Affordable In-Ground Composting: A DIY Alternative to Lomi, Mill, and Subpod

As a fan of both composting and snazzy gadgets, I’ve been following the buzz around Mill and Lomi, two sleek, app-controlled machines that promise to sustainably grind up and dehydrate food waste from the comfort of your living room.

But even setting aside the hefty price tags (Mill, Lomi, and their competitors range from $300 to $500), these machines are best suited for eco-conscious households too busy, or lacking access to a garden and looking for a plug-and-play way to divert their food waste.

First off, this isn't real composting. Lomi claims to produce “pre-compost” for your garden, and the output from the Mill is mailed to farms for use as chicken feed. But neither method can compare to the black gold produced by actual worms, which sells for as much as $5 per pound.

This nutrient-rich vermicompost is an ideal fertilizer, but producing it at home comes with its own set of challenges. In my experience, worm bins create excess liquid, which is as pungent as it is nutrient-rich.

In the summer, I’ve had issues with compost drying out, leaving my precious worms in peril. Plus, typical plastic worm composters are often unsightly and take up valuable space in smaller gardens.

This is where in-ground composting comes into play. The beauty of having a composter right in your garden bed is that everything happens on-site.

Right away, excess moisture isn’t an issue; it just drains into the soil. During dry spells, worms can burrow deeper into the ground to escape any unfavorable conditions. Because worms raised in the composter can move freely around your garden, they'll also aerate the soil and produce compost right at the source. The compost produced in the bin can be added directly to the plants growing around it.

Inspired by the outrageously overpriced Subpod composter, I’ve put together this little guide to making your own DIY in-ground composter:

1. Upcycle a plastic milk crate or a similar container. (Or order one, lid included!)
2. Consider lining it with mesh to deter pests (This mesh fits perfectly inside a standard milk crate).
3. Find a suitable lid or fashion a simple one out of wood. Pick what fits best in your garden. I like how a wooden lid blends in, but anything that coverage and a bit of ventilation will do.
4. Bury the crate up to its rim in a garden bed.

Not feeling very DIY? There are other affordable, yet not quite as fun, in-ground composters out there.

Now, the fun begins:

1. Add food scraps, mostly avoiding things like meat, bones, cheese, and pasta. Egg shells make a great addition, although they will take a long time to break time unless they are ground up before being added.
2. Introduce red wriggler worms and shredded paper as bedding to kick-start the composting process.

Worms and unseen microorganisms will take up residence in the crate and diligently break down your food scraps. As they go about their work, the crate also fertilizes the surrounding soil naturally, thanks to the worms moving in and out through the openings in the crate’s walls.

For uniform compost, I fill the crate completely and then wait until the contents have broken down entirely. To keep the process continuous, I maintain two composters and fill one at a time. This allows me to produce a fresh batch of worm compost every couple of weeks without worrying about running out of space for new scraps.

In a world of high-tech solutions, this DIY in-ground approach to composting offers a back-to-basics, environmentally friendly alternative that’s as rewarding as it is sustainable.