Ok, confession time: how many readers out there want to start composting but are apprehensive about the maintenance and potential odors of a compost bin? (Yes, I’m raising my hand.) Although I’m sure I'd get the hang of it after awhile, this novice gardener is nervous about the proper layering techniques, aerating and making sure moisture levels are adequate.That’s why I was interested to read about trench composting, a simplified version of breaking down your kitchen scraps that doesn’t stink or take up additional yard space.
Trench composting is as simple as it sounds: just dig a trench about 12" deep and fill it with 4"-6" of kitchen scraps before recovering with soil. Depending on the material and soil type, the scraps will usually take between one month and one year to break down. If you'll be regularly composting scraps using this method, you may want to develop a long-term plan for your garden. According to Colleen Vanderlinden at About.com, there are three general methods:
Trench Rotation
This is a method of incorporating organic matter into a garden a bit at a time while maintaining active growing and path areas. The general idea is that you divide your garden into three zones: a trench composting zone, a pathway zone, and a growing zone. Each year, you move the trench compost to a different part of the garden, and shift the paths and growing areas as needed. By the end of three years, you've got compost under every part of your garden bed, and you can start the rotation over again. If you like things very orderly, this is probably the method for you.
Trenching Between Rows
This works in any vegetable or annual garden in which you would plant in fairly regularly-spaced rows. Basically, plant your crops as usual. In the space between the rows, dig a trench to toss your compostables into. Fill the trench as you add materials, and it will break down and nourish the plants nearby.
"Dig & Drop"
This is the easiest way to do trench composting, and works even in perennial gardens and shrub borders. Say you've collected a large bowl of vegetable and fruit peelings. Simply take it into the garden, dig a 12" deep hole wherever you can find a spot, dump the kitchen waste in, and cover it over. It's fast, it's easy, and it requires very little digging.
In addition to no visible collection bin or odor, another advantage of trench composting is that the buried nutrients encourage a deeper, stronger root structure from nearby plants. The only downside - if you have a curious dog, this might not be the best method!
Has anyone tried trench composting vs. bin composting?
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why is there a plastic bag in the pile..:)
Digging a 12" hole every time I want to dump kitchen scraps is not fast, not easy, nor does it requires very little digging. Unless you're digging in a perfectly composed raised bed, it's a big deal. I can't imagine anyone choosing this method over tossing the scraps into a bin. And by the way, stuff has been decomposing in piles forever, there's no need to sweat the layering, aeration, & moisture - just use common sense & it'll be fast & easy & will require very little digging.
@susrith, I thought the same thing but then noticed it said "biodegradable" on the bag.
Pretty neat idea! I rent & am not allowed to have a bin, but can have a garden.
I think a worm farm is a much better idea. They are quicker, and not smelly at all. They take almost no work and there's no need to dig trenches or holes and they make awesome soil for the garden and if a few straggler worms go in the garden they work well in there too.
I love the idea in theory, but I suspect that even if there's no noticeable odor to humans, animals will notice... and dig up the garden.
I love the dig a hole idea per bowl of veggie scraps - I'm afraid I'd be too unorganized to consider where to place my trenches when planting early in the year, but I can always find a spot to dig up last minute....
I fear that using this method would make a mini-garden of the things that you compost. We compost regularly in my household, using a no-turn method, and during a few months of the summer it becomes a “chaos garden” of everything thing we’ve thrown out. We have tomatoes and potatoes growing out of it right now. I think trench composting would do the same thing.
I do this in our backyard for as long as I can (worms get it all in the winter). We had a bear into our garbage in December for about 3 weeks, and there is a ton of other wildlife in the area, but our backyard's never been dug up. I have yet to see anything sprout up from this years burials, but I have had things sprout in my vermiculture bin before.
you have to be carefull if you want to plant something after, because the soil can get "fat".
@Pamona, what do you mean by "fat?"
Oops, sorry for the misspell, Pomona!
@neefall - I wondered that too. Maybe it's a joke?
indeed. Plastic bag is shorting my brain
Many plants like a 'lean' soil, meaning not overly full of nutrients. If there is a lot of nitrogen some plants put out lots of leaves and vegetation, not so much fruit or flowers. Nasturtiums come to mind. I would guess they mean that these holes full of compost would be 'fat' as opposed to spreading compost around a plant or mixing it in.
I have been doing this for 30 years (learned it from my grandmother) & highly recommend it. However, I don't "trench", I simply use my hand shovel, dig a small hole, dump in the day's kitchen scraps, cover the hole, stick the hand shovel into the soil as a marker so that the next day I know where to make the next hole, and I go along like that in rows back & forth...
Animals have NEVER dug up my garden compost, probably because I keep a fence around my garden- which everyone should be doing anyway.
Yes, all sorts of random things sprout up together from the seeds in the scraps- everything from watermelon to potatoes. That is what the hand shovel comes in handy for- simply chop up the sprouts right where they grow & turn them back into the soil to "re-compost". OR dig up the most hardy of the "compost crop" & transplant them into the garden. I don't think I have had to purchase a seed in years!
I have shown many people my grandmother's method & they are always happy with the results.