Christoph Holloway

That does help, thank you Tristan! And thank you for the quick reply.

Tristan Vitali wrote:Though I can't be sure it's what was being spoken of where you saw it, look up Bokashi, which is a technique of fermenting kitchen and food scraps using I think lactobacillus (yogurt culture). The scraps become fermented and give off only a slight odor that's not too offensive - haven't done it myself so can't give any first-hand accounts on that. I've read that feeding the fermented scraps to worms works really well - that they gobble them up faster than non-fermented foods - and that they will (aerobically) compost down very quickly since they're already most of the way there anyway.

I believe they were referring to what they were going to add to their compost piles. I've done some research on bokashi before and thought about trying it alongside the tumbler and worm bin (which I forgot to mention I also started, and that went stinky, too), or have a fermenting/EM system right in home. But reading my own words makes me think, "That's too much work! I'm creeping from imitating nature to that human-looking-for-something-else-to-do thing."

I feel better about it, and it does make sense that all organic matter is doing something productive (in a way that is helpful) at first or eventually. I don't mean to obsess too much. Philosophically speaking, I am coming out of my human conditioning and re-learning how nature works, a lot of which is simple and straightforward. I'm just having trouble with the logistics (and sometimes mentality) of these practices.
For instance (and something else I meant to ask before and forgot), all I'm really generating is kitchen scraps. I don't have much carbon to add in my particular situation (another bewildering thing to see is people casually mentioning for every 3-4 lbs. of greens to add 100 lbs. of straw. I don't have 100 lbs. of straw! In other words, I just don't have 30x the amount of brown to green in constant supply, I'm also new to my area). So if I mostly have greens, does it follow that my situation warrants a(n actually functioning) worm bin? And since you only feed them once in a while, does it follow that I ought to actually have two to alternate between? Etc...

Thank you, all you permies.

Hi, first post. Glad to be here!
I figured I would just bump this thread, as it has a lot of the same questions I had and a similar line of questioning, and to save some space.

I'm very new to composting, only having used a tumbler for a few months (not more than 2 [(mostly) failed] batches by now) and tried making a bed by composting in place. I had more questions prepared, but read as much from Permies as I could first and just finished the Mike McGrath TED talk, "Everything you know about composting is wrong," leading me to think I should just eventually go for leaf mould for the browns and putting the greens in a worm bin. I know by now there's ten thousand variations on what to choose and it's up to me (thank you Dave for the encouragement, as well as the link to Paul's keynote presentation which I had not found yet), so I guess I don't need to ask if that makes sense.
But a part of my confusion lies in the fact that there are so many variations. Why make compost if composting-in-place works, too? I understand having a consistent substance that is soil-like, no longer able to putrefy further, and easy to transport and work with. But, as mentioned, lazy bastard rule (or Fukuoka's least effort thinking, from a different lens).

I am overwhelmed with food scraps from my family, with nowhere to put them, as in no new bed yet (although planning to make one very soon) and the tumbler is processing, and a pile may not be possible as the garden is not on my property. Which is one form of my confusion with composting: nowhere to put it and yet the food scraps keep coming (and always will). I suppose I could have a hidden, somewhat underground pile.

Something bewildering to me and seemingly hardly spoken of, is putrefaction. When is organic matter officially putrefied, and how much does this matter in various forms of composting? I vaguely understand aerobic and anaerobic processes. I've read several times on this forum that people are planning to use their food scraps from the year before, typically in buckets. Is this usually sealed? So it is fermented? So something fermented, gone anaerobic, can be broken down aerobically later? Is a collection of food scraps sitting outside in an unsealed bag, exposed to air and insects for a week or more, aerobic or anaerobic? Can it be used safely in sheet mulching/composting-in-place a new bed? I would guess its fine in a worm bin...at any point? It's fine if it's totally rotten? Okay in a tumbler or hypothetical pile at that point? When do pathogens or unfavorable insects actually come into the picture and do harm, to plants and/or people? Also, do nutrients lose potency in this state?
These sorts of things are just hardly ever addressed it seems, but at the same time no one seems to say, " ...BUT DON'T EVER [x]," so it seems like there's no big threats and it's hard to really mess up. I just don't want to encourage disease in plants or make anyone sick.

I really don't mind if anyone wants to cut right through my excessive Gordian Knot of questioning with a simple, wise sentence. Or if anyone has a link or suggestion of something to check out that addresses this stuff, it would be super-duper appreciated. Thanks! So much!