This was Blog 7 from February 2015- luckily I never throw anything away , in spite of whatever my ex boss told me to do- Bonjour Maureen, ca va? ( she retired to France in October 2019, just before they shut the borders as the UK left the EU. Hopefully they will never let her out)
Composting in Bahrain
One of my early memories of gardening as a boy was of my father’s compost heap. All the weeds and grass cuttings went on here in a corner of the garden. It would then be covered with a chemical which helped it break down . Eventually ( after a year) it had rotted enough to form compost . He would then put this on the flower beds, vegetable patch etc. to help the plants and vegetables grow more.
When I had my own garden, first in Worcester and then in Birmingham in the UK I set up my own small composts . When I moved to Bahrain I decided to do the same. I checked with a colleague back in the UK ( “Dr Compost” as we called him) and he advised me that the only difference between composting in the Middle East and the UK would be that due to the heat the compost would rot much faster. He therefore advised adding water to keep it cooler and moist to encourage the bacteria to do their thing, and use cardboard in layers with the green waste to keep the heat and moisture in.
I started small with an old chemical barrel for grass cuttings, and to this I added shredded paper in layers to keep the heat in. It turned to compost so fast that I decided I needed a larger area. I found some recycled wood and my gardener, Shji, built a pen . We put the garden waste in there, layered with grass and cardboard and again it decomposed quickly, reducing in volume in the sun by 50% in 3 months. The compost we used from both the drum and the first wooden compost had a miraculous effect on everything we applied it to – tomatoes, potatoes and flowers alike. A side effect of adding recycled water was that when the water soaked through the compost it leached out the nutrients which escaped from the bottom of the compost as a liquid fertiliser. I later found out they call this "Compost tea". Suddenly everything in its path grew like crazy and a sandy patch became a green oasis.
As news spread of my compost and its magic qualities people started bringing their grass, food wastes (vegetable trimmings, tops of pineapples etc.) and asking for compost in return. The hardest part of the process was bagging the compost once it had rotted and taking the bags to the gate for collection. I got my gardener and many friends to assist over the years but it was hard backbreaking work in the heat and often high humidity. Also the initial design of the compost made it difficult to get the bags of grass cuttings in and the finished compost out. When the first small compost was full we built a much larger one but this took a lot longer to fill and rot down. Then we split the large compost into two and added doors to the front so you could wheel the grass in and easily lift the compost out.
By now we needed more compostable material having three large compost areas to fill . So I started scouring Awali in my car every Friday morning, as the sun was coming up. I would collect any bags of compostable material I could find and take them home in my hired Nissan Micra. I think the most I managed to get in, with the rear seats down, was 33 large black bin bags full of grass. I certainly developed muscles lifting that lot and sweated off a lot of weight. Over time another compost area was added just for grass, then a second, and this rotted much faster. Awali has a wonderful park and when they cut the grass or trim back the Pampas grass there is a lovely smell in my garden as it all rots down.
One of my Australian colleagues tried the compost and told a Bahrain colleague who did an experiment on his tomatoes. He put my compost on one third and shop bought compost on the rest. My crop produced three times the amount of tomatoes. He paid for the compost with tomatoes and other seedlings for me to grow and so the barter system evolved with many colleagues who would swap fruit and veg, grass cuttings and food waste for compost.
(Editors note- When I left Awali I had 10 huge Dessert roses which I sold selling for 25 bd each. These were donated by Beth Robinson in 2011 in return for 20 bags of compost!)
Some of my 10 Dessert Roses which I sold for 250 bd ( 32,000 Peso)
By the time the compost was its current size we were producing 100 bags of compost a year- all for free, from waste that would otherwise be land-filled. I am lucky to have a large garden and a ready supply of garden waste. I wrote several articles on composting and had many visitors from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia who I showed the compost to and advised them on how to set up smaller composts in their gardens. All you need is a small area and to ensure it has good drainage . Then you put in smaller items of garden waste (plants, grass etc.) into the composting area. Then when it is maybe 12 inches deep you add a layer of cardboard ( I recycle boxes from work or collect cardboard boxes that people leave out for the dustmen). You must water the compost regularly in the Middle East due to the heat ( twice a week or more in the summer) . However it should be damp rather than sitting in water. People ask if the compost smells and this only happens if it becomes waterlogged.
If you avoid meat or fish which will attract vermin then your compost will not smell. You can also use plastic drums if you do not have as much space. Again ensure there are holes at the bottom for the water to get out and a lid at the top to keep the moisture in (this also keeps birds, cats and dogs out). One of my former colleagues set up a business selling rotating drums. Here the drum is on a stand which allows you to turn it (like a raffle or tombola drum) which helps the garden waste inside rot faster and is easier to empty. He tells me they retail at just BD 75. For more information go to: http://youtu.be/0dFePn9w92s.
His name is Ebrahim Hameed and the company here in Bahrain is Clean and Green. Please see the end of the blog for more of his recent work and it would be great if you could support this local green Bahraini Entrepreneur!
Many people have suggested I turn it into a commercial business but for me it’s a relaxing healthy hobby which helps reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and keeps me in free compost (and many of my friend and colleagues!)
If you want to find out more read the following links . I have also included some of my photos so you can see what I am talking about showing the growth of the compost over the years.
The link below features my compost and below that there is information on composting:
http://www.recyclepointsbh.com/successstories.htm
Here is just a little background to get you started from Jameela’ s excellent website "Recycle Points"
Home composting
What is compost?
Compost is decomposed organic material that is produced when bacteria in the soil break down garbage and biodegradable trash, resulting in a product rich in minerals that is ideal for your garden.
Why compost?
• For one, it’s free. You get to use kitchen waste, lawn clippings, leaves and other vegetation that would otherwise get thrown away.
• Potting mixes and soils that are rich in compost produce vigorous plants regardless of whether you’re growing vegetables, growing herbs or organic rose gardening.
• Compost improves garden soil structure, texture and aeration.
• Adding compost improves soil fertility and stimulates healthy root development in plants. The organic matter provided in compost provides food for microorganisms, which keeps the soil in a healthy, balanced condition.
• Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils retain water
• No need to add fertilizer — just mix compost into the soil. Compost contains nutrients that plants need for optimum growth, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. And it’s an especially good supplier of micronutrients that are needed in small quantities such as boron, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc.
• It feels good. When else can you turn trash into treasure? Plus, scraps stay out of the landfill, reducing your footprint.
How does composting work?
You mix garden and kitchen waste in a pile or bin and provide the right conditions to encourage decomposition. Let bacteria and fungi go to work recycling waste material into fertilizer. Mix compost into garden soil or use it on the surface as mulch.
Sounds simple, right? Well it is. Microbes are hard at work chomping down your throwaways. You supply the organic materials, water, and oxygen. The bacteria that are already there decompose the plant material into compost. As the bacteria break down the materials they release heat, which is concentrated in the centre of the pile.
Finally, as promised more links to the recent work of Bahrain’s green Entrepreneur, Ebrahim Hameed:
http://arabbrains.com/2012/12/13/bahrain-science-centre-to-showcase-bahraini-inventions/
and this is a great video on you tube about how to turn leaves into compost:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9OhxKlrWwc
My special thanks to all those who helped with my composting journey in Bahrain like Ebrahim, Stephen Wise, Hani and the team at PSP, John Jaworski, Neil Gilbert, Jameela Mohanna, Matthew and Alpesh and , of course , Shji, Jake and Vin!
Happy Composting!
And to end in Tagalog- Kita Kits, Ingat Palagi, Mahal Kita...
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment