Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The compost post

I built these compost bins back in 2004, I think. They're just concrete blocks stacked up on three sides to make a place to throw composting material. Each bin holds about one year's worth of compost. I emptied the bin on the left, the larger one, this spring into the vegetable garden. We've been filling up the bin on the right since last fall.

My backyard compost bins. No meat products, but every vegetable, fruit, and yard clipping imaginable.

Now, we switch bins. The bin on the right will stay the way it is through the winter so it will finish decomposing and be ready to go into the garden next spring. We'll put new waste into the bin on the left from now on. I've already dumped a bunch of apples into it, as you can see. They decompose very quickly. We'll add all our household composting stuff over the fall and winter and into next summer. Then we'll switch bins again.

When we lived in San Francisco, the city had a program to get people to compost. We got a composting bin at a very low price, and the instructions were simple. While some people get all bent out of shape about what ingredients make for a proper compost pile, the city simply told us that "compost happens." I've taken that advice. And so it goes.

7 comments:

  1. "Compost happens!" Haha! I won't forget that one! ;)

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  2. I need to start to compost. It's next on my list of new things to do now that I have a house. Weeding. Mulching. Planting. Harvesting. These were all not part of my everyday life before we bought this house. I do need to compost, now.

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  3. I"ve always been amused at all the angst over how to make compost. There are even books about it!

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  4. Walt....
    why aren't you and Ken making your own cider and juice from those apples?
    Or keeping a pig.... that would use them and give instant compost!!

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  5. jon, words to live by.

    judy, it's easy and reduces what you put in les ordures, plus you don't need expensive fertilizers for your garden!

    chris, by the way, would you give me your recipe for ice cubes? I lost my copy. lol

    tim, ken made a bunch of jelly, so at least there's that. As for pigs, Pinky and Perky are too much for this small holding. We're not Tom and Barbara!

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  6. Un vrai compost de campagne. Voilà qui fait plaisir à voir :-).

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