Boston - October 12, 2007

Anaerobic Exercise

Happy Farmer Kitchen Composter

Country Mouse rides a tractor, sources dinner from the garden, and composts.

City Mouse takes the T, eats at the corner Thai joint, and … composts?

It seems so, with the Happy Farmer Kitchen Composter, a self-contained, indoor contraption designed to fit the confines of ecoconscious city living (i.e., under the sink).

The system uses anaerobic fermentation — dig deep into that ninth-grade bio knowledge here — a no-oxygen breakdown that speeds up the composting process from four weeks to two. Once you’ve filled the bin with biodegradable garbage and the microbe, seal it, wait a few weeks, then mix the disintegrating waste with everyday soil.

Voila! You have the ideal food for your house plants.

Coffee grounds, banana peels, even dryer lint can all be thrown into the disintegrating mix. And the container cuts out odors, so you can toss in meat and dairy products, too.

Making you a little bit country.

And you can rock that role.

Available at Greenward, 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, Porter Square (617-395-1338 or greenwardshop.com); online at amazon.com.