Making Fertilizer from Organic Waste – Compost
This site has been prepared by Tolun Çerkeş, with the French translation of a publication on waste by IBGE, a Brussels institute working on environmental management, for the benefit of nature-friendly Turkish users.
Compost, i.e. Collect and Put Organic Garbage Aside, let nature take care of the rest
This brochure is published by IBGE with the participation of l’asbl Comite Jean Pain and l’asbl ‘Bon…jour sourire’.
We would like to thank ‘l’asbl comite Jean Pain’, ‘Bon…jour sourire’ and ‘RNOB’ and especially G. Van Dale, V. Gobbe, G. Barp and A. Laurance for their contributions with their photographs.
Collecting Organic Garbage is Creating a Chance for Your Garden.
You have a garden, you take care of it and you always make the same observation; Your waste creates garbage bags overflowing with incredible amounts of pruned shrubs, dead leaves and grass clippings.
Do you also drive to the area where the containers are located to throw them away? This time, you may need to be prepared to vacuum the inside of your car at length.
You do your calculations and realize that fertilizer, dung and pesticides are costing you a lot. So what should you do to prevent your urban garden from giving you a headache?
Process organic garbage then! Recycling organic waste reduces waste by more than 75%. This means less incinerated waste and less environmental pollution. This is a natural way and is entirely for the benefit of your garden and environment. This is entirely for the benefit of our city, and our city will only be more beautiful because of it.
This little guidebook examines the 5 basic principles you need to know from the start to process organic waste.
As the environmental management authority of the Brussels region, L’IBGE (Institut bruxellois pour la gestion de l’environment) wishes to consider the treatment of organic waste from kitchens and gardens at home.
Please register the number below for any questions you may have. 775.75.75
E. Shamp JP. Hannequart
General Inspector General Manager
1. What is the processing of organic garbage?
Processing organic garbage? What does this mean?
Look, Brussels is green, very green. This means many pleasure gardens, well-kept vegetable and fruit gardens, playgrounds for children, all of which like to make use of processed organic waste.
Processing of Organic Waste; It is to activate a series of processes like Mother Nature, which uses dead leaves to decompose to renew itself.
This is the process of accelerating the transformation of cuttings of various low garden trees, grass clippings and other weed cuttings into a nutritious fertilizer… organic waste processing is free… it does not require money. Your workers are the millions of organisms that live in the soil—from bacteria to earthworms—who begin to replace this organic waste. What emerges after a short while is an earth-coloured substance that is as if it were breathing and taking in air from all directions, and its smell is reminiscent of the smell coming from under the trees in the forest.
2. What can we process organically?
Kitchen waste: Cleaned parts of vegetables and fruits, leftovers from meals, bread and coffee filters, paper tea bags, paper towels for wiping everything, broken eggs, walnuts, etc. shells, colorless papers, cardboard cut into pieces, edible vegetable and animal oils absorbed by the cut cardboard.
Processable items: Garden waste, Dead leaves, Yellowed flowers, Finely cut pieces of intertwined branches and thorny bushes, Bad grasses that have not become grain-bearing, Cut grass, Other wastes ready for biological transformation, Straw and grass that small herbivorous animals eat and lie on. etc., Cotton or Wool fabric pieces
Those that cannot be processed; Synthetic textile products (Nylon, etc.) Vacuum cleaner bags (they contain large amounts of synthetic materials) Wood used in carpentry Coal ashes Soil and Sand Feces of domestic animals (such as cats, dogs) Plastic materials Soft drink cans and other metal elements
Ideas for you to benefit Grown enough to produce grains Bad weeds threaten to seed your garden, and you may not even notice because they’re so unnoticeable when they do so. Resort; After keeping them in water for 2-3 days, you can put them in your organic garbage that has started to identify with nature, or even in the middle of it. Fruit waste; Fruit waste (sweet ones) or meat waste can attract flies and rodents. To prevent this undesirable event, cover them with dry waste (such as dry leaves, branches or straw) and then mix them with the processed organic garbage. Burnt wood ashes are not suitable for recycling.
