Harvesting compost juice

by

Lauren Ryan, intern with Sustainable House.

• A coolseat with transparent pipe beside the garden bed which stores compost juice that overflows from the water stored in the garden bed

Fruits and vegetables hold about half their weight in water.

So, when we compost our food waste, what happens to that water? Most compost bins don’t store or harvest compost juice. Most let all that compost juice leak out and waste to the soil underneath. Any that do harvest juice can stain a pavement underneath - but not coolseats!

Coolseats collect all the compost juice at the bottom and include a spout on the back where the juice can overflow from. This allows us to collect the compost juice. One way to collect it is by setting a clear container under the spout, which will allow you to see when the container is full of juice.

• Water in food - image from Sustainable Food by Michael Mobbs

Another way to collect the compost juice is to attach a clear tube to the spout and run it along the length of the coolseat. Then, attach a tap to the open end of the tube.

• Transparent pipe outside garden bed stores compost juice overflowing from water at base of the bed - turn on the tap to harvest the compost juice

Now you're probably wondering why we want to collect the compost juice. This juice is extremely nutrient dense and can act as a fertilizer to help your flowers, herbs, and fruits, and vegetables grow big and strong!

Compost juice is liquid gold! So I don't let a drop go to waste, like my alcohol :)

Cheers,

Lauren Ryan, Intern with Sustainable House and Coolseats