Grow Your Own Urban Kitchen Garden

Composting

A great alternative to chemical fertilisers is compost. By using trash you already have, you reduce the amount of waste your household produces while making your soil more fertile. The best part is it’s free!

Put simply, compost is decomposing organic material. The breakdown of the material releases nutrients that are essential to gardening. To create your own compost bin, Susan Evans, founder of green NGOs Kerplunk and GoodtoChina, suggests designating a container that fits inside or outdoors and laying a foundation of paper and cardboard, then fill it with organic materials and red worms. She also notes it is important to keep the material damp and recommends covering the container with a piece of cardboard.

Kitchen scraps, particularly coffee grinds, tea leaves, egg shells, fruits and vegetables, release nitrogen and are great organic materials. Don’t include meat as that will attract rats and cats. Leaves, grass trimmings and cardboard are also suitable compost materials. Try to keep a good mix of items as too much of one material will slow the decomposition process.

Where to Buy:

GoodtoChina sells ‘A Pot of Gold’, an easy starter kit for any novice or expert gardener. Made of 100 per cent biodegradable and organic products, these pots include a jute bag, a biodegradable sac, organic seeds and soil from BioFarm and handy instructions to get your garden started. The bags cost RMB 50 and are available at The Nest.

The Nest. Bldg 3, Studio 201, 210 Taikang Lu. Web: http://goodtochina.com, http://kplunk.com

Evans recommends sourcing non-organic seeds, soil and flower pots from Taobao or local flower markets. BioFarm also offers organic vegetable seeds and soil for home gardeners.

Web: www.taobao.com, www.biofarm.cn