But they can be mixed into organic waste in very small amounts. The remedy to drain them is to spread them over the garden like manure.
Diseases of some garden plants – cauliflower hernia or some parasitic nematodes can cause problems during organic transformation. In this case, throw these diseased plants into your trash.
3. 5 steps to ensure your organic waste processing is successful the first time
Earthworms, fungi and bacteria… There are millions of these organisms in the soil. They invade waste and decompose it while feeding on it.
When processing your organic garbage, you need to provide them with good living conditions.
· air · water · and various nutrients
Simply put: In autumn: stock dry leaves and pre-cut or ground brushwood.
In the spring: create good living conditions for your workers.
1. Ensure that your waste is in contact with the ground so that microorganisms that come from the soil to process your waste can easily reach your waste.
2. If you are not using a recycling composter without a bottom (a bucket made specifically for processing these organic wastes), then lay a wire mesh on the ground to prevent ground-dwelling field mice from feasting on active micro-organisms coming from the soil.
3. It is very important. Make it easier for air to enter and exit your organic waste. To do this, while starting from the bottom foundation, use constructive materials such as ground branches and straw in the accumulation process, that is, at the bottom of the place where you put the organic garbage.
Question: Are accelerators required to Process Organic Waste?
No. Instead of these substances, you can use some of your old organic waste, which is better and free, orties (a type of plant with thorns on its stems and leaves) or consoudes (a herb accustomed to moist places used in the healing of wounds and hemorrhages). .
You need to balance what you carry into your organic garbage all year long.
To prevent bad surprises, it is necessary to keep wet and moist wastes equal to brown and dry wastes.
Green and moist wastes are yellowed flowers, grass clippings and food scraps. These provide water and nutrients to the tiny micro-organisms that work for you. Dry and brown wastes are hard ground branches, dry grass, and dead leaves in tree nature. These are the structural elements of your organic garbage, and the spaces they create allow your garbage to breathe. In order for your organic waste to be successfully recycled back into nature, the balance between ‘green and moist’ waste and ‘dark and dry’ waste is the lifeblood of this work.
Process organic waste systematically.
1. Keep your organic litter mixture moist like a wrung out sponge throughout its entire progress.
2. If you use a barrel for the organic waste mixture, ensure ventilation with the help of a pipe at each storage.
3. Always place dry and hard materials on top of the garbage to prevent flies from coming.
4. Always take care to cut and grind branches that appear too thick and resistant (branches more than one cm in diameter).
Ventilation of organic garbage with the help of a ventilation pipe
Turn your organic garbage inside out after 2 months.
Turn the materials in your organic garbage inside out after two months. This is a process that provides definitive results. In this way, natural processes
You will speed up the sequence. In this way, you open and widen the spaces between the materials and provide air flow between them, which prevents bad odors.
After 6 months, your organic waste is ready for use.
After 6 months, your organic waste has reached the highest point of maturity: it is like a well-mixed, light fertilizer that is neither hard nor soft, ready for use.
4. Are there problems? Solutions
If you follow these 5 steps mentioned above closely, you should be able to process and compost your organic garbage in your first try. But nature is not a simple mechanism that always produces equal results everywhere.
In general, the solution is based on stirring the garbage from time to time to aerate it and reaching the balance between the green, moist and soft materials we now know, and the brown, hard and dry materials.
If your organic garbage leaks such as urine or ammonia from the wet manure on which the animals in the barns live, this indicates that it is too rich in green and moist substances.
The cure for this is to add ‘dark’, woody and dry substances here.
Is the smell coming out of your garbage an egg smell that bothers your nose?
If so, the materials you process organically are suffocating, so to speak.
The treatment for this is to mix all the garbage with the ventilation pipe and, after ensuring air entry by turning everything upside down, to protect the air inlets by adding substances that replace large pieces of building material into the mixture.
