new compost way station

Around mid-summer, our kitchen starts to be overrun by fruit flies. They seem to be enjoying the delicious seasonal fruit almost as much as we are. I guess we could reduce the number of fruit flies by putting all the fruit in the refrigerator or stop composting. Unfortunately, these two rather simple solutions are a bit more challenging for our family. For one thing, some fruit tastes better at room temperature or it needs a couple of extra days to ripen on the counter. As for the compost, I cannot imagine not composting; it just does not make sense for me. Then, perhaps I could dump the compost after every meal. Honestly, I am much too lazy for that, we all have our limitations.

Recently, I visited a friend who may have found the perfect solution. She put a little trash can with a lid outside her kitchen door to put the compost in. It is sort of a way station: it leaves the kitchen and when it is full or she gets around to it, she dumps it in the compost pile. I thought it was brilliant so when I got home, I bought one for us. Now after each meal, I simply open the kitchen door and dump our meal’s compost. It sits a couple feet from the recycling bins that are filled after each meal as well. The lid has a hinge and a little pedal to step on to open the lid, so it’s hands free and (hopefully) critter proof. I guess we will see.

Although we still keep some fruit on the counter, (since I really do not care for cold bananas), there is still less food for the fruit flies than there was. After only one day, there was already a noticeable decline in the fruit fly population. I hope this continues. How do you deal with fruit flies in home? Please share and I will continue to share.