garden report /// 3.10
10 March 2009
how to build a compost bin
Alice and I are way more excited about composting than we should be. Last night I built our first compost bin. I used some old pallets that had been used to deliver building materials for the house. I almost threw them away, but I know I could use them for something, if even just for firewood. We got a great book about compost gardening a few weeks ago, and inside was a way to build a bin out of pallets. Voila! It's easy- set them up vertically into a three-sided box and screw or nail together the corners. I even like the way it has a sort of modern a la Mockbee architectural look to it.
Composting is a great way to organically fertilize your garden and reduce the amount of waste you send to the landfill. Between recycling and composting, we've cut our weekly garbage in half. Pretty soon we'll have monthly batches of compost to recharge the soil in our garden.
Coming soon: Planting!
5 comments:
it's also a great way to make yourselves feel better about having rotting trash in your backyard. once considered a sign of sloth it now a sign of self-superiority.
slam.
Congrats on getting started composting (and for discovering the usefulness of pallets)!
If you turn your compost every day (shovel, pitchfork, what-have-you), you should have some finished compost ready for the garden in about 6 months.
So is it not necessary to have the compost stay dry? I always thought that was key? But if not I can totally make one of these!
rachelaine: my composting guide says that the compost material should be moist to the touch, but not so much that you could squeeze water out of it. i often spray my bin down a bit after a dry spell. those decomposing microorganisms need water to work!
Sweetness. Now all I have to do is get a hold of some pallets...