Each Czech citizen produces about 100 kilograms of bio-waste per year. If you have a household with a garden, this is already a solid amount of material that is a shame to waste.
Especially if you enjoy quality food that you can grow right under your windows thanks to composting. Composting is a great way to turn organic waste into a valuable resource for your garden and healthy ingredients that are a staple in every kitchen. Not only does this process reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, but it also enriches the soil with important nutrients, improves its structure and retains water.
Composting helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the decomposition of waste in landfills and promotes a sustainable nutrient cycle in nature. Let's take a look at its benefits, the basics of composting, and answer the most pressing questions for anyone taking up composting!
Benefits of composting
A lot has already been said about the advantages, but let's look at them one by one. Composting is an often overlooked natural process that is full of benefits for both the soil and those who take the trouble to do it.
It improves soil quality:
Compost adds organic matter to the soil, which improves its structure and water-holding capacity. This is especially appreciated during hot weeks when drought brings an increased need for irrigation and garden maintenance.
Reduces waste:
Composting reduces the amount of waste that has to be taken to landfill, saving space and reducing waste management costs. And it also eliminates the smell from smouldering waste in the bowels of the bin.
Promotes plant health:
Compost provides important nutrients to plants, which promotes their growth and resistance to disease. You will also reduce the consumption of mineral fertilisers, which, especially in recent years, have been a significant burden on your wallet.
Reduces emissions:
Composting reduces methane emissions, which are released when organic waste decomposes in landfills. You are also significantly helping to save the environment.
Compost is the key to producing healthy plants:
It also reduces the need to buy growing media. In addition, you can perfectly control the entire bio-waste cycle.
What does and does not belong in the garden compost?
The key to healthy composting is the right mix between nitrogen and carbon components. Don't worry, we won't go into detail and will make it easy for you. In fact, these materials can be divided up a bit by colour. We generally talk about green and brown and the ratio between them.
So what belongs in the compost?
Green material: fruit and vegetable peelings, grass, fresh leaves, coffee grounds, tea bags.
Brown material: dry leaves, twigs, paper, cardboard, straw, sawdust.
Other: Eggshells, plant debris, shredded cotton pieces.
And what not to put in it?
Meat and fish: These materials attract pests and can cause odours.
Dairy products: Like meat, they can attract pests and cause unpleasant odours.
Oils and fats: These are difficult to break down and can block air access.
Diseased plants and weeds: These can spread disease or unwanted seeds into the compost. However, you can deal with them by letting them ferment in a water bath in the sun to get rid of germination.
Chemically treated materials: For example, chemically treated wood or leaves.
And here we come to the question from the title - do oranges and other citrus peels belong in the compost? The answer is - YES if they are from organic farms, NO if they are chemically treated.
You would be adding unnecessary chemicals and substances to your home compost that do not belong in the soil, even within the peelings of other chemically treated fruit. In this case, we recommend choosing a mixed waste bin and considering if it is in your power to choose organic fruit and vegetable options.
How to test the quality of compost
For proper composting, we would like to remind you that you need to aerate the compost frequently, for example by digging or mixing it with gardening tools, and to ensure adequate moisture. How do you know if it is adequate? The compost should not smell (this would mean it is too wet) and it should not be dry. Wet compost can be dealt with by digging and aerating frequently, pre-drying the grass before adding it, or adding wood chips or other carbonaceous (brown) ingredients. On the other hand, we recommend leaving the wet compost open and taking advantage of summer rains to moisten it.
And at the end, once we have harvested the fruits of our labour, there is the question of testing whether the compost is ready for use. The first step is a visual check. The compost should be dark brown to black, loose and smell like soil.
A simple test with watercress seeds to see if the compost is ripe and usable.
Preparation: fill a small container with compost and another container with commercial growing medium as a control.
Sow the cress seeds in both containers and water them regularly.
Observation: Watch the plants germinate and grow. If the seeds germinate and grow as well or better in the compost than in the control, your compost is mature and ready to use.
Mature compost is a great natural fertiliser that can significantly improve the health and fertility of your garden. Composting is an easy and effective way to help protect the environment while providing valuable material for growing plants. That is why we also support composting and other ways of waste management at Zátiší Group. In our restaurants, we sort our bio-waste and take it to a biogas plant, as it also contains ingredients of animal origin. It will also become green energy and in the future you will see other projects in our company and in our projects that are particularly focused on reducing bio-waste.
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