Let's talk COMPOST

 

Welcome to my compost bin.

 

 

It's not very pretty, but it's functional.  I have to say, we didn't have this small, square chicken wire, we had to buy it.  I think the two rolls cost $32.00.  Why two rolls?  Why a cage around a cage?

Well, you've seen our four legged, he's curious.  And he loves to eat cabbage, tomatoes, brussel sprouts....  Need I say more?

So I had to figure out a way and a place to put our compost bin where I wouldn't have to worry about him having a snack while I wasn't looking!

This spot is in our side yard and gets a fair amount of morning sun, is not near any neighbors, or windows of our home, plus it is pretty much out of sight from the street.

Our yard has "dirt".  I wouldn't really call it soil, because it was so sadly neglected before we got here, and two people can only do so much at a time.

So this year, we are starting our first compost pile which will be an on going adventure.

It's fall right now, and you can see from the picture above that we have raked up some leaves and Dear Darling went over them with the mulcher lawn mower.  It is incredible how small a huge pile of leave really becomes when you mulch it.

In our compost bin so far, I first put a layer of straw down and then some smaller twigs that I picked up in the yard.  I figured both would help to keep everything off of the ground for a while and let air through.  Plus, the pile is just under the evergreen trees, so I cut some of those branches off and put them in there also.

Next, I took some of the chopped up leaves, put them on top and then watered.

Twice a week, I take out food scraps from the kitchen and put those one top, then a layer of chopped leaves and water a bit.  Sometimes I will even take a small hoe/rack that I have and mix it up a bit to be sure air is getting in there.

When I make a trip to the composting site for aged compost for the yard, I will also add a 5 gallon bucket of aged compost to the pile.

I hope by spring this compost pile will have cooked enough to begin a garden bed right where the pile is.  Then the wire cages will be moved over a bit and the compost pile will begin again.

Even though the aged compost we get is free, we don't know what all the "ingredients" are and where they came from.  Having our own compost pile allows us to know what it is in and to truly grow our garden organic.

Would love to hear about your compost pile.