SOILS Permaculture Association Lebanon
Follow us
  • Home
  • About SOILS
  • Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC)
    • PDC 2016
    • Previous Editions >
      • Blog PDC 2015
      • Photo Gallery PDC 2015
      • Blog PDC 2014
  • Workshops / Courses
    • Preserving Local Seeds
    • TOT Crisis Gardens
    • TOT school and micro gardens
    • Introduction to Beekeeping
    • Advanced Beekeeping
    • Agroecology training 2021
    • Sustainable Agriculture
    • Advanced Permaculture Design
  • Our Blog: Articles, DIY
  • SOILS Newsletter
  • Publications
  • In the media
  • Friends of SOILS
  • Contact us

I MADE COMPOST ON MY BALCONY - AND SO CAN YOU!  

3/6/2014

3 Comments

 
Submitted by Nathalie Rosa Blucher - Beirut
Last February, the garbage was piling up in Beirut’s streets and I had toyed with the idea of having a compost on my balcony for some time, so I decided to jump into action. I bought a 17.5 litre bucket with lid at the dollar store around the corner, gathered some cardboard, egg cartons, newspaper, a small stash of organic waste and a bag of soil from a construction site across the street which my grocer helped me acquire.

On February 13, I drilled holes in the bucket (bottom and below the rim) and filled it with three layers: shredded egg cartons and newspaper, organic waste and 2 scoops of soil. I knew the soil would be quite dead but I purposefully chose it since most Beirutis would have access to this kind of soil only. Then I closed the lid and waited…

The compost quickly attracted flies and small insects and began to smell very earthy – a nice smell, actually. I kept adding organic waste such as (organic) egg shells, orange rinds (not too many to avoid having a highly acidic compost), vegetables and fruit peels, and a few bits of leftover or rotten food. I left out tea bags (they usually are bleached with chloride) and banana peels (they are usually heavily fertilised). Oh, and hair! The girls in the house empty their brushes over the compost and the guys add bits of cut-off fringe.

After 3 weeks, the compost was three quarters full and appeared really healthy. I always add a bit of soil when the layer of organic stuff gets 3-4 cm thick. My permaculture network friend Alexis gave me some “live” microorganism-rich compost from the pile in his garden, which upgraded our compost from 2 to 4 stars, I reckon.

I’m planning to start a second compost in March, this time with worms (I will be borrowing books about this from another friend in our network, Wolfgang) to compare results.

Composting on my balcony turned out to be an easy thing to do and the amount of waste it reduced in a 4-person household was considerable.

If you feel inspired, yalla go ahead! This helpful link from my friend Rita helped me get started: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-make-your-own-indoor-co-138645 
Picture
Picture
Picture
3 Comments
Joseph hosry
5/17/2018 01:16:13 pm

Hy
Can u please tell me where i can find red worms in leabanon

Reply
Julian Raad
10/24/2018 09:44:30 am

Hello Joseph, may I have a contact info sent to my email please?

I've been working with compost for a while now and I love it!

Here is my email.. Julian.raad87@gmail.com

Thank you

Reply
SOILS
5/22/2018 06:14:49 am

Hello Joseph, if you need them only for your own use then I suggest you try and find them yourself (near a river bed, next to a chicken coop, under a piece of cardboard in the garden, etc. They like shady places with lots of organic matter). If this is not possible you can visit Badaro Urban Farmers Market every Sunday https://www.facebook.com/BadaroUrbanFarmers/, they give free worms or worm eggs. For bigger quantities try contacting Compost Baladi https://www.facebook.com/compostbaladi/ (In any case it's better to source local and non imported species). Hope this helps

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Permaculture community in Lebanon

    Archives

    August 2016
    July 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    Beeswax
    Compost
    Do It Yourself
    Dry
    Entomology
    Fertilizer
    Herbs
    Identification
    Infusion
    Insects
    Natural Polish
    Nettles
    Pickle
    Recipe
    Red Peppers
    Soap
    Tabasco
    Urban Gardening

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.