Mashed Vegetable Waste for Plants on the Terrace

by Clo
(Turkey)

Hi! I'm living in an apartment with a terrasse. I love plants and hate throwing out the amount of vegetable waste.

I tried doing compost last year but the smell soon wasn't supportable. So I was wondering if it could be an option to mash the waste into very small pieces, and directly put it in the soil of my plants?

If yes, can I put any waste? I've started 2 days ago and really move the soil each time I add some waste. I'm living in Turkey and the options for composting are very limited.

Thanks for letting me know!
Clo

Terrace Compost Strategy

Hi Clo. I think you've come up with a brilliant solution.

There's a kind of old fashioned compost method, trench composting used by people with gardens on the ground. The gardener digs a trench and over the season fills it with food and garden waste covering it with soil as she goes. It decomposes over the season and becomes where the crop is sown the next year.

You've developed a container gardening version of the trench. You can put any of your food wastes into the holes along with garden waste. Don't bury woody material though. If you have woody stuff put in on top of the soil in your containers.

If you can get some earthworms to add to your pots that would really help. The earthworms would eat the material and give you amazing worm castings right where you want them. As well they gently churn up the soil bringing nutrients right throughout the pots.

Best of Luck Clo
Leslie