Wednesday, February 22, 2012

#452...compost

Tyler has always wanted to build a compost bin. He currently purchases compost for the yard, so with my new effort to eat a more plant based diet, it gave him the perfect reason to build a bin and make his own compost. We have an overgrown side yard, where we decided to locate the bin. First, he measured the space and we cleared the overgrown mess of vegetation.

Next, he started building the box on a cold Saturday in January, with Sarah's assistance.



Here is the finished bin. He built it with two compartments, because I believe you have to rotate your mixture while it's composting. The lids lift up, and the center panel between the two bins slides up so that you can shovel between the bins. The front panels also lift up in the same fashion that a garage door lifts to allow you to access the compost once it is ready.

There is a little bit of a science to composting, which I don't really know much about. For now, all I have to do is open the lid and throw in my biodegradable bag of veggie trash.

Then, I use the pitchfork to cover the bag, with the already composting mixture of yard clippings, leaves and plant remnants.

and voila'....all gone

In our kitchen we are trying out this Full Circle countertop compost collector with biodegradable bags. For the most part I like it. It does need to be taken out about every third day (at the longest), or fruit flies start circling.

2 comments:

Tracy said...

Did you have to buy worms for it? I have a friend in Boston who composts in the basement (I guess they can't do it outside because it is too cold much of the year). They have worms. In their basement. Gross!

Christie Chase said...

Hi Tracy,
We have not added worms to our compost. I think they just show up naturally if the bin is outside. I guess if they don't come, we'll have to buy some....and I agree the worm part is gross.

Maybe at your friends house, the worms in the basement help ward off any monsters in the basement!