Blender Compost

[Tadpole]

I never seem to have enough regular compost. Last year I noticed some of my plants needed a boost, so I decided to try blender compost.

Every night after dinner, I would put egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, and vegetable parings and scraps into a blender, add a lot of water, and make a liquid gloop out of them. (I had to do several blenderfuls as it wouldn't liquify unless the blender was about 2/3 water to 1/3 solids.)

I would end up with about a bucketful of the soupy mix, and would take it out to the garden, dig a shallow trench around the neediest plants, put 2 or 3 dipperfuls of the soup in the trench, then cover it over.

The results were amazing! I wouldn't have believed there would be such a dramatic difference. It was like they were on steroids!

However, I burned out two blender motors, so that dampened my enthusiasm for doing it this year. It would probably do better in a food processor, but I only have a mini processor, so haven't tried it.

This method would only work in small square foot gardens or in containers, but it is wonderful in those circumstances.

 

[Ting]

Thanks for the tip.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

What you're doing is breaking down the material into very small pieces. Because they are so small they naturally are going to have a very large amount of surface area. This allows the natural decomposition processes to break everything down all at once rather than over a period of time as most composting methods would do.

Pretty much the same reason why wood chips break down faster than whole logs.

Good for an initial boost but won't have much staying power over time.

I've done it myself from time to time but as you found out it's pretty hard on the equipment.

.....Alan.

 

[Deemy]

I put my egg shells after they have dried through the blender. Pour them on top of the ground. Good for the garden and hard on the slugs! Yes, it is hard on the blender, that is why I use the old blender.

 

[notimetospare]

I have done this for years. I can't say that I think it isn't a good idea for long term compost because it has had only great effects for me.
You can find a used Vita Mix machine on ebay for reasonable prices. That is what I have, my machine is nearly 30 years old and it is strong enough to have no trouble at all grinding anything I put into it into pulp in a few seconds. Here's what I do-- I throw all my peels, egg shells, coffee and tea grounds in a ziploc bag and throw it in the freezer. when the bag gets full, I thaw it and then you don't need to add so much water as it's already really juicy and wet. I usually end up with a good size bucket full of compost soup from just one gallon size bag. Then I apply it to the needy areas in a shallow trench. It is much faster than waiting on the regular breakdown of materials in a compost heap.

Vickie

 

[Tadpole]

notimetospare, thanks for the tips. I hadn't thought of freezing the scraps. Also I have been wanting a Vita-Mix for a long time, but figured they were just too expensive.

I also had really good long-term results with the blender compost, but that is probably because I have such small gardens that every week the plants ended up getting another dose, so it was a constant stream of rich nutrients. And I'm sure some organic matter remained in the soil to build it up.

I have regular compost piles, but I don't worry about putting in just the right mixture to make them break down fast, so it takes a while for them to compost. I love the instant gratification of the blender compost!

Now I am excited about using it again.

Thanks!