Why I Love My Vita-Mix Part VIII

I can make quick, easy, and economical compost.

For you gardeners out there, you know how long it can take to make compost if you utilize a traditional compost pile, especially if you’re like me and don’t turn it that often.

Last year, being the frugal-minded gal that I am, I decided to make compost out of a crock pot full of fish from which I was trying to make an SCD broth for my daughter. The harried mom in me beat out the frugal gal and left the pot on the counter all night. After that, I wasn’t comfortable serving the food to my daughter and I didn’t want to just throw it out. So, I ground it up—bones and all—in my Vita-Mix. Then I just poured it around some cauliflower and broccoli seedlings that I had in my Square Foot garden at the time.

The benefit: beautiful plants. (Please ignore the weeds in the photo. I promise that my garden normally looks tidier than this. Really.)


The drawback: Serious cat attraction! Yeah, I know. You’re thinking the cat problem should have been obvious to me before I put the homemade fish compost in my garden. But hey, I’m just another hardworking mom like you, trying to squeeze in a little gardening ;) And we don’t even have cats, but apparently every cat in the neighborhood got the memo. So, I solved the cat problem by mulching around the plants with leaves.

Click here to read more about making compost with the Vita-Mix.

And if you want to read more about composting in place (without a Vita-Mix), check out Patricia Lanza’s Lasagna Gardening book. I love her sheet mulching method, which can utilize both aged and new compost, as well as her description of a tomato-cage composter.

Since spring is upon us, I’d love to hear your unusual composting techniques! Or cat foiling methods ;)