I'm curious to see someones answer on this - what a wonderful idea!

I don't have a compost bin and, since I don't generate a whole lot of organic matter, I routinely throw banana peels, apple cores, old coffee, moldy grapes, old bread, etc etc directly onto the flowerbeds and into the grass. It draws flies, and breaks down very quickly. If I had a family, I would compost the organics. But it's just me and, well frankly, I'm too lazy to do anything but throw the stuff outside.

Carla

I used to work at Sur La Table. They had a nifty little trash can you could keep on tiyr counter and it has a charcoal filter so things don't smell. If I were you, I would get a trash can, small one, that you could get a snap tight lid. Keep it in the sun. And then every two days or so collect what you can in tupperware insdie and dump in your little trash can. Toss around. Go to Starbucks and get some of their toss away grinds. It will make your compost smell great!
I don't like to toss into garden as it draws bugs/rodents. One time I tossed potato skins in like that and I had potato vince come up!
I have a tumbler composter, but it is hard for me to tumble. So I do what I told you, gather up waste in tupperware and go dump in composter every few days. Keep the tupperwar shut as knats or some kind of bugs will appear.

I do it all the time.. leaves, spent flowers, veggie and household food ... right on top of the soil and yes it works. it becomes compost really fast and easy.

Yes, I do it to, if I don't want to walk to where I bury it

Somewhere, I read mention of a popular book on composting for the apartment dweller or small property owner but I can't seem to find the reference now.

The report as I read it said the author's method was to "stuff" kitchen scraps into the dirt in the pot plants on your balcony or small garden. I don't think there was mention of leaving it on top. Maybe you could buy a bag of compost or top soil and keep it near. When you put down your scraps, you could cover lightly with soil.

Sometimes, people say that you can compost anything organic including animal poo, and meat, etc. but in this case, I would think you would want to be VERY careful only to use kitchen scraps that have no fat, dairy or animal contents.

Before I replant my elephant ears in the spring, I dig a deep enough hole so I can put a couple of large handfuls of raw kitchen scraps in the bottom before I lay the bulb on top and cover with dirt. The elephant ears flourish VERY well.

Did an experiment where I did one elephant ear plant with kitchen scraps buried and one with out. The one WITH scraps did SO much better. I think it must aerate the soil as well as feed the little micro-organisms that keep the soil rich and healthy.

Thanks for the answers and good ideas--this is just what I was hoping for! I'm holding out for a ComposTumbler, but they're expensive so it'll be a while before I can have one. This gives me a method to use in the meantime. :-)

Another similar way I read about and use is to put the day's scraps into a little paper lunch bag (or two) ... potato peelings, apple cores, coffee grounds, plate scrapings ... whatever you'd put in the compost pile.

At the end of the day carry the bag outside, stick a sharp shooter shovel in the dirt to move the soil aside, and bury the sack. It doesn't have to be real deep. The moisture in the bag and soil will do the rest with the help of earthworms and be directly available to the plants. This way it doesn't attract flies and gnats and you don't have to use time and electricity running the food processor.

Or you can do away with the paper sack, put the scraps in a big coffee can or plastic container on the kitchen counter and dump the contents in the hole and cover with a little soil.

Happy composting!

Bo, the tumbler was not successful for me, as it was very hard to "TUMBLE" and it did not compost as fast as the open bin did for me. If you have a lot of material to compost, why not designate a place to put your scraps away from the house where it would not be unsightly, and place them all there until you are ready to use them? Just a thought!!!

I've been wanting a tumbler too, because it is fairly closed up. How does an open bin fair with rats, snakes, and most importantly ANTS? Are those things a problem? I've got a lot of undeveloped land around, more than a typical neighborhood, and have always worried about that.

I usually have a lot of leaves and garden debris in my compost pile so when I put fresh stuff from the kitchen there I lift up the leaves and stuff with a pitch fork I keep nearby and put the scaps beneath the leaves. I've never seen evidence of critters digging around to get after it that way.

trsinc - if you avoid meat, dairy and fat, I don't think there will be a problem. Check out the soil forum here on gardenweb if you really want to hear the "experts".

As far as ants, yes, in the soil forum, there have been numerous reports about ants and the response from the experts is always the same. Ants like it dry. If you keep it wet, they won't come.

And another interesting tidbit which many have reported (including me) is that if you have ants, (in my case, a hill on my lawn), throw some coffee grinds on them and they will leave. I did this and it worked great. Never found any evidence of where the ants might have moved to but I loved the non-toxic solution for this problem.

Also, coffee grinds (and cardboard) will definitely attract worms which is what you want in your soil. Some might see worms as a negative so just wanted to add this info. I have a friend who is very squeamish and she hates the idea of compost because of the earthworms. Oh well, her loss.

I throw all my scraps out in a compost hole. I dig the hole where I want to set a new bed. It takes longer to amend the soil this way but I can't afford to do it all at once.
I have a 10' bed now that I'm working on. I turn the soil over and over, working the scraps and my red clay together. I've also used shredded paper to keep the soil airy.
I finally was able to plant some big sunflowers in part of this bed this spring. And I have some fat, juicy earthworms living in the dirt.

I have a tumbler and I usually traipse outside a few times a day to fill. But I loved the idea above about the paper bag! So this is what I am doing now. Save me from tracking in mud/dirt so many times. Thanks for the great idea!

Since my husband is the "no we will NOT have a big compost pile, you are going to attract mice etc" camp, I take the eggshells, banana peels etc outside and bury them around the plants. (I have a small container on the counter I take out once a day)I keep a small spade out by the plants so I can grab it whenever I need to. I just rotate through the plants
so they all get their "special snack" (granddaughters term!) I do this all the time, they break down quickly, I have yet to see a rodent, but the worms are abundant!

Ellie