If you see white spots in your garbage, this is a sign that it has received too much brown, hard and very dry substances.
In this case, supplement or moisturize with moist and green substances.
After all, anyone who follows the basic rules can process organic waste in their garden effectively, simply and painlessly.
5. Can we process grass clippings as organic garbage?
Cut grass cannot be easily processed organically. Because they are very rich in water and nitrogen. This causes fermentation to accelerate and the material to pile up and block air flow. And here you go, unpleasant smells coming from your garden. But this is not a fate that has no solution. Follow the booklet.
1. Always mix grass clippings with brown waste. In the autumn, collect the following materials: dry leaves, shredded brushwood, cut cardboard, etc.
2. Leave the leaves on the ground for a while to drain the moisture. This is called pre-yellowing. Then you can add the herbs to your organic garbage.
3. Do you have a really large amount of grass clippings? Then apply the organic transformation technique in the form of bales.
– 20 cm on an area of 1 to 2 m2. thick unground brushwood etc. Cover the cut with branches less than 2 cm in diameter.
– Leave freshly cut grass on top of them, you can also leave a large amount of it. Because the structure of the branches provides ventilation and makes it possible to process large amounts of grass organically and without odor.
– The next time you cut the lawn, add another pile of brushwood branches before disposing of the grass clippings.
– Within a year or two, this mixture will complete its organic transformation and you will be able to use it.
Give up raking the lawn? This is possible and effortless.
Leaving the grass in place is a great solution for storing organic matter in the ground. The herbs lose their acidity here and naturally prevent small parasitic plants from emerging there. By doing this, you will also avoid dumping iron sulphate on the ground, which itself acidifies the ground, leading to a never-ending story. And this way you will be saved from many more difficulties.
You can also find a type of grass cutting machines on the market called ‘gyro-grinders’, which grind the grass into almost powder, or you can settle for a classic cutting tool. In this case, you should cut at most every five days during the rapid growth period. Of course, you can enrich your garden with garden shrubs and small rose trees, reduce grass cutting work by reducing grassy areas, and decorate your garden with flowers that have easier organic transformation, but of course, this decision will be made by the personal taste of the gardener.
6. Can we process kitchen waste as organic garbage?
It is easy and interesting to subject kitchen waste to organic transformation with the ‘worm recycling’ technique. Here, it is the red worms that mainly provide the organic transformation of the food waste mixture, including meat.
Worms? You know, those little bright red animals? They are the indispensable experts in the recycling process of all types of waste.
You may find them in a mature organic waste dump, such as your neighbor’s. Another solution: you can pour some of the cooked coffee residue on the ground, which they adore, so that they will invade the place without hesitation.
Place them in a simple sealable container.
1. Line the bottom of the container with pieces of cardboard and newspaper strips.
2. Moisten lightly without overwetting, so you will create a very suitable environment for your converter workers.
3. After two weeks, bring in a small amount of organic waste, cut into small pieces. Maggots (worms) have an unshakable appetite: They consume food equal to their weight every day.
After 3 months, your food waste is ready to be used as fertilizer.
Where should you place the container you will use for the conversion job? It can be in the garden, in the courtyard, on the veranda, in the cellar… or in a corner of the kitchen. Maggots like neither light nor dry environments. In this case, they will feast on the waste you give them in the organic waste in the heat, and there is no risk of them escaping.
Attention: Be careful to maintain the required humidity level.
What type of container should be chosen for organic transformation?
You can find containers in the market that you can use for organic transformation without any problems. They will definitely get back the money they were paid. But without spending money, you can create a system suitable for you from unused pieces of wood chopped into boards, old barrels, garden fences, concrete blocks or plastic buckets.
Please remember that micro-organisms living in the soil need direct access to the waste in order to invade it and create colonies there. They also need water and air.
The shape of the container used is not important. Only the good living conditions you provide to micro-organisms enable you to successfully transform your organic waste. Don’t forget these three rules.
