What is that in my balcony?
Guess what? my balcony is A Green Balcony, and that is a new label on this blog. My bro S loves growing stuff. He has nurtured a few plants, we have a Brahma kamal, Peace Lilies, Hibiscus and Tulsi in the decorative category and for the kitchen he grows Lemon Grass and Mint. I am helping him expand the green in our home but I will focus on growing something for the kitchen. In the upcoming posts I will share both my bro's and my experience on growing our greens in our balcony in this Metro.
This post inaugurates the new category on this blog. As our little balconies become green, we need to sustain them with compost and other care. We are also committing ourselves to Upcycling the waste generated by our busy Kitchen.
What you see in the picture above is called a Khamba, I purchased it from the Daily Dump clone in Sion, Mumbai just today. I am so happy to have this composting unit in my home. It consists of 3 large Terracotta pots of about 15 liters capacity each. The pot that sits on the floor is the one with a bottom. The other 2 pots are bottomless. They just have a rope grid in the bottom, as you see in the pics below. The middle and top pots are used for dumping the daily waste from the kitchen.
It's set up in my balcony at the further most end leaning against the wall for good support. Here is how I started it up.
Step 1: Filled half of the bottom pot with dried leaves.
Step 2: Put the empty middle pot above it. Notice the rope grid on the inside.
Step 3: Placed the 3rd pot on the top. It has the same rope grid, as the second on the inside. Covered it with a sheet of news paper.
Step 4: Added some dry leaves, to form a bed for the wet waste from the kitchen.
Step 5: Then added the wet waste from the kitchen, peels, used tea leaves, wasted food etc. Plastic should not be added, not even in traces. In my home we have separate bins for wet waste and dry waste (papers, plastic, glass etc.)
Step 6: Sprinkled 2 tablespoons of the Compost Accelerator. Sprinkled some water.
Step 7: Sprinkled 2 handfuls of sawdust on the pile. Covering the waste with saw dust avoids growth of maggots.
Step 8: Need to sprinkle 3 tablespoons of Neem after 3 days, to keep the pile fit and free from harmful microbes and fungi.
Step 9: Covered the pot with a lid.
Now every day till the pot is full, we will repeat the step 5 and 7.
I will share with you the happenings in our Khamba as we go along on this journey of composting at home the Daily Dump way.
These are the other accessories we got with the Khamba unit, a compost sieve (the pink basket), a short rake and a pair of gloves.
This is a great information. thanks for sharing this. where can we get khamba unit in bangalore?
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
Hi Aditya, you can order the Khamba and the other products online. They will quote the price and you can pick up the unit or they will deliver it to your doorstep
ReplyDeleteInteresting, thanks for sharing this info!
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I have had a couple of failures in this category but I guess I was doing it wrong. This looks very interesting. Should help all of my little tomatoes and chilies and whatnots!
ReplyDeleteSaee try it, besides the benefits of upcycling and your own compost for our green balconies, it gives that satisfaction of doing the rural thing in your urban flat
DeleteThat khamba looks very promising. I have to find where can I get that one here.
ReplyDeleteMints not sure if Daily Dump has a clone in the US to sell it. However you could search for 'composting bins' they are similar if not same. Yeah but the aesthetics are better with Terracotta.
DeleteHi dear I am following your recipes from long time. I have treid your mutton mushroom recipe and it was a hit. Also have read about your Thaal. Glad to follow you do visit my blog in your spare time.
ReplyDeletehttp://supriyajm.blogspot.com
Supriya good to see you comment, sure will check out your blog too. Keep visiting.
Deletethats such a great thing to have Anjali. I saw this when I was in Bangalore but there the big garden space allowed me to have my own compost pit. now that we are moving soon planning to get one for my roof garden as well.
ReplyDeleteSayantani its so easy to compost with this Khamba, you will have people asking you from where you got it.
DeleteGoodluck.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration
Aww...nothing really...Aarthi, but happy to see you commenting after long.
DeleteI just came across the Brahma Kamal flower and it really is beautiful! It was actually a friend who told me the part where it only blooms at night!
ReplyDeleteIts wonderful to see more and more people adopt the khamba for composting. :) it was a nice feeling reading your blog. We share the same passion. I too blogged about my experience on http://come-n-post.blogspot.in/
ReplyDeletePeople like you prove, that space is not a deterrent!
Sabrina brahma kamal gets worshiped as it blooms at night, can you believe that!
ReplyDeleteRozita where there is will there always will be a way! One just has to have the will you will agree!
Sowmya Smitha check in IIMB campus.
ReplyDeleteAnjali, Is it possible to get a leaf of Brahma kamal for my garden. Will we have access to IIMB campus for non students?
ReplyDeleteHi, Anjali,
ReplyDeleteWhere do i get the compost pot in Mumbai?
I checked the daily dump site, but they dont deliver outside of Bangalore!
Hi Anjali,
ReplyDeleteMy husband is very apprehensive about trying this, he says these compost bins he has seen usually have a foul smell throughout. How do you combat that?
Mathanki I've been using them since May here in Mumbai in my bedroom balcony and they don't stink too much. I always keep the compost moist and not too wet, so it does not putrify. If you follow direction on the dailydump site and give some attention to the bins then every 5-6 months you have a 1 compartment full of compost ready. There is a Clone in Mumbai at Sion circle you can ask them to deliver or better you go pick up.
ReplyDeletehttp://dailydump.org/cities/mumbai
monkeys broke my khamba , two upper compartments , earlier they had broken the lid which was replaced by metallic lid , it would be better if daily dump comes up with unbreakbale khamba s , since it cannot kept indoors , it would not discourage people like me who invested a lot , since khamba s are not cheap and also one has to pay the shipping cost in additional and it runs into thousands .
ReplyDeleteOh that's sad. The lid can be of metal but the Khamba is of terracotta so that it can breathe else the decomposition process gets altered. Yes it's an expensive unit so we need to take care of it. How about growing mulberry as a hedge around it to provide protection? You seem to have some space around so suggesting. For me since the unit was in the balcony and now will be in the grill box it's safe.
Deletecongrats for composting. I am using khamba for 1 year from now. No smell, No flies. if you follow the steps suggested in the site
ReplyDeleteMukundhan
Good to know it Mukundhan, there are a lot like us who want to compost and not be a burden on the Municipality for their kitchen wet waste.
Deleteplease help me buy one for my house, i live in mira road mumbai
ReplyDeleteThis one is in Mumbai.
DeleteGreen Practices
Plot No 39/44, Scheme 6, Road 2, Sion (East) Maharashtra India
+91 9930224454
Got my daily dump yesterday. Waiting to start! The ink from the newspaper leaches out into the compost? Does it add toxicity to the compost? Especially if it is used for growing vegetables.
ReplyDeleteYes the newspaper ink might leach into the compost but it might be just traces. You can avoid using the newspaper and use hay or dry leaves if you have access to it.
DeleteI am really impressed with your blog article, such great & useful knowledge you mentioned here.
ReplyDeleteYour post is very informative. I have read all your posts and all are very informative. Thanks for sharing and keep it up like this.
Yay! Glad to know.
Delete