Composting on the riverbank looked complicated when we started. Six years and a hundred Saturday mornings later, we've boiled it down to three buckets and a single rule: feed the bucket, turn the bucket, share the harvest.
Why three buckets
The first bucket is active — it gets every kitchen scrap from the kampung kitchens. The second is resting — sealed and turned weekly while it cures. The third is finished — a sweet, dark loam ready for the kebun beds.
We rotate them every three weeks. By the time the active bucket fills up, the resting one is ready to be moved over, and the finished one has been emptied into the riverbank beds.
What goes in
- Vegetable peels, fruit cores, and tea leaves.
- Eggshells, crushed.
- Dry leaves and shredded paper for "browns."
- A small splash of riverbank soil, to introduce native microbes.
Skip oils, dairy, and anything cooked. They slow the bucket down and call the wrong neighbours.
The riverbank trick
Because we sit on a riverbank, drainage is excellent — but humidity is high. We drilled extra holes near the top of each bucket so air keeps moving even when the rains come. Six weeks in, the contents settle, warm, and start to smell like good forest.
That's the moment you know it's working.