1. Add enough brown and structuring material to the organic wastes in transformation so that the air flow inside will accelerate. 2. Moisten but no more than a wrung out sponge. 3. To feed your organic waste, mix green and moist materials with brown and dry materials in a balanced manner. This is vital so we repeat once again.
7. What type of organic garbage processing bin should be chosen?
Bulk organic conversion for gardens larger than 100 m2. The ideal technique for organic recycling of more than 3 m3 of waste per year.
In a place protected from the wind, inside a shrub wall surrounding the garden or behind a bouquet of small trees (such as hazelnut, surreau tree, which is a tree with a light and perforated pith inside, this type of tree can be)
Ideal technique to save space: mixing or turning upside down To do this, it is to play on the length.
– When the quantity is between 2 and 3 m3, spread the materials 50 cm. Turn it forward.
– Cover your organic waste with straw, dead leaves, or a micro-perforated textile cover.
– When starting the application again, do this by pressing the new batch first.
The advantage of this is that you always keep fresh material in rotation at the oldest end, ready for use on the other.
For medium-sized gardens of 30 to 100 m2,
it is generally useful to have crates with multiple sections. One of these sections is for garbage that will undergo organic decomposition. The second one
ensures proper ventilation of the waste transferred here from the first section during organic transformation . Do not forget to add the dry ingredients you have stored. (cut branches, dead leaves, etc.)
Organic conversion reaches the ideal level when the waste reaches 1 m3.
An organic conversion crate may consist of 4 main wooden boards covered with wire mesh and joined together.
If a metal basket is used, then a protective perforated canvas should be placed on the inside of the basket to ensure ventilation of the organic garbage.
Organic waste barrel for gardens smaller than 30 m2
The decomposition of materials automatically leads to an increase in temperature inside. If you are doing organic conversion in a barrel, the amount of material is small and the temperature increase is limited. To increase the effectiveness of the application, place the barrel in a sunny place.
Point to be taken into consideration when using!
Ventilation is difficult in the barrel. However, ventilation is essential for the processing of your organic waste. In this case, it is recommended to mix the ingredients at least once or twice a week.
You can find ventilation pipes on the market that can easily penetrate organic garbage. If you turn the ingredients a quarter turn, they will be pulled and mixed quite well.
The minimum quantity should be 200 liters. (Translator’s note: In ancient times, the word barrel was a unit of measurement in maritime. A barrel was equal to approximately 1000 kg. For example, a ship with 150 barrels. In French, barrel means tonneau. The word ton we use now must have been derived from this. One barrel is equal to approximately 1000 kg. However, nowadays the barrels are much smaller than in the old times. The 200 liter barrel mentioned above would have seemed like a feather to the brave sailors of old times!)
In general, the barrel is only wetted if there is a lot of dry and woody materials in it. .
In general, barrels are suitable for ensuring that the organic garbage material inside them easily comes out as a mold.
The decomposition of materials automatically leads to an increase in temperature inside. If you are doing organic conversion in a barrel, the amount of material is small and the temperature increase is limited. To increase the effectiveness of the application, place the barrel in a sunny place.
Mini-rotation containers for mini-gardens or organic food recycling
Essentially, a simple container is sufficient. Close carefully from the outside to prevent suffocation of organic transforming maggots. There are mini-conversion containers on the market that will do this. These provide the opportunity to collect the liquid released from the waste during organic transformation. The transformation increases its effect on them and our other advantage is that by dissolving this liquid in water 10 times, you will prepare a remarkable and natural fertilizer for your green plants. To make it easier to harvest your organic waste, use a separate bucket that fits inside and has a hole in the bottom. As soon as the inner bucket with a hole in the bottom is full, lift it up and fill the bottom of the bucket without holes, and then place the inner bucket on top of it again. Organic garbage maggots will reach their favorite fresh waste that you have accumulated at the bottom, after finishing the contents of the inner bucket as soon as possible, by passing through the holes at the bottom, and they will start eating with appetite. After the wolves move to the bottom part, you collect the ripe organic garbage harvest in the inner bucket.
