Pros and Cons of Trench Composting talks about the upsides and downsides of this method of composting
Trench composting uses only some of the composting elements listed in 8 Composting Methods; Water, Worms, Vegetable matter and Bacteria. The pros and cons are intermingled because what might be a pro to one person is a con to someone else. It is essentially the same as digging a hole. It all depends on how long and deep you want to make the hole. To me, this is the cheapest way to compost if you want to save money and the best way, but it too has some challenges.
Trench Composting requires
- Digging a hole – every time you bury your waste
- Filling only with worm friendly waste
- Covering with dirt
- Waiting for a few months to decompose
- You can only bury worm friendly food – generally speaking
- It needs to be buried at a certain depth to avoid critters digging it up
- Dairy, eggs, meat or bones will attract rats, mice, and other native animals
- Cannot be refilled until all decomposed or you make a big mess digging up a previous hole
- A new hole must be dug each time you bury your waste – a little extra work
- If you don’t have enough garden you may run out of places to dig holes
- It decomposes really slowly once you cover it with dirt as there is no aeration
- It is not exposed to the same elements once you cover it with dirt
- You have to separate your waste to bury some and throw the rest in your council bin. Or freeze it till council pick up day. For me, I don’t have space in the freezer.
- You are wasting half your waste that you could be composting
- It is, however, the cheapest most amazing way to compost but you can’t bury meat, dairy, citrus, onion, eggs and a few other things that rats and other critters will dig up.
- It works faster if you chop everything up into small pieces or blend for super fast results which therefore requires a further step and more utensils to clean
- Definitely not good if you have a bad back but
- Great exercise to keep you fit if you have the time
- The worms do love it though, and will produce beautiful nutrient rich soil
This to me produces excellent results in your garden but
- You have to keep digging holes for ever
- You can’t dispose of ALL your kitchen waste
- You can’t collect it and use it somewhere else.
- You need a reasonable amount of space for all the holes
- It is slow to decompose
8 Composting Methods
12 Things to consider when choosing a composter
Tumbler Composting
