will be surprised how odours and pests are still effectively kept at bay. (For more information on hay, click here.)
As aforementioned, the method of adding new ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ at the top (instead of mixing in with the rest of the old ‘greens’ and browns’ below) is known as layering. You may also choose to mix the entire pile together, but you will probably have to wait for another 3 to 6 months for the entire thing to compost completely.
For more composting help and guidelines, visit our ‘Compost!’ page. Alternatively, send us an email at info@kainosis.com.
Don’t own a compost bin yet? Here is a quick, extremely low-cost and easy way!
Quick tip! It is good to have 2 compost bins. Once the first one is filled up (about 3/4 full), you can set it aside to compost. This is when you can use the second bin to contain new ‘greens’ and ‘browns’. By the time the second compost bin is filled up, the first one would probably be ready for use!
Do note that the composting process takes about 3 to 6 months in a warm tropical climate like Singapore. If you fill up both bins in, let’s say… 1 week, you’ll still have to wait for about 3 to 6 months for both bins to compost completely!
Joseph Solomon
Michelle Sarah
[...] It might be useful to note that the compost in this video was 3 days old. We added material right on top of it, also known as the ‘layering’ method. For more information, click here. [...]
[...] For more detailed guidelines on how to add more materials to your pile later on, click here. The final product – looks good, clean and [...]
[...] you add more material to the pile, remember to add water to the mixture until it is moist to touch, but not dripping [...]
[...] Adding more material to your bin [...]
[...] Adding more material to your bin [...]
[...] Adding more material to your bin [...]
[...] Adding more material to your bin [...]
[...] Adding more material to your bin [...]
[...] mentioned earlier, once your compost bin has been set up well in the beginning, all you need is to continue dumping in your ‘greens’ and ‘browns’, cover the top with hay each time, and simply leave it uncovered till everything breaks down into [...]
[...] Due to the drier conditions (hence little moisture) near the top surface of bin, the materials there will take longer to break down into compost. You can improve this situation by ensuring the 4 essentials are met, or add more ‘greens’ and ‘browns’ using this layering method. [...]
[...] is well compensated by bulky ‘browns‘ such as scrunched up newspapers that have been added in layers inside the compost bin. With bulky ‘browns‘, we believe that the bin will have enough [...]