Maggots are active at 15 to 25 degrees Celsius. Bring your organic waste recycling container inside to protect them in the winter.
8. Correct use of processed organic garbage
Entertainment gardens
: In decorative special garden strips in the garden, plants and others that are called gluttonous and require a lot of fertilizer are connected to each other like confidant friends. Spread at least 2 buckets of organic transformation per m2 on the surface every year. Be a little more generous for fast-growing plants. Since the soil will be healthier, all your plants will benefit from this additional value. 1 to 1.5 kg per m2 per year for the maintenance of country lawns. Discard the sieved fine organic transformation onto the lawn. Do this a few days before a rain period, as you know this will not be missing, or if it does not rain, feed the organic transformation into the grass with irrigation. If you leave the cut grass on after cutting, reduce the organic conversion fertilizer you use by one-third.
When filling the holes you have opened for planting trees and small tree species with soil, mix 20% organic transformation fertilizer into the soil.
For fruit trees, spread 3 to kg of organically transformed waste per m2 each year under the branches and leaves of the tree and mix from the top.
Vegetable Garden
Example 1. Low appetite plants spice plants in rich soil 1 to 2 kg per m2
Example 2. Appetite plants bettes? vegetable plants 6 to 8 kg per m2 in medium poor soil
Example 3. Plants with a very good appetite, pottirons pumpkin species in poor soil 8 to 10 kg per m2
Take the less decomposed parts by eliminating your organic transformation. These are the ones that activate your new organic waste that you will use as fertilizer with organic transformation. Nothing is lost in nature.
Transformation of sieved organics into a layer of 7 to 10 cm thick
Incorporate it into the soil quickly. In this way, you prevent the materials from drying out and nitrogen capture by protecting the lives of micro-organisms.
· To prepare a perfect planting fertilizer, add 25% organic conversion fertilizer to good soil.
Apartment Plants
· For new large pots, add 30 to 40% organic matter to healthy, aerated soil.
· To renew your large pots, use only 20% organic compost into the existing soil.
9. Technique of spreading organic garbage in the garden
The technique of spreading organic garbage in the garden, that is, the Paillage Technique (pronounced Payyaj)
Is organic transformation making the soil better without using fertilizer? This is possible thanks to the paillage technique.
Spread your untransformed organic waste 5 cm on a bare soil, free of bad weeds, just like you would throw your cut grass. Spread it thickly, and spread your dead leaves on 10 – 15 cm thick ground brushwood. Gradually, organic substances will be transformed, the soil will become richer and healthier.
Thus, the paillage technique prevents the development of bad weeds, preserves soil moisture and protects the soil from large temperature differences. There is nothing bad in this, on the contrary, there is nothing but good.
10. Supplementary information
Some municipalities are very sensitive about the recycling of organic garbage. They have a demonstration area and can give advice. In the townhouse you will also find a list of master organic conversion residents who specialize in different organic conversion techniques and are willing to volunteer to advise their neighbors on this subject.
Does organic conversion appeal to you? IBGE, the Brussels Institute working on environmental management, organizes short, easy-to-follow practical information sessions for those who want to teach others their skills as master organic transformers.
Not everyone has the opportunity to have a garden. However, all residents produce waste that can be easily recycled. Many Brussels residents are sensitive about decomposition and recycling, but they may not be ready to do organic recycling in small containers on their balconies. Therefore, giving the organic transformation to the neighbor in need, participating in an organic transformation throughout the neighborhood, making some preliminary experiments on collecting organic transformation door to door, this is how the Brussels region tests the most practical situation in order to propose some possible solutions in this regard. He wants to understand.
You can get all kinds of information from your municipality or from the number below of the IBGE, the Brussels Institute consultancy service working on environmental management. 775 75 75
Publication responsible: JP Hannequart and E-Shamp Gulledell 100, 1200 Bruxelles
For more information, call 775.75.75.
IBGE – Gulledelle 100 – 1200 Bruxelles