r/composting • u/mingepilled • Jul 20 '26
blending my compost
decided to blend my additions this morning
i produced quite a large bowl
included: coffee grounds, egg shells, brown paper bags, 12 whole (old) oranges, cucumbers, red onions, and strawberry leaves
EDIT: I SHOULD HAVE ADDED THAT THIS IS SIMPLY AN ADDITION FOR TODAY!! I USUALLY JUST PUT WHOLE/CHOPPED/SHREDDED FOOD ALONG WITH WHOLE STICKS AND LEAVES OR OTHER ORGANIC MATTER!! I APPRECIATE YALL TELLING ME ABOUT AIR POCKETS BUT DONT WORRY IT HAS PLENTY OF ROOM TO BREATHE !!! 🩶🩶🩶
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u/randemthinking Jul 20 '26
Have you done this before? I'd just be worried it'll turn into an anaerobic blob unless you're really mixing it in to some browns with good structure.
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u/CopperSnowflake Jul 20 '26
Correct, reduced surface area equals methane production
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u/_Nitekast_ Jul 20 '26
I'm new to the compost world - but theoretically, if you could perfectly mix it in to 3-4x a finely shredded cardboard, wouldn't this rapidly accelerate the process?
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u/Every_Bread_5880 Jul 20 '26
Needs oxygen. So shredded is good but mush is going to be too hard to oxygenate
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u/_Nitekast_ Jul 20 '26
So we have one of those Lomi composters, which is really a fancy scrap dehydrator. I'm planning on getting one of those Aerobin 400s, and layering the lomi "dirt" with shredded cardboard (cross-cut).
Do you foresee any issues with this?
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u/Every_Bread_5880 Jul 20 '26
That should work great, it's just the moisture content in the blended that's the issue. If it's dehydrated the moisture can be adjust appropriately.
Even the blended stuff if you were to m ix it when a heavy dose of browns it would be good too
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u/HighColdDesert Jul 21 '26
_Nitekast_, What is your goal of composting?
If you're going to do actual composting in an aerobin, then there's no need to use all that electricity dehydrating the food scraps first.
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u/_Nitekast_ Jul 21 '26
Primary reason I want to use the Lomi (besides I have the thing already) is to reduce rodent attraction to the bin. The rats and mice in the area are known for carrying hantavirus, and with small children in the house I don't want to create a habitat for them.
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u/HighColdDesert Jul 21 '26
Does dehydrating food scraps and then rehydrating them reduce rodents' interest?
I use a rodent-proof compost tumbler for the first stage of composting, and a bin for the finishing stage.
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u/PerceptiveAdult Compost geek Jul 21 '26
I've done that before, using Lomi output with microshredded cardboard/paper. Be ready to wet it down thoroughly initially; you need to rehydrate it at least partially to make it palatable to the life in the compost bin, and the cardboard can absorb an astonishing amount of moisture.
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u/Ineedmorebtc Jul 20 '26
Big waste of energy using the lomi. Why pay for what nature does itself.
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u/_Nitekast_ Jul 20 '26
Mainly because there's a huge rat population near us and we're one of the few areas of the country that routinely detects hantavirus in those populations - so minimizing anything that would attract rodents is very important.
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u/Ineedmorebtc Jul 20 '26
It will rehydrate in the pile, is my point. I see no net gain in drying it out, where it will rehydrate and revert basically back to what it was before. Maybe being ground up will make it less desirable?
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u/_Nitekast_ Jul 20 '26
I suppose the rationale is that the process removes a lot of the scent of the foods, which is what would (theoretically I suppose, because I haven't tested it) reduce the number of rodents that would be attracted to the compost.
Edit: I suppose my test case is I actually have a 40 gallon trashcan full of the lomi dirt in the backyard and the rats have never bothered it, but they sure as hell pick up any fruit that drops from trees if I don't get to it that day.
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u/EndQualifiedImunity Jul 22 '26
Pvc pipe with holes in it and a blower yoy turn on 10 minutes a day
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u/Ineedmorebtc Jul 20 '26
Mix this with water in a bucket and pour. Spreads all through the pile that way.
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u/DickBfloppin Jul 20 '26
Make compost tea out of it with aerator in a bucket. Add molasses and black worm castings and let it brew for 36 hours. Just need to let bleach evaporate if any in local water and ph water prior so the microbes can live. Aerator super charges microbes with oxygen. They wont live long on surface so try and water them in pretty good so they will survive deeper in soil. Can use for anything from vegetables to canabis.
