A soil ingestor (also called an in-soil ingestor or digestor) is a great thing to have for composting food waste and pet feces. Of all the compost methods I know, this one requires the least amount of effort once you get the unit installed. That’s because you don’t turn it nor do you harvest compost from it. Simply deposit wastes into the airtight unit where they decompose anaerobically, underground. Creatures living deep in the soil retrieve decaying organic wastes directly from the unit.
This type of unit is not suitable for yard wastes because it can’t handle high volume, nor can it handle carbon materials.
Required: Large Garbage Can with an Airtight, Locking Lid
You can buy these types of units, but they are easily made from a large, air-tight, locking lid garbage can manufactured for outdoor use. Make sure the lid locks. What I mean by that is that wildlife living in your vicinity should not be able to get the lid open. The type of lid you will need varies depending on whether you are expecting bunnies or bears. You must get a lid that locks out the wildlife in your area. Fortunately, local stores should have units available that are suitable for keeping out animals found nearby.
Building the Soil Ingestor
Once you have the garbage can, you have to make the unit. I’m going to give specific instructions and I want you to pay very close attention. FOCUS! For some reason, a lot of people get this wrong. I don’t understand it, but it happens over and over. So pay attention . . . . get ready . . . . here it comes . . . .
1. Cut off the bottom of the garbage can.
2. Stop. Put away your tools.
3. Don’t do anything else.
Your unit is ready to install. If you find yourself doing something to the garbage can other than cutting off the bottom, you are doing the wrong thing, so stop doing that. Specifically, if you feel tempted to get out your drill, DON’T. Take deep, cleansing breaths and place the drill back on the shelf.
Anaerobic Process
A Soil Ingestor uses an anaerobic process of decomposition. Anaerobic means without air. It is true that this is the type of thing home composters usually avoid but, trust me, you want this process to be anaerobic. Yes, it may smell when you take the lid off but you won’t take the lid off for longer than a minute so that’s OK. The airtight lid will keep the smell in the unit. (Actually, I’ve never been offended by the smell of a soil ingestor, but foul odor is characteristic of an anaerobic process.)
For the process to be anaerobic, you should have only two openings in the garbage can: (1) the opening at the top which can be closed off with the airtight lid and (2) the opening at the bottom that is sunk deep into the ground.
Installing the Soil Ingestor
1. Find a location for your soil ingestor. Choose a location without drainage problems, convenient to your kitchen door so you can easily dispose of food wastes, but not within 50 feet of a water source nor crops for human consumption if you are planning to dispose of pet feces.
By the way, if you are planning to build raised beds, include ingestors in your plans. If you set them in the ground inside the frames before you fill the beds with soil, you can save yourself a lot of digging.
2. Dig a hole big enough to set your garbage can into it with a few inches (no more than a foot) above ground. Under no circumstances should the bottom of the container lie less than 10” below soil level or animals will be able to smell the food waste through the soil.
3. Set the garbage can down into the hole.
4. Fill dirt back in around the outside of the ingestor.
Instructions for Use
1. Lift lid.
2. Deposit Wastes.
3. Replace Lid.
If the materials you deposit have gnat or fly eggs on them, you may get these pests in your ingestor. If this happens, put a fine layer of sawdust or soil on the top of the wastes and replace the lid. The gnats or flies will soon die because they have neither air nor food.
What Next?
Unless you generate voluminous wastes or you chose a very small garbage can, wastes deposited in the unit should decompose fast enough that you can continue using it for years. If it ever does fill up, you may have to build another ingestor to use while the level in this one decreases over time. No need to harvest compost, just leave it there and let Nature integrate the wastes into your soil.
Mary Tynes, Master Composter, www.mastercomposter.com
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