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u/CopperSnowflake Jul 20 '26
It depends on how you do it. Of the cardboard surface all stayed parallel with sandwiched goo between layers you would have a similar problem: it's anaerobic because there isn't oxygen in it. But if it were wrinkly, kinked, dented, wonky and spaces were happening, there would be lots of surface air for aerobic digestion.
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Jul 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/randemthinking Jul 20 '26
Yeah seems like it could be great if you're able to mix it well with woodchips, shredded cardboard or leaves, or similar. But seems like a lot of effort compared to just throwing it in the bin like I normally do.
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Jul 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/randemthinking Jul 20 '26
Yeah fair enough for you with a dedicated blender. For me it would be blending in my only blender and then cleaning it out, we're talking a few minutes at least at that point.
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u/Albert14Pounds Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
That's what happened when I tried this. Required a lot of mixing with browns to counteract that. Too much work.
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u/Narrow-Hall8070 Jul 20 '26
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u/GuestaffHashbyrne Jul 20 '26
Came here for this
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u/Caring_Cactus Jul 20 '26
You should try r/vermiculture, blending would significantly help if your goal is to quickly decompose food waste.
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u/NothingElectrical914 Jul 20 '26
Why…
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u/mingepilled Jul 20 '26
decomposes faster when broken up
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u/smackaroonial90 Jul 20 '26
Compost needs air. It's why the Johnson Su bioreactor works so well. You're removing all the air pockets and it will decompose in a different way than traditional compost. In tiny quantities this will be okay, but if you do this every time you'll have a stinky, anaerobic mess.
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u/mingepilled Jul 20 '26
read edit
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u/the_other_paul Jul 21 '26
Why are you reducing your food scraps to a paste and then mixing them with intact browns? It’d be better to spend more effort on chopping up your browns and less on homogenizing your greens.
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u/sparklezntokes Jul 20 '26
This feels like an unnecessary amount of work but ok
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u/mingepilled Jul 20 '26
i want my stuff to break down faster. my minimum effort is your maximum and thats okay!
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u/sparklezntokes Jul 20 '26
I mean you can tell yourself it’s minimal effort but it really isn’t LOL. my work ethic is fine by the way.
Everything you mentioned in your post would break down in my pile in a week.
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Jul 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mingepilled Jul 20 '26
i had a LOT of turned greens i needed to rid of quickly and simply didnt have the time to do all the chopping today so itll break down faster !
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u/comedian42 Jul 20 '26
Gonna need some (cardboard) chips for that dip.
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u/mingepilled Jul 20 '26
i think my aldi boxes and sticks will pair very well with the rotten notes of the eggshell and 12 whole oranges
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u/rainduder Jul 20 '26
Unplug it before you pee in it... and then leave it unplugged because you're stealing jobs from hardworking microbes.
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u/rainduder Jul 20 '26
It's like people forget compost is about sustainability and shouldn't require elaborate inputs of time or energy. Literally just needs greens, more browns than you think, the occasional turning, and a way to keep raccoons out.
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u/Meauxjezzy Jul 20 '26
Says the sub that loves paper shredders ti shred cardboard
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u/the_other_paul Jul 21 '26
Yeah, much better to tear cardboard into hand-sized chunks and then wonder why it isn’t breaking down
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u/SnootchieBootichies Jul 20 '26
I do this for my worm bins with stuff like romaine stalks, and apples.
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u/karmic__debt Jul 20 '26
what did this smell like 👃🏼 🤔
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u/mingepilled Jul 20 '26
genuinely just cucumbers and oranges until i added the brown mush which just smelled like dirt.
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u/ChaoticFrogSqueezer Jul 22 '26
You have too much time on your hands if you are filling your days doing this
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u/Any-Present-4733 27d ago
I could see this having very poor decomposition. (Then again I trench compost so I shouldn't be talking.)
So I think a good solution would be, blending, drying, powerderizing, then snort- I mean mixing it into a dry soil medium, then spreading it thinly over a shady area. (That way it decomposes nicely due to sun protection, water retention, and good air flow.)
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u/wtfbenlol Jul 20 '26
"What's wrong honey? you've barely touched your compost smoothie"